The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Consultation on Transposing the Environmental Liability Directive

Responding to this consultation paper

The consultation will run for 3 months commencing on 16 May 2008 and ending on 8 August 2008. Please send your response to:

Telephone: 0131-244-7814
Fax: 0131-244-0245
E-mail: ELD.consultation2@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

If you have any queries contact Heather McCabe on 0131 244 7814.

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.

You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

The Scottish Government now has an email alert system for consultations (SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx)

This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SG distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SG consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest.

We would encourage you to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondent Information Form enclosed with this consultation paper as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act or Regulations for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public (see the attached Respondent Information Form), these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library and on the Scottish Government consultation web pages. We will check all responses where agreement to publish has been given for any potentially defamatory material before logging them in the library or placing them on the website. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SG Library on 0131 244 4556. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on transposition of the Environmental Liability Directive.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the contacts above.

Copies of this consultation document will be made available in large print on request and summaries will also be made available in other languages by contacting the Scottish Government at the contact address or by telephoning or faxing the contact number.

Useful references

Links to -

Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/ EC)
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2004/l_143/l_14320040430en00560075.pdf

Birds Directive (1979/409/ EC)
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/consleg/pdf/1979/en_1979L0409_do_001.pdf

Habitats Directive (1992/43/ EC)
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/consleg/pdf/1992/en_1992L0043_do_001.pdf

Water Framework Directive (2000/60/ EC
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/pri/en/oj/dat/2000/l_327/l_32720001222en00010072.pdf

Scottish Government Consultation Process

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Government working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Government, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general Scottish Government consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinion on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Government encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically, Scottish Government consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Government web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.

Copies of all the responses received to consultation exercises (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Government library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (Y Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 1031-244-4556).

All Scottish Government consultation papers and related publications ( e.g., analysis of response reports) can be assessed at Scottish Government consultations ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations)

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process along with a range of other available information and evidence.

Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

Final decisions on the issues under consideration will also take account of a range of other factors, including other available information and research evidence.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

Consultation Contents

This document comprises consultation within Scotland.

This consultation paper sets out proposals for the transposition into Scottish legislation of the EU Environmental Liability Directive ( ELD).

The principal aim is to establish a new kind of civil law mechanism based upon the "polluter pays" principle. Certain operators who cause a risk of significant damage to land, water or biodiversity will have a duty to avert such damage occurring or, where damage does occur, a duty to reinstate the environment.

An operator will have to notify the appropriate competent authority of any imminent threat of damage or of actual damage to the environment caused by it while carrying out its business and of its plans to avert or repair the damage. Information on perceived risk or damage may also be presented to a competent authority, seeking action, by persons or bodies affected, or likely to be affected, including environmental NGOs.

The draft Regulatory Impact Assessment ( RIA) attached suggests that the draft Regulations would apply to perhaps up to 10 incidents per year in Scotland.

A full list of all the stakeholders we are contacting is included in this document. If you are aware of others with an interest who are not included on the enclosed list, please either copy the consultation document to them or ask them to contact the Scottish Government, telephone number 0131-244-0149 and we will be happy to forward on a copy.

« Previous | Contents | Next »