ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) 116: Registration of small sewage discharges in England

General binding rules will apply to small sewage discharges in England from 1 January 2015. This RPS has been updated to reflect this forthcoming change following a consultation earlier in 2014.

ItItWaste Tool

The online IsItWaste tool has been developed to assist users in identifying whether waste derived materials are not waste and therefore if they lie outside waste controls. This tool is specific to England, as it is based on case law within this country.

A user guide has been made published for the tool.

CRC: guidance for participants in phase 2

This document has been updated to reflect the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Amendment) Order 2014 and the revised definition of an EU ETS installation.

European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS): Charging scheme

Details of the charging regime for various activities under the EU ETS for 2014/15 have been published.

Biodiesel Quality Protocol

This protocol imposes requirements on waste derived biodiesel, including on input materials, material storage and processing and conformity to BS EN 14214:2012. Provided that waste derived biodiesel meets the requirements of this protocol, it will no longer be subject to waste controls.
 

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, INNOVATION & SKILLS (BIS)

Extractive industries reporting – draft industry guidance

This guidance document concerns payments made to government in relation to extractive industry and the respective reporting duties.
 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE (DECC)

Evidence gathering on potential renewable heating technologies

Seven research publications have been published on five technologies not eligible for the renewable heat incentive (RHI), which may be brought into the scheme in the future.

Changes to RHI domestic scheme eligibility

This guidance concerns a number of changes proposed to the domestic RHI, which it is intended will come into force in spring 2015. Changes proposed include the inclusion of biomass “cooker stoves” and high temperature heat pumps.

Electricity Market Reform (EMR) Annual Update 2014

This report details EMR progress since the introduction of the Energy Act 2013.

Shale gas made simple

This brief document provides guidance on shale oil and gas.
 

MARITIME & COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA)

Offshore renewable energy installations (OREI)

Updated guidance has been published on emergency response planning for offshore renewable energy.
 

NORTHERN IRELAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIROMENT

Regulatory Position Statement: Bakery brewing and dairy by-products used for animal feed or as energy input to anaerobic digestion

Staffordshire company prosecuted for polluting local brook

Ibstock Bricks Limited have been fined after breaching the stipulations of their specifically tailored discharge consent.

On 15th August 2013 a company representative informed the Environment Agency of a mechanical failure of the discharge equipment, and that visible pollution was being discharged into Silverdale Brook. Following a prompt investigation from the EA, it was found that clay material from Knutton Quarry may have been discharged into the Brook for a period of up to 13 hours.

It was confirmed that the incident was due to an absence of backflow prevention measures within the system.

The company were fined £27,000, and ordered to pay £6,501.25 in costs, along with a £120 victim surcharge.

Fines were issued for breaches of Regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
 

Glazewing Ltd fined for failing its duty of care

Contaminated waste supplied by Glazewing Ltd was taken illegally to a farm in Norfolk for spreading on the land.  

Glazewing Ltd paid the farming company £3 per tonne to take what was believed to be non-contaminated waste. The Environment Agency were first notified of the issue by a member of public who identified contaminants such as plastics and insulation foam within a number of fields off West Dereham Road, Walton.

Four of the five fields on which the contaminated waste was spread have since been cleared and waste sent to landfill, with the 5th taken back sometime later. As well as processing and selling scrap metal, Glazewing operate a small waste management division. It was believed that Glazewing Ltd could have taken the waste to its own landfill free of charge, with transport costs of £3.12 per tonne.

Failure to undertake even basic visual checks on the waste as part of their duty of care allowed 3,910 tonnes of contaminated soil to be supplied to Glover Farming (West Dereham) Ltd.

Glazewing was guilty of failing to prevent the farm company committing an offence by taking the waste, failing to check they were authorize to carry it, and failing to describe the waste properly on waste transfer notes.

The company was fined £3,600 for wrongly supplying contaminated waste, and ordered to pay a further £4,718 in costs to the Environmental Agency.
 

Businessman fined for polluting waterway

On three separate occasions, Water Quality Inspectors acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected the Enler River to find upstream polluting discharges polluting the waterway.

A discharge of vegetable processing waste water was observed to be entering the waterway upon inspection On 21 August 2013. Later in the year a brown discharge was observed to be causing discolouration of the river. Further, on 10 March 2014, observations identified the Enler River to be grossly polluted. On all three occasions the pollution was traced upstream to a premises owned by Mr Robert Martin Hamilton.

The August 2013 incident resulted in the death of over 5,000 fish with an estimated restocking cost of £7,918.06, which Mr Hamilton has agreed to pay.

Mr Hamilton was charged under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, and fined £2,000 for each of the dates above.