www.sepa.org.uk

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is Scotland’s environmental regulator. Their main role is to protect and improve the environment and do so by being an environmental regulator, helping business and industry to take responsibility for their carbon footprint, enabling customers to comply with legislation and good practice and to realise the many economic benefits of good environmental practice. SEPA protect communities by regulating activities that can cause harmful pollution and by monitoring the quality of Scotland's air, land and water. The regulations implemented also cover the keeping and use, and the accumulation and disposal, of radioactive substances.

SEPA is a non-departmental public body, accountable through Scottish Ministers to the Scottish Parliament. SEPA has been advising Scottish ministers, regulated businesses, industry and the public on environmental best practice for over a decade.

They protect the environment and human health through the work of 1,300 employees who cover a range of specialist areas including chemistry, ecology, environmental regulation, hydrology, engineering, quality control, planning, communications, business support and management functions. There are 22 offices enabling them to work across the whole of Scotland from the Highlands and Islands to the Borders and their corporate office is in Stirling.

SEPA monitor and report on the state of Scotland's environment and use that sound scientific understanding to inform independent regulation of activities that may affect its quality also publishing a wide range of publications and environmental reports.

Also they take responsibility for delivering Scotland's flood warning system, helping to implement Scotland's National Waste Strategy and controlling, with the Health and Safety Executive, the risk of major accidents at industrial sites.