New publications this month:

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS): Changes to reporting in phase 3 and delayed compliance deadline

The Environment Agency’s ESOS newsletters in May and June 2023 confirmed significant changes to reporting requirements in phase 3. The compliance deadline, which is the date by which the ESOS assessment must have been completed and notified to the Environment Agency, will be deferred to 5 June 2024.

Reporting changes in phase 3

The changes to reporting reflect those previously consulted on in 2021 and will require:

• At least 95% of total energy consumption to be covered by the ESOS assessment (the “de minimis” rule will change from 10% to 5%).
• A summary template of compliance information in each ESOS report.
• Additional data to be included in the compliance notification. A table prepared by the Environment Agency summarises the new requirements.
• The inclusion of standardised energy intensity metrics in reporting.
• Further information on the next steps to be taken to implement recommendations from the ESOS report.
• Target or action plans to be prepared after the phase 3 compliance deadline by December 2024, which will need to be reported against annually.

Organisations will be required to share ESOS reports with their subsidiaries.

The qualification thresholds requiring an ESOS assessment and qualification date (31 December 2022) will not change.

Mandatory net zero reporting is intended for Phase 4. A new Publicly Available Specification (PAS) will be published to support this and net zero reporting may be carried out voluntarily for Phase 3.

New legislation and IT systems

Forthcoming legislation will be required to bring the reporting changes and delayed compliance deadline into force. This legislation will be covered in a future monthly update as soon as it becomes available.

ESOS notifications may not be submitted until the legislation implementing the Phase 3 changes is in place.

Medium combustion plant: apply for an environmental permit

The Simple Calculation of Atmospheric Impact Limits (SCAIL) combustion tool is now available for air emission risk assessments in environmental permit applications for Medium Combustion Plants (MCPs) that lie within the minimum screening distances from a protected site(s).

Medium combustion plant: screening tool

Guidance is provided on the use of the Simple Calculation of Atmospheric Impact Limits (SCAIL) combustion tool, which is required to be used in applications for simple bespoke or complex bespoke MCP permits.

Deposit for recovery operators: environmental permits

Guidance has been added on submitting a pre-application stage waste recovery plan.

Dispose of waste to landfill

This guidance has been updated to reflect the landfill ban on upholstered domestic seating containing POPs and requirements on landfilling asbestos containing material. Updates also aim to improve clarity and information on waste classification and characterisation.

Change, revoke or transfer a water abstraction or impoundment licence

Clarity improvements have been made to this guidance. The document now also concerns water rights trading and when changing a licence potentially affects annual charges.

Renew a water abstraction licence

Revisions aim to improve clarity of this guidance.

Apply for a water abstraction or impounding licence

This guidance has also been updated to improve clarity.

Manage your water abstraction licence online

Contact information has been added for use when licence returns cannot be submitted online.

Extended producer responsibility for packaging: who is affected and what to do

This guidance now reflects that the service for reporting data is now due to go live in August 2023.

Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs):

A single new RPS was published during June 2023:

• Storing samples of waste for regulation or investigation: RPS 183

CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITTEE (CCC)

2023 Progress Report to Parliament

This report assesses progress against the net zero commitment made by the UK government. Despite the publication of the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, the report concludes that the policy development remains too slow and the CCC’s confidence in the UK meeting its medium-term targets has decreased in the past year.

Amongst other matters, the government is criticised for a lack of urgency and inadequate policy. A series of recommendations are raised by the CCC.

DEFRA

Local nature recovery strategies

This document explains what local nature recovery strategies are and what they will include. Responsible authorities will be required to implement these strategies. 

Guidance on application of phytosanitary treatments for the control of Oak Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea processionea) 2023

Professional users of phytosanitary treatments for oak processionary moth should follow this technical guidance.

DEPARTMENT FOR ENERGY SECURITY AND NET ZERO AND DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS)

Heat network optimisation guide and template scope of works

These new documents concern measures to improve the performance of heat networks.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Just transition discussion papers

Three discussion papers have been published to support engagement on just transition for the respective sectors:

• Just transition for the built environment and construction sector: a discussion paper
• Just transition for the transport sector: a discussion paper
• Just transition in land use and agriculture: a discussion paper

Six-figure fine for water company following sewage discharge

Anglian Water has paid a monetary penalty after sewage was released into the River Til in Bedfordshire.

The incident happened in 2018 after contractors working for the water company used a tanker jetter to unblock a sewer after sewage gathered in a field in Yielden, Bedfordshire. The increased flow from this activity caused the small rural Yielden Water Recycling Centre to become overwhelmed. This resulted in sewage being discharged into the River Til.

The Environment Agency determined that 660m of the River Til was impacted. High ammonia levels were found. Dissolved oxygen was also depressed at a level likely to impact fish but there was no evidence of any dead fish or invertebrates.

Anglian Water reported the pollution incident to the Environment Agency and took action to clean it up. Other measures were taken to prevent a similar incident happening in the future.

Anglian Water had an environmental procedure document stating how to deal with such incidents. However, there was no adequate written procedure setting out how to assess specific environmental risks and how to overcome them to prevent pollution from small sites like the Yielden Water Recycling Centre.

Variable Monetary Penalty (VMP)

The Environment Agency imposed a VMP of £150,000 on Anglian Water Services Ltd plus costs of £4,428.33.

This was the first time a water company in England has paid a VMP in relation to a pollution incident.

Man guilty of illegal waste offences in south east Wales

A Monmouthshire man has been found guilty of three waste offences.

The man was found guilty of operating a waste facility at Glannau farm, Monmouthshire without the relevant environmental permit and disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health.

The man was also found guilty of failing to comply with a Section 59 notice issued by NRW under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Section 59 allows notices to be issued requiring the removal of unlawfully deposited waste.

NRW officers visited the farm in January 2022 after receiving reports regarding waste activities. Multiple deposits of waste were found, including a number of vehicles that were in the process of being dismantled,  with radiators and wheels removed and pots of decanted oils propping vehicles up, along with green waste and carpets.

A number of skips were observed entering and leaving the site, many of which were covered with tarpaulin, indicating that waste was being transported to and from the farm.  

During subsequent visits and a final compliance visit carried out on 16 March 2022, NRW officers observed further offending of the same nature. NRW officers also found that access had been deliberately blocked by a vehicle.

The man was unable to provide a credible explanation as to the quality and quantity of waste at Glannau farm, and why the man’s name and number was on the increasing amount of skips seen entering and leaving the site.

Penalty

The man was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 200 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay NRW’s full costs of £13,915.09.

Previous Prosecution

The man was previously prosecuted by NRW for waste offences in November 2021, receiving fines totalling £13,542 and had his waste carrier licence revoked.

SEPA appeal over suspected illegal river works in South Lanarkshire

SEPA is investigating two separate incidents of unauthorised river engineering over approximately 500 metres in Lamington in South Lanarkshire.

The first happened in the late summer of 2022 and reportedly involved a large amount of gravel being extracted from the River Clyde. At nearly the same location in April 2023, work is suspected to have been carried out on gravel deposits in the Clyde without authorisation.

SEPA does not believe the incidents are connected, but both could have serious short and long term consequences on the water environment. The scale of the works could have significant impacts on the river’s ecology, including fish spawning. Altering the flow of a river can also lead to flooding issues both upstream and downstream.