New regulations confuse companies

Confusion reigns over which companies will be subject to the new Environmental Information Regulations and what the regulations will mean in practice.
Friends of the Earth, the environmental pressure group, wrote to 40 companies and 122 local authorities to find out whether they were ready for the new rules, which come into force from January 1. A substantial ^number showed that they were not prepared for inquiries from the public under the new regulations.
Onyx, the waste management company, said it would not be covered by the regulations. But in common with other waste management specialists, it is likely to be covered as its activities have an impact on the environment, which the public will be entitled to ask about under the regulations.
Other waste companies took different views. Premier Waste Management said it had an internal procedure for providing environmental information, but that the government should review the financial demands on private sector companies that the regulations would create. Shanks, another waste specialist, said it was taking advice as to its responsibilities under the regulations.
Electricity companies also appear unclear on the regulations. Some have plans in place to provide information under the regulations, but others believe they will not be required to do so.
David Porter, chief executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, said: "These regulations should
not apply to our members as they are not public authorities. Our members do not want to have to submit to additional form-filling when they already provide all the necessary information to the Environment Agency, who in turn are able to make it available to the public."
However, other companies have been preparing for the regulations to take effect. Eon UK said it did regard itself bound by them, and advised members of the public to consult its corporate responsibility report in the first instance.
The water sector appears to be best prepared for the coming regime. Most of the companies replying to the FoE survey indicated they were certainly or were likely to be bound by the regulations. United Utilities, Anglian Water, Thames Water, Northumbrian Water, South West Water and Three Valleys Water said they were taking steps to ensure that procedures were in place to deal with inquiries from the public under the new regulations.
United Utilities said: "[We] welcome the introduction of these regulations. We are committed to being an open and honest company."
Some of the least prepared organisations seem to be in the public sector. Nearly 40 per cent of the local authorities asked by FoE for copies of their waste management contracts, which they should be able to supply under the old and new regulations, did not respond to the request.
Of those authorities that did reply, some failed to provide the correct information. For instance, East Sussex directed inquiries to its web-site, but the data on the site had insufficient detail.