In its second Corporate Plan, published today, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) sets out its approach to environmental improvement in Scotland.

During 1996/7, its first year of operation, SEPA determined 1800 applications for consents, authorisations or licences, reviewed some 400 licenses & authorisations, undertook 46,500 inspections, investigated around 8000 complaints and analysed nearly 71,000 samples in its laboratories. This important, day to day environmental monitoring and control work continues to account for the bulk of SEPA’s resources. However, the Plan highlights SEPA’s desire to move from being seen as a monitoring and control organisation to one which is also seen as having an influential role in ensuring environmental improvement.

In his introduction to the Report, SEPA Chief Executive Alasdair Paton says:

"We have come a long way in the past year. Our open, consultative approach has been widely welcomed and our decisions, though not always uncontroversial, are generally accepted as considered and reasonable. We believe SEPA has proved itself to be more than the sum of its parts and as this Plan shows, we intend to move ahead strongly in the future."

SEPA’s corporate success will depend on the improvement that it makes to Scotland’s environment. The Plan, which covers the year 1997/8, sets a series of targets and outlines the Agency’s activities in the coming year in relation to improving water quality, conserving biodiversity, ensuring effective waste management and regulating a wide range of industrial processes.

The Corporate Pan 1997/1998 to 2000/2001 is available free from SEPA Public Affairs on 01786 457700.