Environment Agency Of England Research Articles

Pinpointing Persistent Polluters: Environmental Offending and Recidivist Companies in England

ABSTRACT The extent to which firms can be deterred from offending has received significant attention. Despite this, the evidence for such deterrence remains inconclusive. This article suggests that instead of focusing on the deterrence aimed at companies, we should instead begin with a less contentious observation; that companies are frequently recidivists, and that an emphasis on the factors associated with company recidivism would be a useful starting point for thinking about offending by firms. The article explores this through an investigation of companies pursued by the UK’s Environment Agency in England between 2000 and 2016. The logistic regression analysis suggests that being a utilities company, a large enterprise or a new company were all predictive of repeat offending. Conversely, whether a company was fined after its initial offense was not predictive of whether it would re-offend. The implications of these findings for regulatory work and future research are discussed.

Accountability and offsetting in environmental law enforcement

AbstractSince 2010, the Environment Agency of England has had a range of flexible tools at its disposal to deal with misconduct. One such sanction, enforcement undertaking, is akin to a settlement where the regulator and the offender agree to deal with the breach through a range of promises that may restore and remedy the environmental harm caused by the offence. The majority of these undertakings further require the offender to make donations to charitable environmental causes to improve the environment. However, there is little transparency around the latter promise. Consequently, this article details the findings of a pilot study interrogating the specific implementation of a subset of enforcement undertakings in the North East of England. The article argues that a more transparent enforcement process would address some of the accountability problems arising from the findings, which show that ‘community benefits’ operate as an offset mechanism instead of as a restorative enforcement mechanism.

Can we still predict the future from the past? Implementing non‐stationary flood frequency analysis in the UK

AbstractThe Environment Agency in England is investing £2.5 billion with the aim of reducing flood risk to at least 300,000 homes by 2020/21. Several of the schemes being considered are on rivers that have experienced an upsurge of flooding over recent years. Decisions on whether to invest and how high to build are usually made on the basis of stationary methods of flood frequency analysis that assume the probability of flood flows is unchanging over time. Following successive severe floods in Cumbria, trend tests and non‐stationary flood frequency analysis techniques have been applied. These allow parameters of the frequency distribution to change over time or with some other covariate. The resulting estimates of flow, for the present day, were up to 55% higher than the stationary estimates at river gauges in north‐west England. The results have been incorporated into the scheme appraisal process. A national analysis indicates that there is evidence of upward trends in peak flows at nearly a quarter of river flow gauges across Great Britain. Many rivers show an abrupt increase in flood flows in the late 1990s. Trends tend to occur in upland areas but they are also seen on some rivers across south‐east England.

Securing High Levels of Business Compliance with Environmental Laws: What Works and What to Avoid

Abstract This regulatory reflection considers an elusive question: how to secure high levels of business compliance with environmental laws? It examines, at a time of great uncertainty and challenge for environmental law and policy, what forms of regulatory intervention appear to have worked and some that have clearly failed with a view to drawing lessons. Some fresh evidence is presented on specific environmental interventions which the Environment Agency for England has found appear to work and on some which do not appear to work. It is suggested that despite its many shortcomings well-designed and enforced environmental regulation when aligned to the market delivers huge benefits to society.

Impacts of Environmental Regulation on Sustainable Economic Growth

There is considerable concern and debate about the economic impacts of environmental regulations. Jonathan Fisher, former Economics Manager at the Environment Agency in England and Wales, reviews the available evidence on this subject. Section 2 presents estimates of the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. Section 3 examines the impacts of environmental regulations on economic growth, innovation and technical change as well as impacts on competitiveness and any movement of businesses to less pollution havens. He questions call for greater certainty regarding future environmental regulations, whereas in fact there should be calls for less uncertainty. This section then suggests how this could be achieved. This section then finishes with an overview of the available evidence. This includes an examination of the Porter Hypothesis that environmental regulations can trigger greater innovation that may partially or more than fully offset the compliance costs. Section 4 then sets out principles for how better environmental regulation can improve its impacts on sustainable economic growth and illustrates how the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive is a good example of the application of these principles in practice. Section 5 reviews current and recent political perspectives regarding developments in environmental regulations across the EU and shows how the United Kingdom (UK) has successfully positively managed to influence such developments so that EU environmental regulations now incorporate many of these principles to improve their impacts on economic growth. Section 5.1 then examines the implications of Brexit for UK environmental regulations. Finally, Section 6 sets out some best practice principles to improve the impacts of environmental regulation on sustainable economic growth, innovation and technical change.

