Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
The Environmental Regulation (Enforcement Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2023 provides SEPA with access to civil enforcement measures for offences in two existing pieces of legislation—data reporting regulations that enable upcoming reforms to extended producer responsibility for packaging, and the amending DRS regulations that were passed by this Parliament last year, which added one new offence in response to calls from industry. SEPA is already responsible for the enforcement of both EPR and DRS regulations but, currently, when an offence is committed under either set of regulations, the agency’s only option is to report the matter to the procurator fiscal for criminal prosecution.
This technical instrument provides more flexibility to SEPA. It adds those offences to the existing list in the 2015 enforcement order, meaning that SEPA can turn to civil sanctions where appropriate. This makes a substantial difference to SEPA’s enforcement options. Criminal prosecution through the courts takes time and the results are uncertain. Upon conviction for these offences, a court can impose a fine of up to £10,000 on summary conviction, or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.
In contrast, the values for fixed monetary policies associated with the civil sanctions—