Sammy Wilson, the Environment Minister, is adamant the new body can take on those responsible for destruction of the environment and that an Environmental Protection Agency independent of government would not be the panacea green groups believe.
At Tuesday's launch of NIEA, which replaces the Environment and Heritage Service, Mr Wilson promised: "It is not just a new name, but a new way of working to make sure we keep the quality of our natural and built heritage and enable companies and communities to thrive."
Changes from the old EHS include a £2 million investment in better regulation, the appointment of 40 specialist advisors to help businesses comply with environmental regulations and the establishment of a new environmental crime unit to tackle serious and persistent offenders, with powers comparable to the Assets Recovery Agency, set up to confiscate the proceeds of organised crime.
The new body will be more transparent with board meetings held in public and regular publication of statistics on its performance, and include two non-executive directors, which insiders say will counter the reluctance of civil servants to challenge their managers which hampered the EHS.
Speaking to the Times, the Minister acknowledged the launch of NIEA would "probably not" placate critics, but urged greens to judge the new body on results.
"Very unfair and unreasonable judgements have been made about the effectiveness of the agency even before it was set up. If I had made those kinds of judgements about children, people would have been incensed; they need to be given the opportunity to prove themselves," the former teacher said.
"Those who are tied to the idea of an independent agency need to be a bit less churlish. The record of some idependent environment agencies is not great; look at the destruction of the countryside in Donegal as a result of the level of development that has been allowed, the pollution of rivers and the destruction of old buildings.
"I listen to MPs from England and they make the same criticisms of their Environmental Protection Agency as were made about the EHS here. It is not right to say independent agencies give better protection, the record does not show that."
Meanwhile, South Antrim MLA David Ford boycotted Tuesday's launch of the NIEA, branding the event "a total sham."
"What we should have been seeing is the launch of an independent Environmental Protection Agency instead of a re-launch of this already existing body. This event is the political equivalent of the emperor's new clothes," the Alliance Party leader said.