Ministers and government departments have a new legal obligation to consider the impact their policies will have on the environment, as the Environmental Principles Policy Statement (EPPS) comes into effect.

Under the duty, ministers and policy makers must consider the environmental impact of new policies, following a framework of key principles:

• The integration principle, which is the principle that environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policies.
• The prevention principle, which states that government policy makers should aim to prevent environmental harm.
• The rectification at source principle, which means that policy should address environmental damage at the source, to avoid the need to remedy its effects later.
• The polluter pays principle, which states that where possible, the costs of environmental damage should be borne by those causing it, rather than the person who suffers the effects of the resulting environmental damage, or the wider community.
• The precautionary principle, which provides that where the threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage exists, a lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation

The Office for Environmental Protection is responsible for monitoring implementation of the duty.