Environmental Plans, Principles and Governance for Northern Ireland – Public Discussion Document

In 2020, the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) launched a Discussion Document seeking views on a number of environmental governance issues that arise due to UK withdrawal from the EU.

The Environment Bill was introduced to Parliament on 30 January 2020 and set out the options for Ministers to:

• prepare and publish environmental improvement plans;
• embed environmental principles into policy decisions of NI Departments; and
• extend an Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to Northern Ireland.

Given that decisions on future environmental plans, principles and governance arrangements for Northern Ireland was a matter for the local administration this consultation provided an opportunity to submit views on how these functions will be addressed in the post-Brexit era.