England’s green watchdog has told ministers that dropping nutrient neutrality rules will be a “regression”.
On Tuesday the government dropped requirements for housebuilders to mitigate extra sewage from new homes, arguing that it would not harm rivers because of £140m extra funding to offset the pollution.
The Office for Environmental Protection said the deregulatory step runs counter to ministers’ promises not to “weaken legal protections for the environment”.
It chair, Dame Glenys Stacey, has demanded that ministers make a statement to parliament as required under the Environment Act if the law is changed in a way that reduces environmental protection.
In a letter to levelling up secretary Michael Gove and environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, Stacey said: “The proposed changes would demonstrably reduce the level of environmental protection provided for in existing environmental law. They are a regression.”
The censure from the Office for Environmental Protection is the most serious yet for the government’s decision to remove the nutrient neutrality rules to boost housebuilding.
