Minister, EMA review Privy Council ruling on water pollution

Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis says the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) will “carefully analyse” Monday’s ruling of the Privy Council in the appeal of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) on the Water Pollution Rules.

In a statement, Robinson-Regis as minister with responsibility for the environment, said the EMA will then make recommendations on the way forward in keeping with the court’s orders.

On Monday, five Privy Council judges ruled the fixed annual permit fee of $10,000 was in breach of the National Environment Policy (NEP) and disproportionate. They declared the fee unlawful and ordered the minister to prescribe a new fee structure and make the necessary amendments to the Water Pollution (Fees) Amendment Regulations, 2006. The minister has three months in which to do so.

In her statement, Robinson-Regis said the current administration will pursue the necessary actions to ensure the best recommendations are implemented for the well-being of the environment and citizens.

The statement also added, when the permit fees were set it was “the most appropriate model having regard to the state of economic development and the level of institutional development in the country at that time.”

It further added, amendments to the regulations will have to be carefully re-evaluated to determine the most appropriate mechanism to ensure adherence to the Privy Council’s ruling.

In a separate statement, the EMA also said it was reviewing the ruling. Before the Privy Council was an appeal of the FFOS against a decision by the local appellate court to reverse a judge’s decision ordering the ministry to properly apply the internationally-recognised “polluter pays principle” in calculating and fixing such fees before implementing the Water Pollution (Fees) Rules.

The FFOS had challenged a decision by the State to standardise the permit fee under the Environmental Management Act. The regulations required polluters to pay a fixed annual permit fee of $10,000, regardless of their size.