§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list (i) the new duties which he plans to give the Environment Agency in England and Wales and (ii) the resources which the Government will provide to the Agency to carry them out; and if he will make a statement. [61194]
§ Mr. MealeThe Environment Agency will undertake new duties, shortly, under the COMAH and Groundwater Regulations. Other legislation in preparation, such as the Pollution Prevention and Control Bill and regulations on Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Terphenyls, may also place new obligations on the Agency.
In common with the Agency's other regulatory expenditure it is proposed that the annual cost of work on the (CIMAH) Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 (£1.3m) and on the Groundwater Regulations 1998 (£3m), and the cost of other new obligations will be recovered largely through charges on those regulated. For preparatory work and other costs for which charging is not feasible the Agency may draw on its annual block allocation of grant-in-aid which will be increased to over £106 million in 1999–2000 following this year's Comprehensive Spending Review.