A flood risk analysis model with topographical inundation and life-loss

Quantified models of flood risk that incorporate an explicit representation of the performance of flood defence infrastructure are becoming an increasingly important component of efforts to manage flood risk. The models have been applied to support a wide range of decisions, including long-term strategic planning, assessment of investment needs and shorter-term asset management. The model currently applied in practice by the Environment Agency in England and Wales makes a number of simplifying assumptions to achieve computationally practical run-times. One of these simplifications relates to the volume-based flood-spreading algorithm that is applied. This paper describes the implementation of a new time-based inundation model within the existing risk analysis modelling approach. The new inundation model offers a significant increase in the representation of the physical processes within the flood simulation component of the risk analysis model. It also offers new outputs in terms of estimates of maximum depths and flood velocities. Velocities are known to be an important factor in flood-related fatalities. A simplified method to estimate life-loss has been combined with new output from the improved inundation model to illustrate how estimates of risk to life could be provided.

Comparison of Constant and Transient‐Source Zones on Simulated Contaminant Plume Evolution in Groundwater: Implications for Hydrogeological Risk Assessment

AbstractContaminant fate and transport models used for hydrogeological risk assessment commonly include an assumed constant source concentration to predict downgradient concentrations in groundwater. This assumption is unrealistic in many cases where nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) are the contaminant source. In this study the effect of a constant and transient (declining) source term on contaminant plume chemistry and groundwater impacts predicted by a hydrogeological risk assessment model is investigated for the release of dissolved phase constituents from an unleaded petroleum fuel light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL). Two transient source models were developed: a mass balance model and an exponential decay model. Both use Raoult's Law to describe the aqueous phase partitioning and depletion of organic compounds from a multicomponent LNAPL source to groundwater. The models were used to estimate the changing LNAPL composition and effective aqueous solubility of six common constituents (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, methyl‐tert‐butyl‐ether, and tert‐amyl‐methyl‐ether) in a representative unleaded petroleum fuel. The predicted source concentrations were then compared with groundwater quality data from a contaminated site. The source concentrations estimated from these models were propagated into a hydrogeological risk assessment model using the Remedial Targets Worksheet v3.1 developed by the Environment Agency of England and Wales. Different groundwater impacts and associated estimates of risk were predicted between the constant and transient source simulations. These are illustrated using simple calculations and established risk assessment methods. The constant‐source model predicted higher contaminant concentrations at the compliance point, which also persisted over a much longer duration. Consequently, there was a greater requirement for remedial action estimated using the hydrogeological model in scenarios that assumed a constant‐source. This could result in unnecessary remedial action in cases where no unacceptable risk is predicted when a more representative description of a declining source is used.

Counting fish: Performative data, anglers’ knowledge-practices and environmental measurement

This paper examines how environmental resources are measured and quantified as objects of environmental science and management and how lay knowledge-producers participate in this process, alongside the state. Using a case study of recreational angling, I show how fish in English rivers and lakes are counted and anglers act as lay or amateur knowledge-producers in the state’s metrological knowledge-practices. As embodied measurement instruments, anglers create data about themselves (as ‘effort data’) and about fish (as ‘catch returns’). These data are combined with other forms of data produced by the Environment Agency in England and Wales and used for fisheries management, thus shaping water bodies and fish ecology. I show how, to support environmental measurement, the state manages not only the environment and fish, but also anglers as lay knowledge-producers, using both regulation and economic incentives; in response, anglers also use data reflexively and strategically. I therefore emphasise the heterogeneous co-productions of environmental measurement as amateur–professional, human–animal and organic–technological, and show how measuring and managing water ecologies also involves measuring and managing humans.

