§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements they are making to ensure proper liaison between the various regulatory bodies involved in the control of those processes covered by integrated pollution control.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Baroness Blatch)HM Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) has recently signed two memoranda of understanding, one with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the other with the National Rivers Authority (NRA).
These memoranda are designed to ensure effective co-ordination of the regulation of plant subject to control under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The memorandum with HSE is concerned with the interface between the two organisations in respect of discharges—primarily those to air—and issues arising from the protection of persons at work and the public under the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The memorandum with the NRA deals with issues relating to discharges to water.
Copies of both memoranda have been placed in the Library of the House.