{"id":14716,"date":"2023-12-13T13:11:01","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/?p=14716"},"modified":"2023-12-13T13:11:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:11:03","slug":"uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Eliminates Cap on Penalties on Polluting Companies"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-14716\" data-postid=\"14716\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-14716 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n\n\n<p>The UK government announced that it has scrapped a limit on penalties that its Environmental Agency can impose on companies that pollute the environment through Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs), its civic sanctions system that can impose fines directly through regulators, and expanded the range of pollution offences covered by the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to the revision, VMP penalties were capped at \u00a3250,000. Going forward, the UK\u2019s Department for Environment, Food &amp; Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that penalties will be proportionate to company size and to the nature of the offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DEFRA added that the new unlimited penalties form part of the government\u2019s measures \u201cto ensure there is more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement across the water system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cBy lifting the cap on these sanctions, we are simultaneously toughening our enforcement tools and expanding where regulators can use them. These changes will deliver a proportionate punishment for operators that breach their permits and cause pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The changes to the penalty system also include expanding VMPs to activities that are regulated under an environmental permit, which include manufacturing, power generation, waste disposal, and mining, among a range of other activities. The changes, which are now in effect, follow a consultation launched by the government in Spring 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Environment Agency Executive Director John Leyland said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cThe threat of uncapped financial penalties should boost compliance with environmental laws \u2013 helping us provide stronger protection to the environment, communities and nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government announced that it has scrapped a limit on penalties that its Environmental Agency can impose on companies that pollute the environment through Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs), its civic sanctions system that can impose fines directly through regulators, and expanded the range of pollution offences covered by the system. Prior to the revision, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12,31],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK Eliminates Cap on Penalties on Polluting Companies - ESG Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Eliminates Cap on Penalties on Polluting Companies - ESG Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK government announced that it has scrapped a limit on penalties that its Environmental Agency can impose on companies that pollute the environment through Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs), its civic sanctions system that can impose fines directly through regulators, and expanded the range of pollution offences covered by the system. Prior to the revision, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ESG Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ESGToday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-13T13:11:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-13T13:11:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/UK-DEFRA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Segal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EsgToday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EsgToday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Segal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Segal\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cca7a2b05e3a06d096e5740fb1433a01\"},\"headline\":\"UK Eliminates Cap on Penalties on Polluting Companies\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-13T13:11:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-13T13:11:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Companies\",\"Environment\",\"Government\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/uk-eliminates-cap-on-penalties-on-polluting-companies\/\",\"name\":\"UK Eliminates Cap on Penalties on Polluting Companies - 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