§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when his Department's review of the operation of the Environment Act 1995 will be completed. [22752]
§ Angela EagleMy Department is not carrying out a review of the operation of the Environment Act 1995 as a whole. However, I refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 17 December 1997 to my hon. Friend the Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien),Official Report, columns 193–94, and on 22 December 1997 to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman), Official Report, column 439. The former announced the objectives and timing of a review of the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, which were made under sections 93–95 of the Environment Act 1995. The latter announced the outcome of the Government's review of the proposed statutory regime for contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which was inserted by section 57 of the Environment Act 1995. The Government also announced in July last year that they intended to review by the end of 1998 the National Air Quality Strategy set in place under section 80 of the Environment Act 1995.