Environmental law trackers

This subtopic brings together a series of trackers to enable you to keep up to date with key developments in relation to consultations, legislation and case law of interest to environmental lawyers in England and Wales. We also include EU law trackers, including relating to the European Commission’s European Green Deal, an environmental law divergence tracker, Environmental enforcement undertakings trackers which list key recent environmental enforcement undertakings accepted by environmental regulators under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 and the Environmental Civil Sanctions (Wales) Order 2010 and a trackers displaying policy developments under the UK government’s 25 Year Environmental Plan (25 YEP).

Consultation and legislation trackers by topic

The following trackers display the current status and most recent developments of consultations being conducted by government departments (such as Defra), regulators (such as the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW)) and other bodies (such as the Welsh Government) and legislation of interest in relation to environmental law in England and Wales. They are arranged by topic and list whether consultations are open or closed and whether responses and/or

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Latest Environment News

ECHA updates progress on PFAS restriction proposal evaluation

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has issued a progress update on the evaluation of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restriction proposal. ECHA and five European countries are reviewing over 5,600 comments received during consultation, identifying additional uses for assessment, and considering alternative restriction options beyond a full ban. The agency is evaluating the proportionality of these options for specific sectors, such as batteries and fuel cells, to inform the ongoing scientific committee evaluations.

Environment weekly highlights—21 November 2024

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: analysis on the consultation on expanding tax conditionality to new sectors, the case of Smallbrook v BCC, considering the tension between proposals seeking to reuse and repurpose buildings and those seeking to demolish and rebuild them and will be of relevance to those involved in regeneration projects which consider the two alternatives, and what businesses need to know about ASA, AI and greenwashing. It also covers developments at the 29th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and Green Alliance (GA) being granted permission to intervene in the appeal of R (Rights Community Action Ltd) v the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2024] EWHC 1693 (Admin) and the launch of the Global Clean Power Alliance at G20 summit. In addition this week, the Department for Energy Security and Net zero (DESNZ) has announced of plans to introduce legislation aimed at restricting the future licensing of new coal mines in the UK the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has launched an investigation into the legality of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)’s Statutory Guidance on applying the Farming Rules for Water, , the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister, Andrew Muir, has announced an independent review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland, Defra has announced an update on the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, reaffirming its commitment to launching the DRS across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in October 2027 and the Environment Agency (EA) has launched a consultation titled ‘River basin planning: working together 2024’, as the first consultation in the process of reviewing and updating river basin management plans (RBMPs) for 2027.

Prime Minister launches Global Clean Power Alliance at G20 summit

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Commission publishes Q&A on importer requirements of EU Methane Regulation

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