Environment enforcement that never stopped

The article that appeared last week in The Sunday Times under the title 'Enforcement unit dismantled' gave the impression that environment enforcement in Malta has come to a standstill.

This is totally untrue - environment enforcement is still being carried out on a daily basis. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority on a number of occasions outlined that the functions which had previously been carried out by a single inspectorate are now integrated into the various units of the Environment Protection Directorate (EPD). This is far from 'dismantling'.

During 2008, the EPD underwent restructuring to meet and address the growing challenges and current needs. The out-dated structure of Resource Management Unit (RMU), Nature Protection Unit (NPU) and Pollution Prevention and Control unit (PPCU) was replaced by six units that responded to changed obligations in the national and environmental sectors. Staff pertaining to the inspectorate team within the PPCU, were re-assigned to the various units to carry out their duties in a more efficient and effective manner. So, it is hardly surprising that no action was taken by the PPCU in 2009 when this unit had been re-deployed a year earlier.

A fundamental aspect of the restructuring was to strengthen the link between environmental permitting and enforcement. In the past, inspectors were not actively involved in the writing of permits, resulting in unenforceable conditions or permits which did not address the real environmental risks on the ground.

This separation also went against all established EU best practice in environmental permitting, which stresses a risk-based approach and a shift away from classical reactive enforcement in favour of environmental auditing and pro-active measures, particularly for industrial installations, which pose the greatest risk to the environment. Industrial activities were brought within the portfolio of a single unit (Environmental Permitting and Industry) with the aim of creating a single focal point and one-stop shop for industry. As part of this process, industrial permits are now completely drafted, consulted and audited by the Environmental Permitting and Industry Unit. The environmental enforcement function is also an important and fundamental part of the work carried out by this unit.

Reference was also made to a 2004 EU funded project aimed at capacity building in enforcement. The aims of the project were threefold: It provided a review of the institutional framework across the environmental sector; it made recommendations for improvement of co- ordination between the various organisations involved in environmental enforcement; it provided an extensive training programme for approximately 250 trainees, including all Mepa enforcement personnel, the police (ALE), wardens, representatives of environmental NGOs, and personnel from a number of other public authorities.

All Mepa staff trained under this programme, that are still in Mepa employment, remain primarily tasked with enforcement and implementation issues whatever unit they operate in. Statistics show that bet-ween February and September 2009, the Environmental Permitting and Industry Unit carried out 115 inspection visits on sites considered to pose a potentially significant risk to the environment, while 106 cases related to biodiversity were investigated.

Part of the Mepa reform envisages the setting up of an Enforcement Directorate which will be responsible for monitoring and taking enforcement action in respect of planning and environment cases. This will allow the EPD to focus on more specialised environmental auditing of higher risk installations. On its part, the Enforcement Directorate will focus more on investigative enforcement and a more timely and effective response to public complaints.