The Response to the Committee on Climate Change Report (Extension of Period) Order 2022 will amend the Climate Change Act 2008 on 14 October 2022.
This legislation applies across the UK.
What will change?
The deadline for the Secretary of State to respond to the Climate Change Committee’s annual progress report for 2022 has been deferred to 31 March 2023. This was originally due by 15 October 2022.
It is understood that this delay is due to the independent review of the Government’s approach to meeting net zero, which was announced on 8 September 2022 and is due to be completed by the end of December 2022.
Background
Section 37 of the Climate Change Act 2008 set a deadline of 15 October in each year for the Secretary of State to respond to the Climate Change Committee’s annual progress report.
The 2022 annual progress report was published in June 2022 and was covered within the June monthly update.
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS)
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
This Bill includes a proposed power to automatically revoke all retained direct EU legislation and EU-derived subordinate legislation at the end of 2023. This deadline could be extended for specific legislation via regulations, but until no later than 23 June 2026.
The supremacy of EU law that is not part of domestic law would be removed after the end of 2023.
Impact
As a significant proportion of environmental, health and safety law is derived from EU legislation, the proposals within the Bill are likely to have significant impacts. A broad range of new legislation would need to be made to prevent many existing protections, obligations and powers from automatically being lost.
A dashboard of retained EU law has been made available online. This identified 570 items of legislation applicable to Defra, with 318 applicable to BEIS.
Proposed amendments to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 extend powers to amend, repeal or replace retained EU law. These powers would be available to the UK government and devolved governments.
The Bill had reached its second reading at the time in the House of Commons at the time of the update.
Energy bills support factsheet
This factsheet sets out how the Energy Price Guarantee, which is to be introduced on 1 October 2022, will operate. This provides support for business, non-domestic properties and households, applying a lower price cap on standing and unit charges than was originally due to apply.
Climate compatibility checkpoint design
The climate compatibility checkpoint aims to ensure new oil and gas licensing rounds are not started before compatibility with the UK’s climate objectives is evaluated.
Participating in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)
Guidance on the UK ETS has been updated to reflect that the planned replacement for the ETSWAP system has been delayed. The system has been postponed to 2023 but an exact date has not been given.
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA)
Habitats and species of principal importance in England
This list presents priority habitats and species in England for use by public bodies, landowners and funders for biodiversity conservation purposes.
Import, export or manufacture equipment pre-charged with F gas
This guidance has been updated to clarify when a declaration of conformity is required
Clean air zones
This guidance now reflects that a clean air zone is in force in Bradford.
DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES AND MINISTRY OF HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems: Approved Document J
This approved document supporting the Building Regulations 2010 has been updated, reflecting updated requirements on carbon monoxide alarms that will apply from 20 October 2022.
OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD (ORR)
Environment and sustainable development: Delivering for sustainability and the environment.
The ORR published a policy statement and environmental guidance for railway licence holders during September 2022:
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Biological waste treatment: appropriate measures for permitted facilities
This technical guidance details appropriate measures for permitted waste management facilities that handle organic waste (biowaste).
Regional Flood Defence and Land Drainage Byelaws
Regional flood defence and land drainage byelaws have been published on GOV.UK, alongside guidance on the activities and locations covered:
These byelaws must be followed when undertaking activities on or near a main river, on or near a flood defence structure, in a flood plain or on or near a sea defence.
Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)
The following RPSs were published or updated during September 2022:
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Approved document part L: Conservation of fuel and power: volume 1 - Dwellings
This updated approved document comes into force on 23 November 2022. This reflects requirements on on-site generation of electricity.
Building regulations guidance: part F (ventilation)
These updated approved documents and the associated guidance come into force on 23 November 2022.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Net zero accelerator tool
Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency, has launched a net zero accelerator tool. The tool aims to support companies in assessing their company’s performance and identifying where improvements are needed.
Restriction order issued against land near Kings Lynn
On 16 August 2022 a Norwich magistrates’ Court issued a restriction order regarding 15 hectares of land off Clockcase Road in Clenchwarton. The order prohibits any person from accessing the area and prohibits the import of any waste into it.
The restriction order allows criminal sanctions to be taken against any person failing to comply with it. The order will remain in force until at least 23:59 on 15 February 2023 but this could be extended.
The order was issued after an application by the Environment Agency. This application considered the harm waste activities underway on the site could have to human health and the environment.
