New publications this month:

HM TREASURY

Autumn Budget 2024

The Autumn budget took place on 30 October 2024. Announcements relevant to the environment are as follows.

Landfill Tax

The budget confirmed that from 1 April 2025 rates of landfill tax in England and Northern Ireland will rise as follows:

• Standard rate (per tonne): £126.15, increasing from £103.70.
• Lower rate (per tonne): £4.05, increasing from £3.30.

Climate Change Levy

The main rates of climate change levy for gas, electricity and solid fuels will be increased in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) in 2026/7, while the rate for LPG will be frozen. Percentage reductions for climate change agreement holders will not change.

The carbon price support rates of climate change levy will remain at £18 per tonne of carbon dioxide in 2026/7.

UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

A consultation response published at the same time as the budget confirmed that a UK CBAM system will be introduced from January 2027. Legislation will be required to implement this system. The CBAM will apply a carbon price on goods deemed at risk of carbon leakage.

Annex B to the consultation response confirms imported commodities that will be included in the scope of the UK CBAM. The UK CBAM will include most commodities subject to the EU CBAM, including  aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen and iron & steel. The UK CBAM will exclude some commodities that are within the EU CBAM, including imports of:

• electricity;
• products from glass and ceramics sectors
• ferrous waste and scrap;
• certain ferro-alloys; and
• mineral and chemical fertilisers containing the two fertilising elements phosphorous and potassium.

The registration threshold for the UK CBAM will be £50,000.

Plastic Packaging Tax Rates

The rate of plastic packaging tax will increase in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on 1 April 2025.

Plastic packaging tax: Recognition of the mass balance to calculate recycled content in chemically recycled plastic

A consultation response published alongside the budget announced that the government will allow chemically recycled plastic accounted for using a mass balance approach to be accepted as recycled plastic for the purposes of the plastic packaging tax.

Green first year allowances

100% first year capital allowances for qualifying expenditure on zero-emission cars and plant or machinery for electric vehicle chargepoints will be maintained for 31 March 2026 for corporation tax purposes and 5 April 2026 for income tax purchases.

UK NET ZERO CARBON BUILDINGS STANDARD

Pilot Version of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard

The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard applies a series of requirements on new buildings and buildings undergoing retrofit. Limits, targets and reporting obligations are applied, alongside an optional reporting route for offsetting. Annex A to the standard collects the limits and targets providing requirements under the standard.

The standard is intended to cover the majority of the UK’s building stock, including homes, offices, retail, schools, healthcare, commercial premises, storage and distribution and data centre facilities. It will not cover infrastructure projects, however.

The pilot version does not include verification or communication processes, but these will be adopted in version 1 of the standard.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, NATURAL RESOURCES WALES, SCOTTISH ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY (SEPA) AND NORTHERN IRELAND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (NIEA)

ESOS Newsletter, issue 30, October 2024

This edition of the newsletter provides extended guidance on the preparation of action plans for phase 3 of ESOS.

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA)

Single-use plastics bans and restrictions

Information added to this guidance includes further details of what is meant by single use and reusable and examples of reusable plastic items are given.

DEFRA AND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Updated ‘agreed positions and technical interpretations guidance’ for the extended producer responsibility scheme

These documents provide the agreed positions and interpretations of extended producer responsibility compliance obligations across all UK regulators:

• The pEPR Agreed Positions and Technical Interpretations version 3 cover 2023 submissions.
• The EPR Regulator Agreed Positions and Technical Interpretations Version 5 cover 2024 and subsequent submissions.

DEPARTMENT FOR ENERGY SECURITY AND NET ZERO

Guidance revised to reflect new allocation dates for UK ETS

This guidance document reflects that the allocation dates for the UK ETS’ 2026 to 2030 allocation period have been delayed to the period between 1 April and 30 June 2025.

• UK ETS: Hospital and Small Emitter status
• UK ETS: Register your installation as an ultra-small emitter

MARINE MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION

Guidance to help you successfully complete a marine licence application

The new guidance aims to support applicants for standard marine licences.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

SR2023 No 1: capture, treatment and storage of biogas from lagoons and tanks

This standard rule permit has been updated, revising operating techniques and conditions.

Check if you need a licence to impound water

This guidance reflects the new Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) 302 (Low risk impounding activities).

Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)

Three new RPSs and two updated RPSs were published during October 2024:

• Treating small volumes of contaminated soil and groundwater: RPS 215: updated, now covers groundwater activities to allow in situ treatment of groundwater. This RPS is due to be reviewed by 31 October 2027.
• Treating and using water containing suspended solids at construction sites: RPS 235: updated, this RPS no longer concerns water containing concrete as this is subject to RPS 287. The RPS is due to be reviewed by 30 June 2027.
• Treating and using water containing concrete at construction sites: RPS 287: new, this RPS is due to be reviewed by 30 June 2027.
• Low risk impounding activities: RPS 302: new, authorises a range of lower risk impounding activities if the attached conditions can be met. This RPS is due to be reviewed by 1 April 2026.
• Accepting metal shredder residues and post shredder treatment residues at landfills: RPS 314: new, due to be withdrawn by 31 March 2026.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Design for Life roadmap

This plan aims to deliver a circular economy for medical technology, improving resilience and supporting growth, while providing cost savings and sustainability improvements.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital

These principles support the Scottish Government’s ambitions for natural capital markets.

