Those who carry out criminal activity impacting on Scotland’s environment will be targeted through new legislation, the Scottish Government has said. The SNP Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead set up the Environmental Crime Taskforce in November 2011, to crackdown on serious offenders and strengthen the response to criminal activity.
The Taskforce has now reported back with proposals including:
enhanced powers of entry
power to seize documents in relation to suspected criminal activity.
It comes as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) also announce the creation of a Waste Crime Team to lead investigation directed at tackling the most serious waste crime offenders in Scotland.
Accepting the recommendations laid out by the Environmental Crime Taskforce, Mr Lochhead said: “Criminal activity which hurts our environment is something which the Scottish Government refuses to tolerate. We in Scotland have won the natural lottery and any activity which threatens our beautiful country must be stopped. There are a number of communities and businesses who are impacted, but also people living and visiting Scotland.
“The creation of the Waste Crime Team will undoubtedly help in the fight against those who hold no regard for Scotland’s environment. It is only right that we do all we can to make sure to deter criminals who give no consideration to Scotland’s environment.”
And Calum McDonald, SEPA Executive Director said: “SEPA’s new Waste Crime Team is another tool in our fight against serious organised crime in the waste industry. Legitimate businesses in Scotland need to know that while they are working to ensure they are compliant with the regulations, we are working hard to tackle the criminals who deliberately and persistently break the law.
“This approach is also a way for SEPA to support the agenda of the Scottish Government’s Environmental Crime Taskforce, which I chair, which seeks to identify opportunities for preventing, tackling and deterring environmental crime in Scotland and improve co-ordination between agencies.”
The Environmental Crime Taskforce (ECTF) has defined Environmental Crime as “an act or omission which directly or indirectly damages the environment (or has the potential to damage the environment) and which constitutes a breach of criminal law.”
