Spain: government to discuss enviromental law

On 20 October 2006, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment submitted the Bill on Environmental Responsibility to the Council of Ministers. Its aim is avoiding and repairing any environmental damage and transposes the European Directive which is to enter into operation on 30 April 2007. Once approved, this law will apply the principle of ?those who pollute must pay? in order to avoid that environmental reparation has to be covered by public budgets as it has been often the case so far. In the last seven years, only the Ministry of the Environment has spent nearly 183 million ? in environmental reparation. The other basic aim of the law is reinforcing the preventive approach so that enterprises will be obliged to adopt all the necessary preventative measures. In the last years, Spanish enterprises have devoted increasing resources to avoid environmental risks and threats to the human health, which in 2003 amounted to 2000 million euros . Nevertheless, the rate of industrial accidents which effects on the environment should be improved. The law will affect around 5.000 industrial establishments, to nearly 30.000 transport enterprises and to nearly one million agricultural farms. The law will defend water, land, protected natural habitats and protected wild species and will call for an integrated environmental reparation: natural resources should recover their state before damage regardless of the money it represents. The law also entitles non-profit making organisations to call for administrative action in order to ensure its right implementation. The law will also demand that enterprises have a financial guarantee through which to face their duties in the environmental field. More information on: http://www.mma.es/portal/secciones