New publications this month:

EU

Commission Notice: The ‘Blue Guide’ on the implementation of EU products rules 2016

The ‘Blue Guide’ has been updated to cover new developments, in particular the New Legislative Framework which was adopted in 2008 to improve market surveillance and boost the quality of conformity assessments. It also clarifies the use of CE marking and created a toolbox of measures for use in product legislation.

This guide covers conformity requirements for products in the EU, including on mandatory environmental and health and safety duties.

Commission guidance on streamlining environmental assessments conducted under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended)

This document provides guidance on streamlining environmental impact assessments.

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2016/1318 on guidelines for the promotion of nearly zero-energy buildings and best practices to ensure that, by 2020, all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings

This document provides guidance to national governments on how to ensure that by 2020 all new buildings will be zero-energy buildings.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Using persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

This guidance document has been updated to reflect the changes to the EU POPs regulations. New substances have been added to the regulations; conditions for some substances have changed and thresholds for waste management controls have been amended.

Dispose of waste containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

This guidance document has been updated to reflect the changes to the EU legislation on POPs. Thresholds for waste management controls have also been amended.

Onshore oil and gas exploration and extraction: environmental permits

This document provides guidance to onshore oil and gas companies and their service companies with guidance on permits and other permissions that may be required for their operations. Information is also provided on best available techniques that must be applied.

Fire prevention plans: environmental permits

Guidance is provided on the content of fire prevention plans and the fire prevention measures required for installations storing combustible waste.

Two men sentenced for part in illegal waste site operation

Two men (Brian Williams and John Chamberlain) have been sentenced for operating an illegal waste site at Cinetic Quarry. The court found that the site had been knowingly operated beyond the terms of its permit. Household, commercial, industrial and municipal waste was found buried in areas of the quarry.

Williams and Chamberlain were found guilty at Worcester Crown Court on 5 August 2016.

The two men operated the site illegally with 4 other defendants who were found guilty earlier in the year.

All those involved were found to have made a financial gain from operating the illegal waste site.

Breaches

Both men were found guilty of breaching Regulations 12(1)(b) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010:

• Regulation 12(1)(b) prohibits persons from causing or knowingly permitting a water discharge or groundwater activity unless authorised by an environmental permit.
• Regulation 38(1)(a) makes it an offence to contravene Regulation 12(1).

Penalties

Mr Williams was issued with a 2 year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

My Chamberlain was fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 in costs. Chamberlain has previously been convicted of similar offences, which were taken by the court to be an aggravating feature of this case.

Bradford waste firm ordered to pay £27,420 for environmental offences

Sam House Limited, a Keighley-based skip firm has been found guilty of repeatedly breaching environmental laws. Environment Agency officers first became aware the company was breaching its permit in April 2013.

The company was found to have repeatedly stored too much waste. In April 2013 Environment Agency officers identified that overflowing skips were stored outside the site on the roadside. Officers identified that four times the amount of the maximum permitted quantity of waste (10 tonnes) was held. Later site visits in June 2014 and May 2015 found that around 75 and 100 tonnes respectively were held.

Two legal notices were served in 2015, requiring the removal of the excess waste. Sam House Limited failed to comply with these notices.

The company, which operated a waste transfer station, was found guilty of four offences.

Penalty

The firm was fined a total of £18,800 for the offences, and ordered to pay legal costs of £8,500 plus a surcharge of £120.

Yorkshire Water fined £350,000 for polluting Harrogate watercourse

Yorkshire Water has been found guilty to an environmental permitting offence relating to a pollution incident from a sewer overflow in Harrogate in April 2013.

The overflow incident resulted in effluent entering the Rud Beck and ultimately impacting the River Crimple, which receives the Beck.

The court heard that a telemetry system installed had not been functioning correctly at the time of the incident.

In mitigation, the court heard that Yorkshire Water had not sought to evade its responsibility for the incident. It had self-reported the incident and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Penalty

Yorkshire Water was fined £350,000 and ordered to pay costs of £30,000 to the Environment Agency.