Northern Ireland Environment Agency - Europaepanet.pbe.eea.europa.eu/european_epas/countries/uk/northern... · • Northern Ireland has a rich and varied biodiversity, a diversity

Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Native Barn Owl © Laurie Campbell

Fresh Water Biological Sampling

• NIEA protects, conserves and promotes our natural environment and built heritage for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland. From the smallest creature to the rarest species of plant, from historical buildings to the water we drink, we are working to conserve our nature, our history and our heritage for everyone to enjoy.

• NIEA is the only agency in the UK which covers all three areas of Environmental Protection, Natural Heritage and Built Heritage.

This is a brief overview of the diverse roles and responsibilities of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

• NIEA’s expert staff include scientists, archaeologists, architects and craftsmen and women who are leaders in their fields.

• Northern Ireland’s flourishing natural and built environment contributes significantly to our economy. It is also essential for everyone’s health and well-being through the provision of recreation opportunities and places to enjoy.

www.ni-environment.gov.uk Agency

Northern Ireland Environment

Northern Ireland Environment AgencyA vital agency for an essential task

Carrickfergus Castle

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Northern Ireland Environment Agency A vital agency for an essential task

• Protecting our environment helps support Northern Ireland’s economy. For example, in 2009/10 NIEA provided £3.5 million of grant aid to help with the repair and maintenance of around 210 listed buildings. This scheme generated further significant expenditure for our economy.

• We work to encourage and improve access to the countryside so that everyone can experience our local environment and enjoy the associated health benefits. We manage seven country parks and sixty nature reserves which are open to everyone. We work closely with partners to help achieve this. An example of this is the re-launch of the Ulster Way in 2009.

• NIEA has a skilled and professional workforce who are experts in their field, from marine biologists to pollution inspectors and architects to archaeologists. In 2009/10 we achieved 14 of the 17 key performance targets set by our Minister and we achieved all of our Public Service Agreement targets.

• NIEA works in partnership with a number of organisations including other government departments, councils, industry bodies and sister agencies such as the Rivers Agency and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency to protect and conserve our environment.

• The total budget for 2010-11 for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency is £48.7m. The financial resources available to the Agency in 2010-2011 are £42.0m, comprising forecasted expenditure of £48.7m less a forecasted income of £6.7m. The Agency’s income is derived from a number of sources primarily from environmental licencing and regulation, supplemented by fees earned at country parks and historic monuments.


www.doeni.gov.uk/niea

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• Northern Ireland has a rich and varied biodiversity, a diversity of earth science features that is almost unparalleled and outstanding landscapes that contribute greatly to our tourism industry.

• NIEA’s Natural Heritage Directorate is responsible for protecting and conserving our biodiversity and landscapes. We protect and manage designated sites and areas, promote biodiversity conservation and public access to the countryside. We also gather evidence to increase our

knowledge and understanding of the natural environment.

• The Directorate works to enhance and protect our natural environment and protect our wildlife and their habitats through the designation and management of sites. We have declared 309 Areas of Special Scientific Interest and eight Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to date.

Natural Heritage Directorate




White Rocks

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• We have worked with DARD to implement the new Northern Ireland Countryside Management Scheme which ensures that nearly 8,400 hectares of land within Areas of Special Scientific Interest are managed properly.

• We promote and support access to the countryside so everyone can experience and enjoy it. We manage NIEA’s sites and properties which are open for everyone to enjoy. We work closely with partners such as the Countryside Access and Activities Network (CAAN) to help achieve this.

• We work to protect and enhance Northern Ireland’s biodiversity – the thousands of plants and animals around us, for the people of Northern Ireland to enjoy now and in the future.

• The Directorate also provides advice and comment on planning applications, Area Plans and policy statements to ensure our natural environment is protected.

• In 2009/10 the Directorate awarded £2.7million of grant aid to NGOs and local councils. This provided an important leverage function for external funding.

• The Directorate has a diverse team of approximately 200 full time equivalent posts including biologists, geographers, ecologists, administrative staff and industrial workers.



