The Integration of Pollution Control

Abstract

the current policy on pollution control adopted by the Government of the United Kingdom. It maintains that the Government takes a precautionary approach to the control of pollutants, relating the scale of effort to the degree of risk. This basic principle is said to be guided by a number of additional aims: to prevent pollution at source; to minimize the risk to human health and the environment; to encourage and apply the most advanced technical solutions, while recognizing the integrated nature of the environment and the need to achieve the best practicable environmental option; to apply a 'critical loads' approach by assessing the levels of pollutant that local environments can tolerate; and to ensure that the polluter pays for the necessary controls. The White Paper states that these principles are united in a new system of 'integrated pollution control'. This essay examines the concept of integrated pollution control, and evaluates the extent to which the system introduced by the Government justifies the use of that accolade. It also analyses the role of the law in the establishment of integrated pollution control, and discusses the relationship between law and administrative policy in the implementation of a new method of environmental protection.