The government is still considering how to deal with EU environmental legislation that cannot be copied and pasted into UK law through the Great Repeal Bill.
During a debate in the House of Lords, Baroness Young of Old Scone asked how the government was planning to deal with the 25–30% of EU environment regulation that cannot be directly transferred. The government previously admitted that affected laws were mainly those governing chemicals, pesticides and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Young said: ‘This legislation and these standards will have to be reset for the benefit of British business and the environment by a process of secondary legislation. Will the minister tell us how we are going to cope with that and how we can reassure British businesses that they are not going to be left without clarity about the important environmental standards that are vital for their businesses?’
Parliamentary under secretary of state for exiting the EU Lord Bridges of Headley replied: ‘I am not going to go into great detail today about how that process will work, but we are looking at how both houses will be able to cope with the task ahead to ensure that we deliver as much certainty as possible while ensuring that such secondary legislation gets the scrutiny and debate it deserves.’
The Environmental Audit Committee has called for a new environmental protection act to prevent what it called ‘zombie’ legislation being eroded through statutory instruments with minimal parliamentary scrutiny after Brexit.
Meanwhile, prime minister Theresa May promised that parliament would be given a say in any alterations to environmental laws transferred into UK law through the Great Repeal Bill, adding that it would be up to MPs and peers to decide, once the changes had been fully scrutinised and debated.
