When it comes to the aspects of the Environment Bill relating to water, there is one short section that is causing particular concern for conservationists, legal experts and campaigners. Though the bill aims to transfer the provisions of the EU Water Framework Directive into UK law, clause 81 allows the environment secretary to change not only the list of chemicals and other substances that should be monitored when assessing surface or ground water quality, but also the standards by which those assessments are made. In short, it allows the government, if it wants, to lower standards without any recourse to parliament or public scrutiny, critics say. Dr Sarah Hendry, head of Dundee Law School and an academic lawyer specialising in water and environmental law, said she agreed with the experts who gave evidence at the committee stage reading of the bill that there is nothing within it to prevent regression.
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