[en] The Environment Agency has wide-ranging responsibilities and powers to protect and, where necessary, improve the environment in England and Wales. The Agency also has a duty to protect the environment in a way that works towards sustainable development. In 1998, the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR) strategy for radioactive substances was agreed by Ministers at Sintra, Portugal, to prevent pollution of the North East Atlantic maritime area through progressive and substantial reductions in discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive substances. In June 2000, the UK Government published for consultation the draft UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001-2020 which sets out the UK's plans to implement the OSPAR strategy. The Government will be issuing statutory guidance to the Environment Agency which will provide the vehicle through which the UK Strategy will be implemented. Radiological monitoring programmes are carried out in support of the Agency's regulatory functions under RSA 93 and as part of the UK Government's obligations under the Euratom Treaty. This report presents the results of the Agency's regular monitoring of radioactivity in the environment during 1999 and an assessment of the radiological impact. The main findings of the regular monitoring programme during 1999 were as follows: (i) The majority of operator declarations of the radioactive content of wastes discharges and disposals had been assessed accurately or were over estimated. (ii) Radiation dose-rates above sediments and concentrations of radionuclides in water, sediment, soil and grass were generally consistent with those reported in previous years, with no clear trend over the last 10 years. Enhanced levels of artificial radionuclides continue to be found in coastal sediments in the vicinity of Sellafield, which decline with increasing distance from the site. Radioactivity levels around other major sites were mostly low or not detectable. (iii) As in previous years, concentrations of radionuclides analysed in airborne dust and rainwater from seven locations in the UK were very low or undetectable. (iv) Water from all 31 sources of drinking water in England and Wales, except one in Derbyshire, were consistently well below the World Health Organisation (WHO) drinking water screening levels. The enhanced level of uranium in the Derbyshire water is due to the local geology, and is insignificant from a radiological point of view. Assessments of doses which might be received by members of the public from drinking water and occupation of beaches, riverbanks and inter-tidal areas around nuclear and major non-nuclear sites were made. In all cases, doses were less than the annual dose limit for members of the public of 1000 μSv. Houseboat dwellers on the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire received the highest annual doses of 160 μSv from non-food sources. This is due to their high occupancy over inter-tidal sediments which contain radionuclides discharged from both BNFL Sellafield and BNFL Springfields. On the Cumbria coast annual doses were between 4 and 39 μSv, similar to previous years. Elsewhere, annual doses were 1 μSv or less. From time to time, more detailed studies are carried out by the Agency to investigate areas where enhanced levels of radioactivity in the environment were detected. Three such studies, which continued during 1999, were: Tritium levels around nuclear sites. The higher than expected concentrations of tritium found in fish, shellfish and sediments in the Cardiff area as a result of discharges from the Nycomed Amersham plant, were reported in the Radioactivity in the Environment Report for 1998. During 1999, the Agency started a programme of additional environmental monitoring for tritium around particular nuclear sites in England and Wales. The results indicate that significantly elevated concentrations of tritium in the environment are restricted to the Cardiff area and are not found elsewhere. (v) Sea-washed turf. The Agency has commissioned a review of the exposure pathways arising from artificial radionuclides in sea-washed turf around the margins of the Irish Sea from the Solway Firth to the Dee Estuary. The study concluded that the annual dose to turf-cutters would be of the order of 40 μSv/y. A maximum dose of 60 μSv/y was assessed for people living in domestic houses with sea-washed turf laid as lawn. This estimate considered the recreational use of the lawn as well as the dose arising from eating food grown from part of the lawn converted to a vegetable plot. These doses are well below the annual dose limit of 1000 μSv/y. This assessment provides reassurance that exposure to seawashed turf does not pose a significant radiological risk to members of the public or employees in the turf-cutting industry. (vi) Radioactivity from coal-fired power stations. It is known that natural radioactivity is present in emissions from fossil-fuelled generating plant. The Agency has conducted a study to assess the radioactive content of emissions from coal-fired power stations and their radiological implications. Particulate samples collected from the stacks of the Aberthaw, Drakelow, Drax, Eggborough, High Marnham and West Burton coal-fired power stations were analysed for uranium, thorium, Ra-226, Pb-210 and Po-210. The measured levels were too low to require authorisation of the power stations under RSA 93. The resultant doses to members of the public from each of the coal-fired power stations has been assessed as less than 1 μSv/y, which is insignificant when compared with the UK dose limit of 1000 μSv/y and dose constraint of 300 μSv/y