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16 March 2009

The EU's Environmental Liability Directive came into force in England on 1 March 2009. The new law requires organisations to prevent environmental damage to water, land or biodiversity: protected habitats or species or Sites of Special Scientific Interest

The law imposes a new obligation on organisations to prevent environmental damage and to notify the authorities if damage is about to occur or has already happened. Where environmental damage cannot be prevented, the directive requires organisations to carry out much more comprehensive clean-up work than they may have done previously.