About Environment Law
Have you been instructed at short notice to advise on transactions or new environmental legislation outside your comfort zone? Are you up-to-date with the latest changes in environmental regulation – and have a sense of what’s on the horizon?
Current awareness, horizon scanning and trackers
Our curated daily news alerts, environmental law podcast and dedicated environmental law trackers, split according to topic and covering consultations and legislation, alongside our cases tracker, will save you time.
Air emissions and climate change
We show where climate change targets come from at national, European and international levels, plus we detail climate reporting and disclosure frameworks, track litigation and provide practical guidance for your business
Brexit and divergence
We detail the environmental law regimes that have been impacted by Brexit and track EU/UK/GB divergence.
Transactional support
We’ll give you transactional support guides and precedents for the environmental and health and safety (EHS) issues that environmental lawyers need to consider when supporting corporate and property deals.
Topics We Cover
Latest Environment News
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced plans to introduce a Bill by the end of 2025 to enable the UK’s...
The Environment Agency (EA) has announced that it is investigating hauliers in Devon and Cornwall regarding their waste soil handling practices. The...
The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on revising Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 (the regulation...
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has filed its written submissions in the appeal of R (Rights Community Action Ltd) v Secretary of State...
HM Treasury (HMT) has announced a £14.2bn investment for the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant as part of the Spending Review. The...
Latest Environment Practice Notes
Sustainable finance—recent newsThis Practice Note links to news on sustainable finance, including green loans and green bonds, that has been published...
Brexit—Lexis®PSL Environment News Analysis [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.Environment Brexit News...
The regulatory justification process for proposed new nuclear power stations in the UKBefore a nuclear power station can be built, its design must be...
±á²â»å°ù´Ç±è´Ç·É±ð°ù—t±ð³¦³ó²Ô´Ç±ô´Ç²µ²âBrexit impactAs of 31 January 2020 (exit day), the UK is no longer an EU Member State, but it has entered an implementation...
Warranties and indemnities—share purchaseA share purchase agreement (SPA) will typically include warranties and indemnities given by the seller in...
Latest Environment Precedents
Retained EU law—training materials [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained.These training materials consist of...
Health and safety due diligence questionnaireHealth and safetyPlease supply records of any of the following where relevant:1Health and safety...
Environmental policy[Insert organisation name] is a signatory to [insert details of any environmental initiatives to which the organisation is a...
Pie crust lease of a unit on an estateHM Land Registry Prescribed ClausesLR1. Date of the lease[date]LR2. Title number(s)LR2.1 Landlord's title...
Transfer of environmental permits1DefinitionsContamination•means the presence at any time of any Hazardous Substances in the soil and water at or...
Latest Environment Q&As
Featured Environment content
Private nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for environmental harm
Nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for pollutionPrivate nuisancePrivate nuisance is an unlawful interference with a...
Public nuisance—general principles
Public nuisance—general principlesPublic nuisanceThe common law offence of public nuisance was abolished by section 78 of the Police, Crime,...
Meaning of waste—definition of waste
Meaning of waste—definition of wasteDefinition of Waste'Waste' is defined in the Waste Framework Directive, Directive 2008/98/EC (WFD) as any...
Environment Agency (EA)—powers of entry
Environment Agency (EA)—powers of entryThe Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have...
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety considerations and additional enquiries
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety enquiriesCommercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs) are industry...
Highway drains and culverts
Highway drains and culvertsFor the purposes of s 100 of the Highways Act 1980, a ‘highway drain’ is defined as including a ditch, gutter, watercourse,...
Environmental insurance—when is it needed?
Environmental insurance—when is it needed?What is environmental insurance?Environmental insurance is a risk transfer solution to indemnify the insured...
Riparian ownership—rights and responsibilities
Riparian ownership—rights and responsibilitiesWhat does riparian ownership mean and who does it affect?‘If you own land or property next to a river,...
Control of asbestos—asbestos surveys
Control of asbestos—asbestos surveysLegal requirementsThere is a legal presumption that any non-domestic buildings (and the common parts of domestic...
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)What is an environmental management system (EMS)?An environmental management system...
Water pollution—legislation
Water pollution—legislation This Practice Note looks at the key legislation in England and Wales for controlling and preventing water pollution and...
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—snapshot
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—snapshotTitleUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)Parties168Adopted10...
Judicial review—sufficient interest (standing) in environmental matters
Judicial review—sufficient interest (standing) in environmental mattersOriginally produced in partnership with Alistair Mills of Landmark Chambers and...
Contaminated land—remediation notices (service and appeal)
Contaminated land—remediation notices (service and appeal)What is a remediation notice?A remediation notice is a formal written notice that requires...
Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenants
Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenantsThis Practice Note looks at some of the key practical issues for...
Environmental management—environmental legal registers
Environmental management—environmental legal registersWhat is a legal register?A legal register is the documented output from a process where an...
Environmental liabilities—what are clean-up liabilities?
Environmental liabilities—what are clean-up liabilities?Clean-up liabilities are legal and financial obligations to remediate pollution or...
Contaminated land—meaning of remediation
Contaminated land—meaning of remediationMeaning of remediation'Remediation' is given a relatively wide definition in the Environmental Protection Act...
Associated legal terms
Caution
A simple caution, formerly known as a formal caution, is an interview with an enforcing authority such as the Environment Agency that can be an alternative to prosecution where the authority wishes to deal quickly with an environmental offence that it considers to be less serious.
Significant harm
Any harm which is determined to be significant in accordance with the Statutory Guidance to Part IIA in that it meets one of the specific descriptions of the types of harm which must exist, or of which there must be a significant possibility, for land to be determined as contaminated.
Waste management licence
Before the introduction of Environmental Permits, a Waste Management Licence (WML) was required by any person that was in the business of treating, keeping or depositing Controlled Waste.
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