Energy from waste: carbon footprint of incineration and landfill biogas in the UK

The majority of waste in many countries is still landfilled. This represents waste of valuable resources and could lead to higher emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to energy recovered by incineration, even when the landfill gas is recovered. This paper aims to find out which option is more sustainable with respect to the carbon footprint (global warming potential) by comparing energy recovered from MSW incineration with that from biogas recovered from landfilled waste. Life cycle assessment has been used as a tool, following the ISO 14040/44 and PAS 2050 methodologies. Data have been sourced from the operator of the incinerator, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, the CCaLC and Ecoinvent databases. CCaLC v2 and GaBi v4.3 have been used for the LCA modelling. The carbon footprint of MSW incineration is −0.179 t CO2 eq./t MSW while that from landfilling is 0.395 t CO2 eq./t MSW, with both systems credited for energy recovery. The results are sensitive to the composition of waste, energy options chosen to credit the systems and the recovery rate of biogas. Increasing the amount of fossil carbon in the waste by increasing paper recycling between 40 and 80 % increases the carbon footprint of incineration by 9–20 %. If instead of the electricity from the UK grid, electricity from heavy fuel oil or coal is assumed to be displaced by incineration, its carbon footprint reduces to −0.51 and −0.35 t CO2 eq./t MSW, respectively. Increasing the landfill gas recovery from 53 to 75 % and its utilisation for energy from 35 to 50 %, reduces the carbon footprint of landfilling by a half. The results indicate that waste incineration offers significant savings of GHG compared to disposal by landfill. Based on the total amount of MSW of 225,000 t/year considered in this study, MSW incineration could save around 129 kt of CO2 eq. per year compared to landfilling with biogas recovery, with both systems co-generating heat and electricity. At the UK level, diverting all MSW that is currently landfilled to incineration with energy recovery could save around 8.38 million tonnes of CO2 eq. per year or 1.5 % of the total UK GHG emissions. These savings can be increased further by recycling of bottom ash and non-ferrous metals. Incineration remains a better option than landfilling under all the conditions considered in this study.

A rapid model for estimating the depletion in river flows due to groundwater abstraction

AbstractThe Environment Agency of England and Wales uses its calibrated regional models to estimate the reduction in river flows resulting from proposed groundwater abstractions. Where there is no regional model, analytical equations can produce quick initial estimates of river flow depletion. However, users often want more confidence in their estimates by representing more faithfully their understanding of the real river–aquifer system. This paper shows that, when using a numerical model designed to predict river flow depletion, it is important to include adjacent catchments and intermittent streams and less important to include river elevations and variations in transmissivity with groundwater head. Recharge does not usually need to be included unless part of the river becomes disconnected or dry. Therefore, for rivers where stream length is constant and transmissivity variations are small, it is valid to use a ‘no-recharge’ depletion model, which can be built quickly (within a month). A case study on the River Leith in NW England illustrates the use of such a model to assess the ecological impact of two groundwater abstraction licences under the European Union Habitats Directive.

Recharge estimation methodologies employed by the Environment Agency of England and Wales for the purposes of regional groundwater resource modelling

AbstractRecharge calculations based on daily soil moisture balance models define the resource available for most regional-scale groundwater models used by the environmental regulator in England and Wales. A switch in recent years from the Penman–Grindley methodology to the Food and Agricultural Organization approach has improved the representation of soil properties in these calculations. A new Meteorological Office algorithm for calculating potential evapotranspiration inputs has also been adopted and rain-gauge data processing on individual models are currently being streamlined towards the use of nationally derived grids. A range of infiltration, bypass and runoff–recharge mechanisms have been conceptualized and modelled incorporating simple representation of unsaturated zone storage and flow processes. This paper reviews the recent changes adopted and considers future challenges.

A national approach to groundwater modelling: developing a programme and establishing technical standards

AbstractIn the 1970s regional groundwater modelling began to be used in support of many hydrogeological investigations in the UK. A number of the studies were concerned with groundwater development at a regional scale in conjunctive use schemes; elsewhere the effect of pumping from aquifers on river flows or the ingress of saline water was considered. Due to the limited power of digital computers at that time, special numerical codes were often prepared for individual projects, with consequent inefficiency and inconsistency of practice. However, by the mid 1990s the need to formalize and standardize groundwater modelling projects was recognized. The Environment Agency of England and Wales prepared a strategy to manage and monitor the projects. A Template Project Brief was prepared to define the many tasks involved in groundwater studies and to clarify the roles of contractor and client (Environment Agency). In addition Guidance Notes were prepared to disseminate procedures and techniques that had resulted in successful outcomes. This paper summarizes some of the earlier studies, provides information about the Project Brief and Guidance Notes and illustrates some critical issues in groundwater modelling by reference to two case studies.

