Your Rights Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 encompasses a wide range of issues aimed at both businesses and individuals but is ultimately concerned with maintaining the quality of both your immediate and surrounding environment. On an individual basis, this can include a whole host of things and the areas outlined below are just some of the issues that will directly affect individuals living within residential areas.

Smoke Nuisance

The Act protects those who wish to prevent the pollution of air quality within their neighbourhood. This might be as a result of a nearby factory which might be belching thick smoke out of a chimney to the person next door who wishes to build a bonfire to burn some garden waste. That’s not to say that neither a business nor an individual is not permitted to produce smoke but it has to be managed in a way that does not contravene the Act.

Noise Nuisance

In addition to the Noise Act 1996, covered in more depth in another article contained within this website, noise nuisance is also incorporated into the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and is aimed at preventing the quality of your environment being reduced through excessive noise which could come from loud music, persistent barking from dogs, DIY projects, anti-social behaviour, nearby businesses etc. In fact, it would encompass anything where the noise is loud and intrusive, whether that’s persistent or intermittent, and which affects the quality and comfort of your everyday life.

Odour and Insect Nuisance

Odour and insect nuisance can pose potential health risks and is often the result of either bad waste management and/or a casual approach to dealing with household waste or could be due to incorrect installation of extractor fans from local food producing businesses, for example, and you are protected from having to put up with this under the Act.

Dog Nuisance

In addition to persistent barking, the Environmental Protection Act also incorporates other issues that can damage and/or seriously harm the quality of your immediate environment. This can include dog fouling in inappropriate places and not cleaning the mess up to dangerous dogs which are not permitted under UK law to dogs who are causing a nuisance or which have got out of control and thus could pose a danger to other members of the community.

Light Nuisance

This can be caused by security lighting which does not meet the recommended standards whereby it can directly affect another person’s property and cause a nuisance to a company within a residential area which remains lit throughout the night for security purposes but which also contravenes the Act in terms of meeting the requirements about the amount of light and related issues in terms of how it’s beamed which can also cause nuisance.

Other issues which neighbours can often complain about which would be covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 can include things like litter dropping, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping and graffiti as well as other issues in addition to what is mentioned here.

It is an important act to comply with in that if you contravene it, your actions will have a direct correlation to the type of neighbourhood you will be subject to living in as a result of your lack of responsibility and duty of care. Dirty streets, noisy houses, unruly dogs etc. all contribute to the bad perception of a particular neighbourhood and can be the catalyst for the emergence of anti-social behaviour which can lead to crime.

Most of the time, many of the issues discussed here can be simply resolved by individuals (and local businesses, where appropriate) communicating with each other to come up with solutions and, perhaps, compromises in certain instances. However, the Act does protect your rights by law and if no resolutions can be reached, your first port of call will usually be your local authority’s Environmental Health Department who will take action to resolve the problem. In some cases, they might be able to achieve this by themselves, although in serious cases, they may also have to resort to getting the police involved.