Lesson 2 Flashcards
What is the Environment Act 2021 designed to do?
- improve air and water quality
- tackle waste
- increase recycling
- halt the decline of species
- improve the natural environment of the UK.
Who is the Environment Act 2021 enforced by?
Office for Environmental Protection (OEP)
What does the OEP do?
holds government and public bodies to account in terms of their environmental obligations.
What is the 25 Year Environment Plan?
A policy that aims to improve the UK’s natural environment within a generation
What does the 25 Year Environment Plan aim to ensure?
- clean air
- clean and plentiful water
- thriving plants and wildlife
- reduced risk of harm from environmental
- hazards (e.g. flooding and drought)
- use of resources from nature more - sustainably and efficiently
- enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment.
What does the 25 Year Environment Plan aim to ensure in the UK?
- mitigates and adapts to climate change
- minimises waste
- manages exposure to chemicals
- enhances biosecurity (protects the population against harmful biological or biochemical substances).
What are the 6 key policy areas the 25 Year Environment Plan focuses on?
1) Using and managing land sustainably.
2) Recovering nature and enhancing the beauty of landscapes.
3) Connecting people with the environment to improve health and wellbeing.
4) Increasing resource efficiency, and reducing pollution and waste.
5) Securing clean, productive and biologically diverse seas and oceans.
6) Protecting and improving the global environment.
What is the waste hierarchy?
a guideline to a preferred approach to waste management, from least sustainable (disposal) to most sustainable (prevention).
What is the waste hierarchy’s goal?
to reduce waste, which in turn feeds into ‘maintenance of finite planetary resources’.
What are the 6 components to the waste hierarchy?
1) Reduce by minimising material used
2) Re-use components or items again
3) Recycle by processing materials, reuse
4) Recover the energy from the material
5) Treat waste to minimise pollution
6) Dispose by throwing away (eg landfill)
What gases are there national limits for?
- sulphur dioxide
- nitrogen oxides
- particulate matter (eg PM10and PM2.5)
- benzene
- carbon monoxide
- ozone
What is the Environment Act 2021 going to do to improve air quality?
- sets a target on ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations, the most harmful pollutants to human health
- requires local authorities to tackle air quality
- simplifies enforcement within smoke-control areas
What can water quality be affected by?
the localgeology as well as human activities such as sewage dispersion and industrial pollution.
What contaminants of water?
- microorganismssuch asviruses and bacteria
- pesticidesandherbicides from agriculture and related industries
- salts, metals and chemical contaminants from industrial processes and petroleum products
- radioactivematter.
What is the Environment Act 2021 going to do to improve water quality?
- Statutory water management plans to improve government collaboration with water companies.
- Closer monitoring of storm overflows, including ensuring water companies and the Environment Agency (EA) report annually on storm overflow activity.
- Improved monitoring of the most harmful substances in our water.
What does NVZs?
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
NVZs cover how much of the UK?
55%
Who are NVZs monitored and enforced by?
Environment Agency
Producers must meet all NVZ and cross-compliance rules to qualify for payments from?
- the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)
- the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which includes the Countryside Stewardship and Countryside Productivity schemes.
What 3 concepts were introduced by the Environment Act 2021?
- Biodiversity duty
- Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs)
- Biodiversity net gain
Describe biodiversity duty?
Biodiversity duty, which requires local authorities to consider how they can conserve biodiversity and deliver policies that will be effective (eg managing allotments, parks and gardens, reducing tree felling, creating ‘nature corridors’).
Describe Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs)?
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) run by local government, which map valuable habitats and identify where nature can be restored to support a ‘Nature Recovery Network’.
Describe biodiversity net gain?
Biodiversity net gain: building developers must demonstrate a net gain in biodiversity of 10% to gain planning permission for new developments
What does the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protect certain animals and wild birds from?
- killing or injury
- being taken (including eggs and nests)
- having their places of shelter interfered with.