Start, development and status of the regulator-led national groundwater resources modelling programme in England and Wales

Abstract Over the last 10 years there has been a unique regulator-led programme involving extensive development of regional groundwater models across England and Wales for water resources purposes by the Environment Agency for England and Wales. Eight regionally managed programmes are underpinned by a framework, which has allowed a coordinated national approach. The main uses of the models are for catchment abstraction management and licensing. Models have also assisted in monitoring network design, investigating groundwater quality and implementing groundwater source protection zones. A five-yearly review of the programmes recognized the importance of benefit realization and stakeholder involvement as well as technical good practice. The programme already delivered provides a solid foundation for supporting the management decisions required in areas such as climate change mitigation and integrated catchment management using appropriate tools at a time of rapid organization change and financial uncertainty.

Chromium behavior during cement-production processes: A clinkerization, hydration, and leaching study

The behavior of chromium during the production of cement clinker, during the hydration of cement and during the leaching of cement mortars was investigated. The microstructures of clinker and mortar properties were investigated using free lime, XRD, SEM/EDS, and TG/DTA techniques. Chromium was found to be incorporated in the clinker phase. The formation of new chromium compounds such as Ca 6Al 4Cr 2O 15, Ca 5Cr 3O 12, Ca 5Cr 2SiO 12, and CaCr 2O 7, with chromium oxidation states of +3, +4.6, +5, and +6, respectively, was detected. After the hydration process, additional chromium compounds were identified in the mortar matrix, including Ca 5(CrO 4) 3OH, CaCrO 4·2H 2O, and Al 2(OH) 4CrO 4, with chromium oxidation states of +4.6, +6, and +6, respectively. Additionally, some species of chromium, such as Cr 3+ from Ca 6Al 4Cr 2O 15 and Cr 6+ from CaCr 2O 7, CaCrO 4·2H 2O, and Al 2(OH) 4CrO 4, were leached during leaching tests, whereas other species remained in the mortar. The concentrations of chromium that leached from the mortar following U.S. EPA Method 1311 and EA NEN 7375:2004 leaching tests were higher than limits set by the U.S. EPA and the Environment Agency of England and Wales related to hazardous waste disposal in landfills. Thus, waste containing chromium should not be allowed to mix with raw materials in the cement manufacturing process.

Eliciting fuzzy distributions from experts for ranking conceptual risk model components

An expert elicitation methodology was developed to integrate scientific knowledge from many studies at different spatial and temporal scales. The methodology utilised a structured one-to-one interview to elicit scale-dependent conceptual models and expert-weightings for conceptual model components. It was designed to inform large scale catchment risk analyses but, equally, could be applied to many other environmental applications where expert opinion is required to fill knowledge-gaps. Both quantitative (fuzzy rankings) and qualitative information was collected. The risk analyses relate to those carried out by the Environment Agency of England and Wales to meet their European Water Framework Directive obligations associated with the protection of surface water ecology. Specifically, the information elicited was required to inform future risk analyses and inform strategies to reduce the associated uncertainties.Development of the methodology focussed on minimising potential biases associated with the information elicited and on the obtaining fuzzy rankings consistent with experts’ reasoning. Minimisation of biases was afforded by making the experts aware of potential biases before the elicitation began; the success of this strategy was however difficult to assess within the scope of the study. However, the one-to-one interview provides enough feedback to give some confidence that this strategy has value. The main limitation of the approach is the time-consuming nature of one-to-one interviews, which may lead to interviewee fatigue.There was generally good agreement between experts on the components chosen to be included in the conceptual models and on the assigned fuzzy rankings: although very broad distributions indicating significant uncertainty was a common response. The principal components chosen were dominated by physical factors that control hydrological pathways and connectivity of the landscape to surface waters. Uncertainties were generally associated with the heterogeneity and variability of unique catchments, which combined with sparse observations, makes it difficult to apply current scientific knowledge. These uncertainties are compounded by the fact that current process understanding is largely informed by small scale experiments, where the rules for upscaling remain under-researched: the experts were required to undertake this upscaling during the elicitation. In the absence of knowledge at the appropriate scales, the scale-dependent information elicited is necessary to utilise many scientific theories and ultimately provides hypotheses to be tested using large scale experimentation.

