An interim report on environmental governance in NI has suggested there should be an overhaul of the NI Environment Agency (NIEA) to create “a more robust model” that has a greater independence from government.

Produced by Dr Vivienne Gravey from Queen’s University, working alongside former politician, John McCallister and former National Trust manager, Diane Ruddock, the interim report was published on Tuesday.

A final version is to be presented to Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir by the end of this summer, although the panel does not “anticipate any material change” in the recommendations already made.

Audit

Those include that DAERA should undertake an audit of all the different functions currently undertaken by NIEA and create a new environmental regulator that mainly focuses on enforcement of rules. Any other NIEA work, such as policy development, should be left within DAERA.

At present, NIEA sits as an executive agency within DAERA, so while it has some operational flexibility, all of its powers are carried by the department.

The panel suggests the new regulator is put at arm’s length from DAERA by being set up as a non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the department.

That would give it the same status as the likes of the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).

“We believe that an NDPB provides the most appropriate balance between too much and too little independence, affording a greater degree of political neutrality,” states the interim report.

Higher fines

Other recommendations include that the new regulator should be able to apply higher fines than typically seen at present for pollution, and that it should be able to use civil sanctions, effectively forcing polluters to clean up their mess.

The panel has also suggested the new regulator is scrutinised by a new Environment Audit Committee of MLAs at Stormont.

Support

Justifying their recommendations, the report authors point out that over 90% of respondents to their call for evidence believe current environmental governance in NI is not effective, with strong support for reform of NIEA and changing its legal status.

However, the panel also recognised there are valid concerns, including around ongoing funding for environmental governance, the disruption caused to staff currently in NIEA and the risk of undermining relations between NIEA and farmers.

“They should not be seen as barriers to change or reasons to maintain the status quo, given the evidence and the clear case for change we have heard,” states the report.