Might you see an inspector?
Confined to barracks. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is across the board. The biggest change in enforcement terms is that inspectors are not out and about completing regular checks and inspecting premises.
Focus. The Environment Agency (EA) has stated that it will prioritise responding to major pollution incidents and flooding. It’s a similar story with the other bodies. In short, this means that even if you would normally expect visits, or had been told that an inspector would be visiting your premises in the near future, this is unlikely to happen.
Delays. Another impact is that you should expect delays in environmental permit application processing, amongst other things. Although these bodies still have staff working, they’re light on numbers due to increased levels of sickness absence and because they’re working remotely, so they won’t always have access to the systems they need.
Tip. Although inspectors won’t be knocking on your door any time soon, don’t assume that they will relax any of your environmental obligations.
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