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December 2013
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| Congratulations. There are no changes to the legislation or other requirements in your legal register. |
Recent Publications |
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Surface water flood maps published by the Environment Agency Assessing and managing climate change risks in supply chains This document provides guidance to businesses on improving the resilience of their supply chains to climate change pressures. Environmental Good Practice Guidance: Guidance to help you maintain your watercourses Guidance is provided on the management of watercourses including desilting and management of adjacent vegetation. This document records every offence the Environment Agency regulates and provides guidance on options available for each (warnings, formal cautions, prosecutions and/or fixed penalty notices). Contaminated Land Programme approved projects for 2013/14 factsheet summary This document presents local authority inspection and remediation projects that have received funding for 2013-14 under the contaminated land capital projects programme. Updated CRC Guidance Regulatory Position Statement (RPS): CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Phase 2 Registration This statement provides guidance to landlords with tenants who hold climate change agreements (CCAs) or EU ETS permits. CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme guidance for participants in Phase 2 CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme guidance for participants in Phase 1 Updated EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Guidance
NORTHERN IRELAND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY This document provides guidance on applicants for the two classes of waste carrier licence in Northern Ireland. State of the environment report 2013 This report follows the report “Our environment, our heritage, our future” from 2008. The report presents key performance indicator data on 8 themes: air, climate, water, marine, land and landscape, biodiversity, built heritage and waste and resources.
A consultation at the start of 2013 presented several deregulatory proposals regarding the environmental permitting regime in England and Wales. This response document records that the government shall now proceed to make the following amendments:
The consultation response also communicates an intention to consolidate the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 and its amendments into a single piece of legislation as soon as practicable. Defra has published a number of further briefing notes supporting the Water Bill 2013-14, which aims to improve regulation of the water environment, abstraction licences, water industry and flood risk and insurance. The following notes were published in December 2013:
Defra has updated the list of derogations from the Animal By-product Regulation. Waste management plan for England This plan has been prepared to meet the requirements of the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and combines waste management policies into a single national plan. No new policies or changes to waste management are introduced by this plan. Waste Prevention Programme for England Defra has published a series of documents that comprise England’s waste prevention programme, which is required under the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC). The programme presents actions being undertaken to prevent waste generation and that can be taken by individuals, businesses and other organisations to improve resource efficiency. Centres for agricultural innovation: review of stakeholder feedback
Remanufacture, refurbishment, reuse and recycling of vehicles: Trends and Opportunities Recyclate Quality Action Plan - Summary of Consultation Responses In the third quarter of 2012 a consultation was run on the Scottish Government's Recyclate Quality Action Plan (RQAP). The RQAP is intended to support the implementation of the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Review of Local Air Quality Management in Scotland - analysis of consultation responses Planning Circulars Four circulars providing guidance on the administration of planning procedures in Scotland were published December 2013:
Responses to the Planning Scotland’s Sea Consultation
These documents present responses to the 2013 consultation on Marine policy in Scotland. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DECC) Green Deal: How the Green Deal and Feed-In Tariffs work together This information sheet has been prepared to inform consumers how savings may be achieved through the combination of the feed-in tariff (FIT) and the green deal. This plan concerns the implementation of smart metering in Great Britain, detailing progress to December 2013 and forthcoming phases. High–level proposals on changes to the ECO scheme The Government intends to consult on the changes to ECO, with the intention to reduce the carbon emissions reduction obligation target by a third to March 2015 but extend the programme until March 2017. This document provides proposals to be included in the later consultation, which it is intended will take place in early 2014. 2013 Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) reports DECC has published reports from 303 local authorities in England setting out energy conservation measures considered practicable, economic and likely to result in significant energy efficiency improvements in residences. Electricity Market Reform DECC has published a series of guidance documents on market reform under the Energy Act 2013:
Supplementary Renewables Investment Decision Guidance Update 3: Contract Award Process This document provides information on how decisions on investment in renewable energy will be reached under the Final Investment Decision (FID) enabling programme. This programme aims to prevent a reduction in investment in low carbon generation in advance of the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff with Contracts for Difference under the Energy Act 2013. This document presents qualifying renewables projects under the FID enabling programme.
This circular introduces the new approved documents under Part L (L1A and L2A) and amendments to existing 2010 approved documents (L1B and L2B), while providing guidance on compliance for new domestic and non-domestic buildings |
Offences |
Manchester company director pleads guilty to waste charges Mr Andrew Smith a company director for MCR Central Skip Hire a Manchester-based skip rental firm was prosecuted on 12 December 2013 after waste was illegally deposited on an embankment close to a public footpath. Mr Smith pleaded guilty to failing to prevent his company depositing waste on a site without an environmental permit at a court hearing which took place yesterday at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court. Mr Smith was fined £500 and ordered to pay £100 court costs plus a victim surcharge of £15. The Environment Agency instigated investigations after being contacted by a member of the public who observed waste being tipped into trees and shrubbery over the boundary wall of Kingston Distribution Centre, in Honey Street, Collyhurst. The waste had been deposited onto the embankment from the distribution centre, where MCR Central Skip Hire had been contracted to clear the site and has caused environmental harm to the land. There was also the potential for the waste to have spilled onto a footpath which runs close to the site.
Companies fined £20,000 for illegal waste offences Two waste companies were fined a total of £20,000 plus costs of £2,079.60 on 16 December 2013 at Newtownards Magistrates' Court. During a site visit in December 2012, officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), discovered non-compliant waste being deposited by IRS Recycling Ltd at TIPCO’s inert landfill site at Drumhirk Way, Conlig, Bangor, breaching conditions of their waste authorisation.
Waste operator’s permit revoked A waste facility in Blaenau Ffestiniog has had its environmental permit revoked after failing to comply with the conditions in its permit over a period of time. The permit holders, Mr Christopher and Mr George Evans, have been informed that as of 19 November 2013, they must not accept any new waste or treat any further waste materials on site. All remaining waste, including vehicles, waste fuel, scrap metal and parts, must be removed from the site by 17 March 2014. Failure to comply with this could lead to prosecution. This follows a recent conviction, whereby one of the permit holders, Mr Christopher Evans, was convicted of failing to comply with an enforcement notice requiring them to comply with the terms of their permit. |