The Environment Bill has passed through parliament and gained Royal Assent, becoming the Environment Act 1,056 days since it was first introduced.

The Act is the UK’s new domestic environmental enforcement framework, replacing the EU’s previous jurisdiction on environmental and water policy. As environmental policy is a devolved matter, most of the Act applies to England only.

The Environment Act is a landmark piece of legislation which is intended to set the precedent for how the UK’s natural environment will be protected and enhanced for future generations.

Within the context of global action around the climate and biodiversity crises, this Act could not be more appropriate. For the rural sector, it provides new opportunities due to the increasing desire to invest in the resilience of natural capital, however it also poses future risks, in the form of rising regulatory baselines and increasing environmental responsibilities.

Below are the seven key elements of the Act which will have the most impact on the rural sector.

1. Environmental targets The Act includes long-term targets to improve air and water quality, waste reduction, resource efficiency and biodiversity. Targets can only be set for matters that can be objectively measured, achieved within a given timeframe, and over a period of not less than 15 years. There is also an overall target to halt the decline of nature by 2030, which includes a legally binding species abundance target. For rural managers, these targets mean that environmental protection is prioritised by government, which will create a justification for investment into the environmental benefits of rural land and a framework for assessing the effectiveness of that investment. 

2. The polluter pays principle There are five environmental principles within the Act which will now be enshrined within policy making: the prevention, precautionary, integration, rectification at source and polluter pays principles. These principles will likely mean rural businesses have to take more individual or collective responsibility for their negative environmental impact and could be highly influential in how the future standards of farming and land use, previously enforced through cross-compliance, are defined.

3. Biodiversity net gain The Act legislates for mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) to be a condition of planning permission on future developments in England. BNG is a principle which requires a 10 per cent increase in biodiversity after development, compared with the level of biodiversity prior to the development taking place. In England, BNG will boost the private market for biodiversity offsets, offering a new diversified income stream for long-term (over 30 years) habitat enhancement or creation. There are still questions around the practicalities of BNG and the capacity of local planning authorities to implement it effectively. BNG is likely to be brought into effect in 2023.

4. Local Nature Recovery Strategies LNRS will be required in every local authority. These are new spatial strategies for nature which will plan, map and help drive more coordinated action and investment in nature’s recovery to build the national Nature Recovery Network. Going forward, rural land managers will need to be open to collaboration and partnership in landscape and local nature recovery, and understand that a lot of agri-environmental policy will originate at local level rather than centrally via DEFRA.

5. Water There is a measure within the Act enabling the Environment Agency to vary or revoke certain underused or harmful water abstraction licences without liability for compensation from 1 January 2028. This may be a major concern for abstractors in water-stressed areas. The Act also tackles water pollution – there is a new duty on water companies to monitor the water quality upstream and downstream of storm overflows and sewage disposal works, and government will be required to produce a statutory plan on reducing discharges from storm overflows.

6. Trees The Act legislates for increased (and potentially unlimited) fines for illegal tree felling and a new streamlined administrative process for the Forestry Commission. There are also tighter protections proposed for ancient woodlands within the planning process. A House of Lords amendment, which called for a buffer of at least 50 metres around ancient woodland near new development, was rejected by the Government.

7. Waste There are measures in the Act aimed at tightening the legislation around waste crime through better access to evidence and increasing the proportionality of littering offences.

The effectiveness of the Act depends on the quality of the secondary legislation that is now created. Rural land managers need to be eloquent in the direction of travel that the new environmental legislation creates and be prepared to innovate and collaborate to make the most of any opportunities.

However, the rural sector must also be aware that it must work within the rising regulatory baseline in terms of environmental standards and this may pose risks to certain rural businesses.

Further information

Contact Andrew Teanby or Alison Broderick

Savills Rural