PRELIMINARY (Hansard, 2 May 1990)

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
I beg to move amendment No. 26, in page 2, line 23, leave out '(carried on by any person)' and insert 'carried on in Great Britain, whether on premises or by means of mobile plant,'.

§ Mr. Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to consider the following: Government amendments Nos. 27 to 32, amendment No. 240, in clause 4, page 6, line 12, leave out from 'air' to end of line 13 and insert 'or land (but not water)'. Government amendments Nos. 33 to 36.
1137 Amendment No. 147, in clause 6, page 8, line 10, after 'applicant', insert 'has assessed the likely effects of the process on the environment in an adequate manner and'. Government amendments Nos. 39, 42 to 45, 50 to 54, 56 to 58.
Amendment No. 293, in clause 20, page 22, line 19, at end insert— '(6) No proceedings in respect of an offence under this section shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or by the enforcing authority.'. Government amendments Nos. 59 to 61.
Amendment No. 294, in clause 28, page 29, line 2, at end insert— '(9A) No proceedings in respect of an offence under this section shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or by the enforcing authority.'. Government amendments 91 and 92.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
Most of the Government amendments in this group are minor drafting amendments, while others have been tabled to give effect to commitments made in Committee.

§ Mrs. Ann Taylor
We welcome some of the Government amendments that meet commitments given to us in Committee, but the Minister will have noted amendment No. 147, standing in our names, which raises the important question of environmental impact assessments. The Minister should not be surprised to see the amendment on the amendment paper because we discussed the matter in Committee, and the Government stated that they would be bringing forward regulations under schedule 1 to the Bill, requiring applicants for authorisations under integrated pollution control to furnish information about the effects of the processes for which they were applying on the environment. We still feel that it would be better if that part of the regulations was not left in that form but written into the Bill.
I hope that, even if the Minister is unwilling to accept our amendment tonight, he will look at the matter again; otherwise, the impact of integrated pollution control in protecting the environment will not be maximised. I hope that the Minister will give us a positive assurance that he will look at the matter and keep an open mind, and perhaps in another place, when there is more time to debate the matter, he will reconsider environmental assessments. If we are to make real progress, integrated pollution control and environmental assessments ought to go hand in hand.

§ Mr. Hunter (Basingstoke)
With the utmost brevity, I wish to refer to my amendments Nos. 293 and 294.
I belong to the school of thought that believes that industry creates the wealth that pays for welfare services. I believe that industry will likewise ultimately pay for the protection of our environment. My fear, which I expressed in Committee, is that, as it stands, the Bill will allow the green nutters to get on parade and have a field day of litigation against industry, on entirely inconsequential grounds.
Amendments Nos. 293 and 294 simply seek to establish a filter against unnecessary third-party campaigns of accusations against industrial processes. That point was not sufficiently taken on board in Committee and I make no apology for referring to it, albeit in such little detail.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
It is true that the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) raised the subject of amendment No. 147 in Committee. I am sympathetic to the intention of the amendment. Indeed, I undertake to bring forward regulations that will require the operator of a process to include in his application an assessment of the likely effect on the environment of releases from the process. That is an appropriate, flexible but certain way of delivering what the hon. Lady wishes.

§ Mrs. Ann Taylor
I am grateful to the Minister for accepting the point. Why is he so resistant to writing it into the Bill?

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
Some matters are better achieved by writing them into the Bill where they are set in concrete and some matters are better left to regulations because they may be subject to amendment and changes in the light of experience which would not alter the effect of what is required. That would build in flexibility to suit the action to circumstances. However, that in no way weakens our commitment to require from an applicant an assessment of the likely consequences on the environment of releases. I assure the hon. Lady that the final regulations will fully put into place what she requests in amendment No. 147. Perhaps with that in mind she will consider not pressing her amendment.
Unfortunately, I must continue to disappoint my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mr. Hunter). We discussed new clause 3 on Monday, and we remain convinced that in this case, if, an individual has the necessary evidence to mount a case, he should be free to do so without recourse to the Director of Public Prosecutions. We must rely on the courts to deliver justice in this case.

§ Mr. Hunter
In coming to that conclusion, what assessment did my hon. Friend make of the cost of that process to industry? Does he accept that innumerable people will be likely to challenge an industrial process on the basis of no technical knowledge whatever and that that will result in a cost to industry and to those who indulge in litigation? It will not help the environmental cause but merely incur costs.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
I remain of the view that the commitment of industry to pollution control is the surest defence against such litigation. I also believe that access to the courts without necessarily resorting to the DPP is fully in line with other parts of the Bill. I must stick by the line that we took on Monday, which was accepted by the House then.