ABSTRACT
There are a number of changes being made to the regulators. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has been reviewed.35 The EA’s36 legislation is also to be reviewed in order to examine the mechanisms under which the Agency operates. The aim is to simplify the regulatory process and to ‘identify any significant obstacles which hinder them from taking a holistic approach to safeguarding the environment’. The consultation process will take about a year and will not look at integration of the agencies or the philosophical approaches underlying the different regulatory regimes.37 The Planning Inspectorate is also being reviewed.38 A number of changes to the regulatory system have been outlined in the Green Paper on Utility Regulation – A Fair Deal for Consumers, March 1998, and the Government’s Response to Consultation, May 1998.39 Sustainability will also be part of the responsibility of the devolved Parliaments and the Regional Development Agencies.