The restriction order follows a June 2022 stop notice issued against the owner of a separate parcel of land at Kenfield Farm, Clenchwarton. The notice required the immediate cessation of unauthorised deposits and burning of waste following a major fire at the farm. The recipient of this notice is also associated with the area of land off Clockcase Road.
Relevant Legislation
Section 109D of the Environment Act 1995 allows the Environment Agency to apply to magistrates’ courts for restriction orders where there is a risk of serious pollution to the environment or human health that is a result of the treatment, keeping, deposit or disposal of waste in or on the premises and an order is necessary to prevent the risk from continuing.
Section 109D was introduced by the Waste Enforcement (England and Wales) Regulations 2018 on 29 March 2018.
Fly-tipper who failed to clear waste appears in court
A Devon fly-tipper has been fined after he failed to clear illegally dumped waste from a field. Dumped waste included vehicles, furniture, white goods and gas bottles.
The man was previously given a conditional discharge for 12 months by Plymouth Magistrates in February 2021, when he had pleaded guilty to dumping waste without an environmental permit between January 2019 and August 2020. The conditional discharge required that the man clear the site by the end of May 2022. The man was also required to provide proof the rubbish had been properly transferred to a legitimate site permitted to accept such waste.
On 14 September 2022 the man appeared before magistrates for contempt after he failed to clear the waste by the deadline. The man was fined and ordered to pay costs after showing evidence that the waste has now been cleared.
Breach and Relevant Legislation
The man pleaded guilty earlier in 2022 to breaching Regulation 12(1)(a) and Regulation 38(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016:
A Regulation 44 order was imposed during the earlier hearing, which required the site to be cleared of rubbish by 31 May 2022:
Penalties
On 14 September 2022 the man was fined £100 and ordered to pay £80 costs.
At February’s hearing, the man was ordered to pay costs of £500 plus a £22 victim surcharge.
Abattoir fined after nearly 350 odour complaints
A poultry abattoir has received a six-figure fine after a district judge concluded that odour offences had a significant effect on the quality of life in Banham, Norfolk.
The site holds an environmental permit to slaughter up to 67 million birds a year. Poultry was brought into the abattoir alive and prepared to be later sold in shops and restaurants. The court heard that poor practices and the deterioration of Banham Poultry (2018) Ltd’s premises had generated significant odours and allowed them to escape. The Environment Agency recorded odours between January 2019 and September 2021.
The court heard that foul-smelling air had escaped through damaged and open doors. Watery blood from poultry collected on the abattoir floor, prevented from draining away because of blocked drains. Other parts of the building were badly corroded and beyond repair. Part of the site collapsed in May 2020 when the roof caved in. Structural weaknesses saw another roof blow off in a storm. Repairs that were done were said to be ‘shabby’.
Finding decaying animal parts, investigators were also concerned at poor housekeeping, and no contingency plan when animal blood and waste was on site too long. The shortcomings were made worse by carcasses stored outside in the hot summer of 2020. Dead animals were kept in a trailer in sweltering conditions with no refrigeration.
Staff lacked the relevant training in environmental issues, so were unable to deal with the abattoir’s many problems, described by the agency as ‘chronic’.
Streets and houses in the vicinity of the abattoir were overpowered by a constant smell from the abattoir, as the stay-at-home pandemic laws had unintended consequences. But the smells around Attleborough began more than a year before lockdown.
The Environment Agency warned the company to act after 9 complaints about the slaughterhouse were made early in 2019, coinciding with waste blood being kept on site too long. Believing the company had breached its permit for managing smells, investigators issued an enforcement notice to limit or prevent odours leaving the boundary of the abattoir. The company failed to comply with this notice.
Odour Management Plan
An investigation found that the site’s odour management plan, meant to control the effect of work on the community, was ‘ripped up’, according to one employee. Another member of staff wrote in an e-mail in 2019 they were ‘embarrassed…’ and couldn’t defend the company’s poor management of the site, adding ‘we stink’.
The Environment Agency consistently told Banham the plan either didn’t contain the necessary measures to prevent odour pollution, or procedures weren’t being followed. Banham either responded to the warnings very late or simply ignored them.
Breach
Banham Poultry (2018) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 38(2) and Regulation 38(3) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016:
Penalty
Banham Poultry (2018) Ltd was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £67,621.45 in costs with a victim surcharge of £170.
A separate penalty was not applied for a breach of Regulation 38(3).