Natural Heritage Directorate 06

• Northern Ireland has a rich and diverse built heritage ranging from monuments such as Carrickfergus Castle and Devenish to historic buildings such as Belfast City Hall and Ballycopeland Windmill.. Our built heritage is irreplaceable and provides a tangible link to our past and fascinating places for us all to visit and enjoy.

• NIEA’s Built Heritage Directorate works to record, protect and conserve our built heritage which includes historic monuments and listed buildings.

• Staff in the Built Heritage Directorate work to protect and conserve 190 Historic Monuments in State Care, which include some of our most iconic landmarks such as Dunluce Castle. We also provide long term protection and management for over 1700 other monuments through ‘scheduling’.

• We provide statutory protection for c8,500 of our finest historic buildings through ‘listing’ and provide grant aid to qualifying listed buildings.

Built Heritage Directorate




Dunluce Castle

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• Built Heritage staff provide expert advice about the historic environment to other government departments and agencies, local councils, industry and the wider public. For example, staff work closely with Planning Service to provide expert responses to planning applications and consultations and contribute to Area Plans.

• It is crucial that our built heritage is protected and conserved. Maintaining our authentic and irreplaceable built heritage helps maintain our unique ‘sense of place’ and shared spaces for mutual understanding of the past.

• Our built heritage also contributes to Northern Ireland’s tourism industry providing key destinations for both domestic and international visitors.

• Northern Ireland’s built heritage provides direct benefits to our economy both in terms of tourism and employment. For example, for every pound NIEA invests with its Listed Buildings Grant Aid local industry adds almost six more in construction.

• The Directorate also successfully maintains an exceptional Monuments and Buildings Record (MBR). Its 40,000 archive records of sites of archaeological, architectural and historical interest are used daily by staff and academic researchers, and commercial companies preparing environmental impact statements to balance heritage and development needs.

• The Directorate’s team of highly skilled craftsmen and women includes stonemasons, joiners and metal workers who work to conserve our historic monuments so they can be enjoyed by us and generations to come.

• We undertake a number of public and outreach events to promote our built heritage. For example, every September we organise European Heritage Open Days. This weekend offers people the opportunity to visit over 260 historic buildings and see behind doors that may be closed for the rest of the year. Last year over 56,000 people took part in this European celebration of heritage and culture.

• The Directorate has a multi-disciplinary team of 110 full time equivalent posts including archaeologists, architects, administrators, a craft team, photographers, surveyors anda draughtsman.


Built Heritage Directorate 08


• Protecting our environment – our water, land and air is essential for the health and well-being of the people of Northern Ireland, today and in the future.

• NIEA’s Environmental Protection Directorate works to protect the quality of our environment through effective regulation of any activities that could have a detrimental impact on our air, water or land.

• Staff in the Directorate engage with businesses and the public to provide information and advice; monitoring,

recording, reporting and setting standards for compliance; issuing consents, licences, permits and authorisations and enforcing legislation.

• We also work to protect and improve Northern Ireland’s aquatic environment by developing and implementing River Basin Management Plans.

• We actively seek to engage the public in our work to improve water quality and hold a series of Catchment Stakeholder Groups, open to all, in locations across Northern Ireland twice a year.

Environmental Protection Directorate



Preventing pollution with a boom at Glenariff

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• We work to promote a more sustainable approach in managing both waste and resources in Northern Ireland to protect our environment and promote resource efficiency and economic growth. For example, we manage the registration of waste carriers to ensure the safe transportation of controlled wastes. We also regulate and audit a range of waste management operations including the recycling of packaging waste, waste from electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and end of life vehicles.

• The Directorate is responsible for controlling emissions for those industries with the greatest potential to pollute our environment. We control the storage, use and disposal of radioactive materials and regulate greenhouse gas emissions for example from power stations.

• We regulate the quality of drinking water in Northern Ireland both public supplies (on behalf of DRD) and private supplies.

• We are responsible for the regulation of wastewater discharges from Northern Ireland Water’s wastewater treatment works and sewer systems.

• We regulate the impact of wastewater discharges from domestic dwellings on the water environment.

