Accountability Act Environmental 26/2007 transposes into English law Directive 2004/35/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on environmental liability with regard to the prevention, repair and prevent environmental damage. Directive 2004/35/EC establishing a framework for environmental liability based on the principle "polluter pays".
In general the objective of the Act is to strengthen prevention mechanisms to prevent accidents with harmful consequences to repair the environment and from economic activities.
This new law seeks to operators who carry activities that may cause damages to the environment to be responsible for personal injury and damage to third parties, damage to property, public entities, the financial damages or rights of individuals and environmental damage.
Its main features are : covers protection from damage or threats to strictly natural resources, forced to return the damaged natural resource to its original state regardless of the economic value amounting to repair, no financial compensation only prevention, avoidance and repair, as Annex III identifies an extensive list of activities receiving tougher treatment and a number of additional duties to attend to.
Likewise, the activities found in Annex III should be mandatory financial security that will address environmental responsibility, ensuring sufficient funds to meet the costs of prevention, avoidance and repair of environmental damage. This financial guarantee is proposed by the operator and sets the corresponding Autonomous Community, but their coverage will never exceed 20,000,000 euros.
Operators who are susceptible to activities that can cause environmental damage should make environmental risk analysis to define both the potential and magnitude of potential environmental impacts. In addition the operator shall submit the environmental risk analysis to a verification procedure of finding at least be compliance with the UNE 150008, traceability of data, and ensuring that the models, tools and techniques have an appreciation internationally.
To evaluate risk scenarios have provided a range of instruments:
1. LOOK (Models Environmental Hazards Report Type): professional sectors or groups of homogeneous activity from the environmental point of view associated with these highly dangerous
2. TABLES OF SCALES: Fields and small and medium enterprises for its high homogeneity from the environmental point of view allows the standardization of risk.
3. METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINES: Sectors that the heterogeneity of the activities makes it impractical to use a LOOK.
conducted studies show that application of the Act affected operators affects their own benefit, because the implementation of a good management system for preventing environmental damage prevents the costs of repairs that could lead to accident, negligence or human error, as long as studies indicate, more expensive.
There
be noted that operators still risk activities on the environment such as they are in doubt which is the best tool for risk analysis, they are either not included in the activities listed in Annex III, which methodology to follow, etc.
In short, we can conclude by saying that the purpose of this Act is the prevention and remedying of environmental damage is borne by the operators of the activity and not by government and / or affected.
Erica Nicholas Santana
Clara Luque.
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