Pollution incidents and investigations

A pollution incident is when any substance is released to land, air or water that could harm people or the environment. The scope, urgency and organisation of responses to pollution incidents depends on their nature and scale. Major incidents may require a multi-agency response coordinated in accordance with national civil contingency plans and the UK Resilience Emergency Response and Recovery Guidance, involving:

•
police services
•
fire and rescue services
•
health bodies
•
HM Coroner
•
local authorities (LAs)
•
government agencies and other non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs)
•
the Armed Forces
•
the private sector
•
the voluntary sector, and
•
the community

For the most severe emergencies, government may invoke emergency powers under Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Part 2. Emergency powers are a last-resort option for responding to the most serious of emergencies where existing legislative provision is insufficient. They are a mechanism for making temporary legislation in order to prevent, control or mitigate an aspect or effect of the emergency.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) maintains a national contingency plan for marine pollution from shipping and offshore installations.

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Environment News

Fighting Dirty secures EA's agreement to review tyre export controls

Fighting Dirty, a legal environmental campaign group has secured a commitment from the Environment Agency (EA) to review its approach to waste tyre exports after issuing a pre-action protocol letter on 28 February 2025. The EA's response (dated 25 March 2025) outlines plans for a three-month internal review examining the current 'green list' classification of waste tyres, which permits unrestricted exports to countries including India. The review will involve consultation with industry stakeholders, trade associations and foreign authorities. The development follows BBC investigations revealing unregulated processing of UK tyre exports in Indian pyrolysis plants.

EA publishes response to consultation on updated drought response framework for England

The Environment Agency (EA) has published the response to its November 2024 consultation on updating the drought response framework for England. Based on stakeholder feedback, the EA intends to refine drought definitions, include sector-specific details, clarify organisational roles, strengthen references to heatwave impacts, and update the recovery process section, among other changes. The EA will publish the final updated framework in Spring 2025.

European Parliament votes to postpone corporate sustainability and due diligence rules

The European Parliament has voted to postpone the application dates for new EU laws on due diligence and sustainability reporting requirements. On 3 April 2025, the Parliament voted with 531 votes in favour, 69 against, and 17 abstentions. This postponement is part of the EU's simplification efforts aimed at enhancing competitiveness. new due diligence rules, which require companies to mitigate their negative impact on people and the planet, will be postponed by one year for the largest companies. Member states will have until 26 July 2027 to transpose these rules into national legislation. The first wave of companies affected, including EU companies with over 5,000 employees and non-EU companies with significant turnover in the EU, will apply the rules from 2028. The same application date will apply to the second wave of companies with over 3,000 employees.The sustainability reporting directive will also be delayed by two years for the second and third waves of companies. Large companies with more than 250 employees will report on their social and environmental measures starting in 2028, while listed SMEs will begin reporting in 2029.The European Commission presented the 'Omnibus I' simplification package on 26 February 2025, which includes the directive endorsed by the Parliament today. The package also contains another directive altering the scope and content of sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements, which will be reviewed by the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee.

Environment weekly highlights—3 April 2025

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: several announcements from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) including, publishing a report of the provisional estimates of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions for 2024, its 16th annual emissions statement, as mandated by section 16 of the Climate Change Act 2008 (CCA 2008) and its call for evidence, seeking views on innovative hydrogen-to-power (H2P) projects that can be rapidly deployed by 2030, ahead of large-scale hydrogen infrastructure development. In addition this week, the Environment Agency (EA) has launched a new charging scheme for activities involving fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gas) and ozone-depleting substances (ODS), Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the findings of Dan Corry's independent review, which examines whether Defra's regulatory framework effectively supports economic growth and nature recovery and Defra and the EA have announced a 2.65bn two-year investment programme for flood defence infrastructure. Further, this week, EA has published two guidance documents. The first document outlines the various types of costs the EA includes when calculating proposals for new or revised charges and explains the teams that receive income and the services they offer in the EA’s regulatory role. The second document details the optional ‘priority tracked service’, which provides additional support for major projects in England requiring a complex range of environmental permits and licences.