Twenty years ago environmental regulation in Scotland was patchy, and polluters were treated much more leniently than they were in England and Wales. It was hoped that a new regulator would improve enforcement, fill in the data and evidence gaps, and create a more consistent approach across the nation. Proposals for a Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) were first unveiled by the Scottish Office in 1992 in parallel with discussions on setting up the Environment Agency (EA) (endsreport.com/214 and 53584). But although they were set up by the same piece of legislation - the Environment Act 1995 - the two organisations had different responsibilities and approaches from the beginning.
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