In a sweeping overhaul of environmental regulations in the UK,
Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday announced plans to slash over 80,000 pages of laws
that protect the environment against business practices.
The list of over 3,000 regulations on the chopping block—outlined in a speech
at the Federation of Small Businesses Conference Monday—includes guidance
on contaminated land and hazardous waste management, food labeling regulations,
and building regulations such as requirements for onsite green technologies.
The overhaul, which is part of Cameron's Red Tape Challenge campaign,
include proposals to “wind down” the code for sustainable homes
and limit Environmental Impact Assessments for building projects, according to Naomi Luhde-Thompson from Friends of the Earth.
"Removing EIA would put the environment and people at risk," writes Luhde-Thompson, "with a far greater cost to the public of possible environmental damage.
The reason for these cuts, according to Cameron,
is that they will make it "vastly cheaper" for businesses to abide by environmental rules.
“The Government must stop making
the environment a scapegoat for the economic challenges we face,"
said Friends of the Earth’s Policy and Campaigns Director Craig Bennett.
