New publications this month:
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS)
Plant or machinery capital allowances
Guidance is provided on plant and machinery tax capital allowances available with respect to the Energy Technology List.
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)
RPS138: Storing waste incapacitant sprays
The validity of this RPS has been extended until August 2021.
RPS206: Use of unbound municipal Incinerator Bottom Ash Aggregate (IBAA) in construction activities
The validity of this RPS has been extended to 19 August 2019.
RPS214: Spreading treated sewage effluent on land during prolonged dry weather
This RPS permits the spreading of treated sewage effluent on land during prolonged dry spells in order to benefit agriculture or the environment. To benefit from this RPS, the stated conditions must be met.
SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY (SEPA)
Regulation of Offshore Oil and Gas Waste
Guidance is provided on the various types of waste associated with offshore oil and gas operations and the respective legal requirements.
Guidance on Activity Capacity / Threshold under the Pollution Prevention & Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012
Guidance is provided on the determination of activity capacities, which impact whether thresholds under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 are met and if a permit, or which type of permit, is required.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT & RURAL AFFAIRS (DAERA
Environmental advice for planning: Practice guide: Water features survey
This updated document provides guidance on when water features surveys are required and what they should involve. Water features surveys assess the impact of a proposed development on groundwater and surface water and are typically required for developments requiring risk assessments or environmental impact assessments in Northern Ireland.
Environmental advice for planning: Standing advice: Single wind turbines and groundwater
Guidance is provided on the assessment of potential groundwater impacts from single wind turbine developments.
Prison sentence for Cambridgeshire waste operator
An operator of a waste site in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire has received a suspended prison sentence for operating a waste transfer station without a permit.
Environment Agency officers first attended the site, which was operated as Cambridge Skip Hire, in August 2016. As no persons were present, the Environment Agency left a letter requesting the business to make contact. No contact was made, and the Environment Agency imposed a stop notice on the business.
In November 2016 officers located the business operator, Daniel Lee Crockwell. The operator agreed to clear the site by 16 February 2017. This deadline was not met and the landowners took control of the site, conducting clearance themselves.
In court, an Environment Agency officer stated that the site was unsuitable for operation as a waste transfer station in its current configuration due to environmental, planning and health and safety concerns.
Breaches
Daniel Lee Crockwell pleaded guilty to operating a regulated facility without being authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Regulation 12 and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
Penalty
Daniel Lee Crockwell received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £5,592 in costs.
Hoteliers and haulier fined after waste illegally dumped
Three men have been fined after illegally landfilling waste.
In September 2016 Environment Agency officers attended Hardwick Hall Manor Hotel and found that part of the car park was covered with waste materials. This area is close to a watercourse. Enquiries by the officers found that the edge of the car park had suffered a landslip and the owners had decided to make repairs.
During the inspection, a fully-laden waste vehicle arrived on the site belonging to a haulier. Environment Agency officers identified that the waste held was the same as that seen on the ground. Materials used to repair the car park should not have been deposited in such a mixed state without an environmental permit. The Environment Agency identified traces of bonded asbestos, a hazardous waste, within the material. The haulier was found to only be part responsible for the total waste material used at the hotel however.
It is illegal to dispose of waste by landfilling without an environmental permit. The hotel did not hold a suitable permit to authorise this activity. 36 wagon loads of material were tipped at the hotel.
The Environment Agency ordered that tipping operations stopped and that illegally tipped waste was removed and disposed of at a permitted facility. However, a later inspection identified further waste within the car park.
Penalties
David and Alan Bradley, joint owners of the hotel, were fined £3,855 and £971 respectively.
Alan Waggott, the haulier, was fined £6,007.
SEPA takes action on dust emissions from site in Dunbar
SEPA received a number of complaints from the public regarding dust from Tarmac Cement and Lime Limited’s site in Dunbar during September and October 2017.
A subsequent SEPA investigation assessed dust deposits and concluded that the Tarmac Cement and Lime Limited site was the most likely source of this material. The operator was required to take action to prevent and minimise potential escapes of dust from the site.
A warning letter issued by SEPA instructed the operator to review procedures for monitoring and detection of dust emissions. The letter also stated that SEPA expected earlier and more proactive investigation of dust emissions in the future.
The site’s permit is being reviewed and SEPA is now undertaking a separate investigation with respect to dust complaints in Dunbar during May 2018.