• We carry out environmental monitoring which encompasses nearly 5,200km of river length, 24 bathing waters, 27 of our larger lakes and estuaries and marine waters, as well as air emissions from industrial stacks, landfill leachate and effluent discharges from industrial sites and wastewater discharges.

• The Directorate is the largest in NIEA employing approximately 344 staff including operational, administrative, laboratory and scientific staff.



Environmental Protection Directorate 10


Better Regulation



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• NIEA is committed to delivering simple and effective regulation which protects our environment while reducing unecessary red tape.

• The NIEA Better Regulation Programme encompasses a range of initiatives to modernise regulation to deliver greater protection for the environment: through more accessible guidance, streamlined permitting, risk-based inspections and effective enforcement.

• We have published a clearer charging policy for businesses, new regulatory standards for managing industry waste and easy-to-use guidance on NetRegs.gov.uk We are developing an online application and payment facility for our customers and risk assessment tools to better target our resources.

• Through the preparation of an

environmental white paper on Better Regulation, proposals for streamlined integrated permitting and a range of civil sanctions are being considered.



• The Agency’s Environmental Crime Unit was established in December 2008 to investigate and prosecute serious and persistent environmental crime.

• In line with our Better Regulation principles the unit prioritises and targets those individuals and companies that pose the most risk to the environment and human health.

• The unit is comprised of full time investigators supported by an administration and intelligence team.

• We welcome information and co-operation received from the public, other government agencies and partner enforcement agencies.

• Since it was established the unit has received almost 2,000 reports of alleged illegal waste incidents. In this period it has secured fines of £316,300 against 107 successful convictions as well as 12 suspended sentences.

• This year the unit has been participating in the repatriation of 250,000 tonnes of waste originating from the Republic of Ireland. This waste, from 20 illegal landfill sites, was discovered during the Unit’s investigations from 2003 onwards. A number of successful criminal and financial investigations arose from these cases while others remain in the judicial process.


Environmental Crime 12


Partnerships 13

The Agency works effectively with many partners to help protect and conserve our environment. Some of our key partners are —

• Other Government Departments and Agencies – DCAL, DSD, DARD, DETI, DRD, DOJ, NITB, GSNI, AFBI, Planning Service, Rivers Agency

• Northern Ireland Office• Northern Ireland Water• The Northern Ireland Authority for

Utility Regulation• Department of Energy and

Climate Change• Department of Communities and

Local Government• Department for Environment, Food

and Rural Affairs• District Councils• Consumer Council for Northern Ireland• National Trust• Mourne Heritage Trust• Causeway Coast and Glens Trust• Owners of Historic Buildings

and Monuments• Historic Monuments Council• Historic Buildings Council• Council for Nature Conservation and

the Countryside• Joint Nature Conservation Council• Natural Heritage Research Partnership• Countryside Access and Activities

Network (CAAN)• Centre for Environmental Date and

Recording (CEDaR)• University of Ulster• Queens University Belfast• Environmental Protection Agency (ROI)• Environment Agency

• Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

• Department for Business Innovation and Skills

• Confederation of Business Industry• Construction Employers Federation• Business in the Community (ARENA)• Ulster Farmers Union• Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)• Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

(HMRC)




NIEA’s Contribution to Society 14

Our work in protecting the natural environment and built heritage supports:



1. The Economy• Agri Foods - clean and green Northern

Ireland • All sectors - level playing field in

regulation, planning input • Tourism

2. Health and Wellbeing• Places to exercise and enjoy • Access to nature, countryside

and heritage • Interpretation and education • Sense of place (pride) • Safe drinking water • Clean bathing waters • Reduced exposure to pollutants

and pathogens

NIEA marine diver, with a compass jellyfish

Our aim is to protect, conserve and promote the natural environment and built heritage for the benefit of present and future generations.

Tel 0845 302 0008www.doeni.gov.uk/niea

Northern Ireland Environment Agency Klondyke BuildingCromac AvenueGasworks Business ParkLower Ormeau RoadBelfast BT7 2JA

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Northern Ireland Environment Agency - Europaepanet.pbe.eea.europa.eu/european_epas/countries/uk/northern... · • Northern Ireland has a rich and varied biodiversity, a diversity