On Monday 13 September, an amendment to the Environment Bill was passed in the House of Lords, to place a new duty on water companies and the government take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows and requires that they progressively reduce the harm caused by these discharges
Amendment 60, proposed by The Duke of Wellington, Baroness Altmann, Lord Oates and Baroness Quin, carried by 184 votes to 147.
The proposed amendment had received widespread public support, with a petition receiving over 91,000 signatures. It had been strongly supported by a coalition of NGOs, including The Rivers Trust, Surfers Against Sewage and the Angling Trust.