§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why Her Majesty's Government agreed to the incorporation in law of the principle that the polluter should pay for the cost of clearing the pollution created; and how he intends to implement this policy in relation to the pollution of public water supplies with nitrates.
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§ Mrs. RumboldThe polluter pays principle is not formally incorporated into United Kingdom law, although it is an aim of Government policy that the principle should be observed. This is reflected, for example, in parts of the Control of Pollution Act 1974. The Government also support the 1972 OECD and 1975 EC recommendations on the PPP, but these are not legally binding; nor do they require payment where discharges are within the level acceptable to the control authority. Nitrate enters public water supplies from a variety of sources, some of which present practical problems for the application of the PPP. However, the principle is already being observed by farmers who incur costs or lose revenue, in order to follow the requirements of the code of good agricultural practice so as to reduce the risk of nitrate pollution. This issue is one of several being considered further by the Nitrate Coordination Group.