WELSH GOVERNMENT

Climate Adaptation Strategy for Wales 2024

This strategy collects ongoing and future climate adaptation actions in Wales. A total of 243 actions are set out, alongside timescales for delivery.

Coach operator fined for diesel leaks

A coach company based in devon has been fined after diesel leaks from its tanks affected the Taw estuary.

At Taw and Torridge Coaches Ltd’s site, an above ground 30,000 litre diesel tank was installed. This had two metered fuel pumps connected to the tank via pipework located in a below ground conduit. The meters had not been calibrated since the company took on the site in 2012 and no maintenance contract or records existed for this refuelling facility.

In 2019, the Environment Agency attended the site following reports of diesel in the Taw estuary. The oil was traced to a tributary called the Coney Gut diversion channel and from there back to the site. Diesel was found floating on the surface of groundwater within old oil recovery sumps and wells and a conduit was full of oily sludge.

Agency officers then visited the site daily, replacing oil absorbents and monitoring the watercourse. Between two of these visits, the sludge in the conduit was cleaned out and on a subsequent inspection it was found that a screw had been placed in a hole in the pipe in an attempt to seal it.

The director of the company denied that the oil came from the site and claimed that it must be from one of the neighbouring sites, such as a filling station. He stated that the hole in the pipe, in which the screw had been inserted, occurred during the digging out of the oily sludge and had not existed previously when the oil was first seen in the Taw. However, photographic records show that this was not the case and the screw had been present at the time of the first investigations. Samples taken proved that diesel didn’t come from the neighbouring filling station

Oil continued to leak into the Coney Gut throughout July and into August 2019. The director was informed he needed to get specialist assistance to deal with the contaminated ground, which was the source of the oil. He resisted doing so, arguing that the oil was not from the site.

An Anti-Pollution Works Notice was served, requiring remediation works recommended by a clean-up company. The company employed contractors to set up a ground water remediation system which recovered thousands of litres of diesel. However, when the insurance money ran out, the director did not continue to use the contractors as recommended in their report. Subsequently, it was found in April 2021 that there was still a possibility of diesel leaking from the ground surrounding the coach depot.

An expert’s report suggested over 1,000 litres of diesel had escaped over time and work to remediate the contamination was inadequate.

Breaches

Taw and Torridge Coaches Ltd pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the pollution incident:

• Undertaking a groundwater discharge activity that was not authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
• Undertaking a water discharge activity that was not authorised by an environmental permit, contrary to Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
• Failing to have adequate facilities for detecting leaks in oil storage facilities, contrary to Regulation 4(3)(b)(iii) of the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001.

The Director pleaded guilty to a further two charges:

• Causing a groundwater discharge activity not under or to the extent authorised by an environmental permit and said offence was attributable to the director’s neglect, contrary to Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 41(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
• Causing a water discharge activity not under or to the extent authorised by an environmental permit and said offence was attributable to the director’s neglect, contrary to Regulation 12(1)(b) and Regulation 41(1)(b) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

Penalty

Taw and Torridge Coaches Ltd was fined £25,500 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £41,727.99 and remediation costs of £43,100.01.

No separate fine was given for the other two charges and the charges against the director were ordered to lay on file.

Distillery receives a civil penalty for an unlicensed discharge

RAER Scotch Whisky Ltd has received a Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP) after SEPA found a polluting discharge from Jackton Distillery had polluted a watercourse.

In March and June 2021, SEPA officers attended the Jackton Distillery. The officers saw a discharge flowing to the Gill Burn, which was coming from the riverbank next to a holding tank structure at the rear of the Distillery.

Officers were advised by an employee that the holding tank structure was used to drain two effluent streams from the distillery process, including cooling water and pot ale (a liquid produced during the process of brewing beer). There was no authorisation in place for the discharge of thermal and organic effluent at this location.

The company stated that the discharge of water to the Gill Burn was caused by a ‘faulty hot water tank,’ which has since been replaced.

Breach

SEPA was satisfied that RAER Scotch Whisky Ltd carried on a controlled activity without an authorisation, contrary to Regulation 4 and Regulation 44(1)(a) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. 

The level of FMPs is set out in The Environmental Regulation (Enforcement Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015. This order provides SEPA with powers to issue penalties and accept undertakings for relevant environmental offences. 

Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP)

An FMP of £600 was served to the distillery.

Environment Agency successfully gains injunction against Himley Environmental

The Environment Agency has successfully applied for an injunction order against Himley Environmental, who operates two regulated facilities at Crooked House Lane in Himley.

This order concerns environmental permits for the Oak Farm Quarry Landfill and Oak Farm Quarry North-East Landfill. The order requires the company to comply with a series of enforcement notices regarding gas management, surface water management, leachate monitoring and site security.

At present, landfill gas is freely venting to air and the site is insecure, which is posing a significant risk of pollution and potential harm to human health.