The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issued civil penalties of £85,700 during 2023 to those who broke environmental regulations, including a Musselburgh business which was fined £300.
Anthony Barclay of Musselburgh was issued with a £300 penalty for transporting controlled waste in the course of business, or otherwise with a view to profit, without a waste carrier licence.
But the largest penalty was handed out to DSM Nutritional Products (UK) Limited of Dalry Ayrshire under the F-gas regulations. The company was fined £75,000 for “failing to provide a leakage detection system on equipment containing powerful greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change”.
Jennifer Shearer, Head of Enforcement at SEPA, said: “Civil penalties are a vital part of our enforcement toolkit, providing a deterrence to those who choose toignore Scotland’s environmental regulations. Enforcement action is a key part of our job as a regulator, ensuring we disrupt and take action against those who harm the environment, communities and legitimate businesses.
“We have a range of enforcement tools available to us depending on the scale and impact of offending including disruption activities, partnership activity with other regulators and authorities, final warning letters, statutory notices, licence suspensions, fixed and variable monetary penalties and reports to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) We’re committed to being proportionate, consistent, accountable and transparent in our enforcement outcomes.”
There are two levels of fixed monetary penalties of £300 or £600 for more minor offences such as breaches of water use licences, or discharges of sewage effluent, and 13 of these were imposed in Scotland. SEPA can issue fixed monetary penalties for a specified offence and are normally appropriate where an offence has caused minimal environmental harm with no lasting effects, and where little if any financial benefit arises from the offence.
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