Decision conferencing for science prioritisation in the UK public sector: a dual case study

Decision Conferencing, a decision analytic approach, was introduced for science project prioritisation in two organisations of the UK public sector: the National Measurement System Programmes, Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (now part of the National Measurement Office, an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and the Science Department of the Environment Agency of England and Wales. Despite some similarities between the organisations, they responded in quite different ways. We describe the organisational contexts in the two organisations, the process by which Decision Conferencing was introduced, and explore possible reasons for the differing experiences.

Determining significant damage to groundwater-dependent terrestrial ecosystems in England and Wales for use in implementation of the Water Framework Directive

This paper outlines the procedure developed in the United Kingdom to determine whether a wetland is groundwater-dependent and damaged or at risk of damage as a result of groundwater quality or quantity pressures. First, we determined which sites were thought to be critically dependent on groundwater; we then worked to quantify the risk of damage. Results were verified by local ecologists and hydrogeologists who advised on the cause(s) of damage to each site, and the level of risk and confidence in that judgement. Second, we classified each groundwater body at good or poor status, using site condition assessments of sites protected for nature conservation to identify actual ecological damage, and a seven-step process to assess whether the environmental supporting conditions for each site were met, and if not, whether the departure was due to poor groundwater quality or inadequate quantity. The Environment Agency for England and Wales is also promoting wetlands as cost-effective measures to a number of catchment pressures, particularly the reduction of sedimentation and eutrophication, as part of the ecosystem services approach adopted by the United Kingdom Government.

A modelling assessment of contaminant distributions in the Severn Estuary

The regulatory requirements imposed by the Habitats Directive (EU 93/43/EEC) require the Environment Agency for England and Wales (EA) to review consented discharges and determine whether they are compliant with Environmental Quality Standards (EQS). Since the EQS are annual averages, model predictions, and sample comparisons, should be made on an annual average basis. Advection and dispersion of metal contaminants in the Severn Estuary were computed using a coupled 1-D and 2-D hydrodynamic-water quality model. The external inputs of dissolved copper, arsenic, mercury and chromium to the model were from 66 industrial discharges and sewage treatment works and 30 rivers. The annual average predicted concentrations were compared with the annual average dissolved metal concentrations from the 2004 and 2005 monitoring programme, and any discrepancy used to identify the role of additional processes, mainly involving the sediments. This ability to separate anthropogenic inputs from internal estuarine processes contributes to a better understanding of the functioning of the estuary and hence an improved management capability. The paper discusses the approach in designing scenarios and characterising uncertainty, when decision-making in the regulatory context.

European agencies as agents of governance and EU learning

This article asks how the EU as a regional organization manages to learn and adapt to policy challenges. It investigates the evolution of one regional level and one national environmental agency (the European Environment Agency and the Environment Agency of England and Wales) which have distinct roles in influencing EU environmental policy performance. The article examines the role of agencies and bureaucracies more generally, investigating some of the assumptions made in the bureaucracy literature, particularly concerning principal–agent models. The focus on agencies helps to illuminate two potential dimensions of the EU process: overcoming the original institutional design and the role of organizational and policy learning.

Better environmental regulation — contributions from risk-based decision-making

Internationally, pressure is being exerted on governments and regulators to develop modern forms of regulation that deliver more for less, and in better ways. We discuss the ways in which one large regulator, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, has responded to such pressures by implementing risk-based approaches to regulation. After exploring the context for key elements of risk-based environmental regulation, we consider the evolving influence of such approaches. We discuss the impacts against the UK Government's principles for better regulation and the key criteria for policy evaluation, before considering some of the challenges: the need to i) understand the best practice and promote consistency in risk-based regulation; ii) develop reliable, responsive forms of risk assessment and monitoring; iii) build capacities for responsive risk regulation; iv) evaluate the influence of different regulatory styles; and v) better understand the potential role of the private sector.