New publications this month:
CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITTEE (CCC)
Progress in reducing emissions: 2022 report to Parliament
The CCC’s annual progress report on reducing emissions has been published. This includes the following six key messages:
It is also noted that UK emissions rose by 4% in 2021 from 2020, which was attributed to the economy recovering from the pandemic.
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA), SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT AND WELSH GOVERNMENT
UK REACH: rationale for priorities in 2022 to 2023
This document presents priorities for restrictions and regulatory management options analysis (RMOA) of substances under UK REACH between 2022 to 2023:
Five priorities are set out:
RMOA actions may conclude that restrictions are the most appropriate substance for each class of substances.
DEFRA AND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Packaging waste: prepare for extended producer responsibility
Guidance is provided on preparing for the extended producer responsibility regime for packaging. Organisations handling or supplying packaging must collect packaging data from 1 January 2023.
Action must be taken if the following apply:
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Monitoring stack emissions: measurement locations
Requirements on sample locations for monitoring stack emissions to air are defined in this document.
This document replaces the former M1 guidance.
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS)
UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard: emissions reporting and sustainability criteria
The greenhouse gas emissions calculation tool for hydrogen producers has been updated. This includes an improved default natural gas upstream emissions factor.
BEIS AND OFFICE FOR PRODUCT SAFETY AND STANDARDS
List of energy-related products with the associated ecodesign regulations
This list collects energy-related products against the respective ecodesign regulations.
Reservoir owner and operator guidance: spillways
This new guidance document concerns the design, inspection, monitoring and maintenance of impounding reservoir spillways. This document is of interest to owners or operators of these reservoirs.
Reservoir inspecting engineers: inspecting high-risk reservoirs
This document provides instructions on the inspection of high-risk reservoirs by inspecting engineers.
Reservoir supervising engineers: written statements and site visit reports
This document provides instructions for supervising engineers with respect to reservoirs in England.
Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)
The following RPSs were published or updated during June 2022:
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021: guidance
Guidance provided on the restrictions on single-use plastic products in Scotland has been updated, reflecting that these are in force as of 1 June 2022.
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Public Sector net-zero carbon reporting spreadsheet
Public sector bodies in Wales are required to calculate and report emissions annually. This spreadsheet supports reporting in the 2021 to 2022 period.
The completed form is required to be submitted by 9 September 2022.
Local and shared ownership of energy projects: guidance
This guidance is aimed at developers, local communities and decision-makers on local and shared ownership energy projects in Wales.
NATURAL RESOURCES WALES
General licences for birds 2022
These 18 general licences permit certain activities affecting wild birds, provided the conditions attached are met.
Anglian Water receives six figure fine after sewage releases killed 5,000 fish
Anglian Water has been fined after a significant release of sewage in 2016.
In June 2016, Environment Agency officers carried out an investigation at Shenfield and Hutton Water Recycling Centre, a sewage treatment works operated by Anglian Water after an incident occurred. The Environment Agency found that all three pumps in one of the pump stations at the site had failed following a fire. As a result, untreated sewage was being released via an emergency overflow.
Environment Agency officers followed the sewage releases into the River Wid. Tests carried out found high levels of ammonia among the cloudy, polluted water. A further investigation a few days found dead fish and invertebrates at many different sites along the river.
Further investigations identified that the bearings on one of the pumps had failed but this continued to operate. Although the cause of the fire was unknown, it was accepted that heat built up caused the fire, which caused damage stopping all three pumps from working. This left no way for the sewage to be pumped.
The pumps being used by Anglian Water were almost 40 years old. The bearings on another pump had failed in 2013. As a result, Anglian Water sought funding to replace bearings on the other two pumps. However, only two of the three pumps were refurbished and bearings on the pump that failed in June 2016 had not been overhauled.
Repairs were carried out to the equipment following the incident.
Breach
Anglian Water pleaded guilty breaching Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010:
Company directors plead guilty to illegal landfill operations
A former company boss from Hertfordshire has been fined and another awaits sentencing after vast amounts of illegal waste were dumped at a quarry.
The Anstey Quarry Company Ltd leased the quarry in Buntingford and had a permit from the Environment Agency to treat and dispose of up to 10,000 tonnes of clean soil waste. However, waste piled up was said to be 30 times that figure and contained small fragments of contaminants including plastic, wood, metal and packaging, as well as soil.
By undertaking these operations contrary to its permit, the company stood to save money in how much landfill tax it paid, based on the type and quantity of waste held.
Investigators first visited the site in February 2015 and told the directors that the huge quantities on site increased the risk of pollution when it decomposed. A month was given to dispose of this material legally in landfill. A mound of the prohibited waste reached 20 metres into the sky. Soil was used to cover some of the offending remains to avoid detection.
When officers reattended the site a few weeks later, the problem had got worse.
By July 2015, the directors had ignored an enforcement notice from the Environment Agency to stop filling the landfill illegally.
The Officers’ attention was then drawn to landscaping work undertaken by the directors’ company at Nuthampstead shooting ground, a few miles north-east of the quarry. More plastic, wood and metal had been taken to the venue in sizeable quantities to build an embankment or bund that was 10 metres high when investigators inspected it.
Breaches
The directors pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching Regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010:
Penalties
One of the directors was fined £1,450 with £8,000 in costs and a victim surcharge of £120.
The other director will be sentenced following a separate trial in March 2023, when he is due to face new charges of dumping waste illegally at a quarry near Stevenage.
Stop Notice issued to Norfolk landowner regarding waste operations
The Environment Agency has issued a Stop Notice to a landowner, requiring them to halt the unauthorised deposit and burning of waste. This follows a major fire in May 2022.
A Stop Notice is issued to prohibit a particular activity where the Environment Agency believes there is a significant risk to human health or the environment.
The deposit and burning of waste is now prohibited at the farm near Kings Lynn. If the landowner fails to comply with the notice they can then be taken to court and prosecuted, as breaching the notice is a criminal offence. The notice will remain in place until adequate action is taken to mitigate the risk and the site has been brought into compliance.
Investigations into alleged waste activities at the site are continuing.
Related Legislation
