EPA cautions for more focused and co-ordinated enforcement by local authorities

On 16 December 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its report on the local authority environmental enforcement activities for 2020.

They have seen a high level of inspections and enforcement actions carried out by local authorities - the bulk of these related to waste and litter. Local authorities also handled a substantial volume of environmental complaints throughout the year, mostly connected to waste issues. Though waste enforcement activities largely remained resilient in 2020, the EPA did find progress on both water and air enforcement priorities lagged behind those of waste, primarily due to having less resources assigned to them, as well as a lack of enforcement co-ordination services across the local authorities. 

In a comment on the findings of the report, the Director of the EPA's Office of Environmental Enforcement, Dr Tom Ryan said: "The resilience of the waste enforcement activities and better co-ordination through the support of the regional waste shared services is to be commended. However, it is concerning to see the reduced enforcement activity in water, air and noise, given the decline in our water quality and the impact of poor air quality and noise on the environment and human health. Local authorities must address these challenges as a matter of priority in their enforcement activities."

The national water quality monitoring programme has been substantially completed by the local authorities, subsequently providing up-to-date information surrounding water quality. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest the information is being effectively used by local authorities when they target local enforcement efforts. 

The Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Noel Byrne added: "National water monitoring data is showing a continuing decline in water quality and more needs to be done to protect our water environment. Local authorities need to make sure that they are targeting inspections of farms and septic tanks in the areas of greatest risk and are taking effective enforcement action where non-compliances are found."

A key issue remains in the burning of non-compliant solid fuels, which impact negatively on both air quality and human health. Local authorities are advised to engage in co-ordinated and targeted inspections of solid fuel supplies, and to take follow-up enforcement actions in order to ensure that both the environment and health are protected. 

The Focus on Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Report 2020 is available on the EPA website, and contains an infographic highlighting the main findings from the report.