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SEPA Update: news round-up from Scotland's environment regulator
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16 February 2018
 

This week - Compliance results, enforcement report, prosecutions, and more

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Six year high in environmental performance by Scottish business


91.7% of Scottish regulated business sites assessed were compliant. 46.6% of sites assessed as non-compliant for two or more years became compliant. 66% of sites classified as ‘Very Poor’ improved their compliance rating. 11 sites were moved from ‘Very Poor’ to Excellent.

Environmental performance amongst Scottish regulated businesses and other organisations achieved a six year high, with 91.7% of sites recorded as ‘Excellent’, ‘Good’ or ‘Broadly Compliant’, according to results published on 15 February 2018 by SEPA.

SEPA’s Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS) rates an operator’s environmental performance using a risk-based model to inform a targeted approach which focuses on high risk operations and under-performing sites more frequently than compliant or low risk activities.

Terry A'Hearn launching SEPA's 2016 Compliance Assessment Scheme and 2016-2017 Enforcement Report.  See our media release.

For the first time SEPA’s annual report card of environmental performance has been published alongside data on agency’s enforcement activity. Together they demonstrate One Planet Prosperity, SEPA’s regulatory strategy, is tackling operators and businesses who are non-compliant and holding them to account while supporting businesses and organisations that want to do the right thing for the environment.

 SEPA’s Enforcement Report, published today, highlights that during 2016 – 2017:

  • 12 cases were referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) by SEPA.
  • 120 statutory notices were served for environmental non-compliance.
  • 113 final warning letters were issued for environmental non-compliance.
  • £92,575 in fines were handed out by Sheriffs for cases referred by SEPA. Over three years this total is £390,025.
<Read more>

SEPA water pollution prosecutions demonstrate environmental compliance is non-negotiable

Compliance with the law on Scotland’s environment is non-negotiable. That was the message this week from SEPA Chief Executive, Terry A’Hearn, who commented on two recent prosecutions led by the agency relating to water pollution.

Scottish Water was fined £17,000 for discharges from their Dunswood Sewage Treatment plant, North Lanarkshire, into the Red Burn in Cumbernauld. The farm partnership David McCreery and Sons, was fined £1,200 in January for discharging slurry and silage into unnamed tributaries of the Gifford Water, East Lothian. The prosecutions highlight the importance of managing farm effluents and maintaining critical water treatment infrastructure.

  View Terry A’Hearn's video above and read the full media release online.
SEPA Chief Executive, Terry A’Hearn, said:

“Both these incidents caused damage to those water bodies, both these incidents caused fish mortalities, and both these incidents should not have happened. So we’re disappointed that they took place but we’re pleased that both organisations have been held to account.

“This is at the core of our One Planet Prosperity regulatory strategy. Businesses and organisations that do the right thing for the environment will be supported by SEPA, they’ll be helped to keep doing the right thing and do even better. Those that get it wrong will be held to account in this way.

“We now look forward to working with both organisations to ensure that their environmental management improves, these incidents don’t reoccur and they can move on and become top class environmental stewards in their own right.”

Innovative new study to monitor Scotland’s water from space

Experts will use satellites to monitor the quality of water in Scotland’s lochs as part of a pioneering new project led by the University of Stirling.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences is working with SEPA to investigate the feasibility of introducing earth observation technology to its day-to-day operations in a bid to improve the quality and efficiency of water sampling.

The cutting-edge approach uses the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite to identify potential contaminants in bodies of water, such as algal concentrations, harmful algal blooms, and mineral and organic matter. <Read more>

The following jobs are currently being advertised on our website - apply online now.
Environment Protection Officer
Ayr, Dumfries, or Newton Stewart
Permanent, full-time
Closing date: 09 March
Project Manager
Flexible location
Fixed term, up to September 2018
Closing date: 25 February
Senior Planning Officer
Flexible location
Fixed term, 6 months
Closing date: 16 February
Environment Protection Officer
Flexible location
Permanent, full-time
Closing date: 09 March
Registry Officer
Aberdeen
Permanent, part-time
Closing date: 25 February
Scientist (Terrestrial Ecology)
Flexible location
Fixed term, 6 months
Closing date: 18 February
Assistant HR Officer
Stirling
Fixed term, up to 30 March 2020
Closing date: 01 March
Senior Scientist (Hydro-morphologist)
Stirling or Aberdeen. Other base locations considered
Fixed term, 12 months
Closing date: 18 February
Environment Protection Officer
Fort William
Permanent, Full-time
Closing date: 16 February
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