The Environment Act Implementation
Implementation of the Environment Act 2021 cuts across a range of policy areas, many of which are included separately in the waste policy tracker.
This heading refers to 3 elements of the Act:
- Establishment of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
- Publication of a policy statement on environmental principles.
- Annual reporting on implementation of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Type of Change
Statutory
Affected Stakeholders
- General Public
- DAERA and other NI departments
- UK Government ministers
- Public authorities
Changes
- New environmental oversight body that holds government and other public authorities to account for the proper implementation of environmental law.
- Embedding 5 environmental principles in domestic law through a policy statement to which NI departments and UK Government ministers making policy for NI must have ‘due regard’.
- Reporting on progress towards delivery of an Environmental Improvement Plan.
Status
- The OEP has been operating in NI since February 2022. DAERA liaises closely with the OEP across a wide range of issues.
- A draft environmental policy statement has been developed and released for consultation, which closed in December 2024. Work is currently ongoing to incorporate relevant suggestions from the consultation into the final version of the policy statement.
- An outcome indicator framework and monitoring and reporting regime is being developed.
Expected Timeline
First annual report due on January 2026.