SI 2018/611.
24th May 2018
Construction company fined £566,670
29th May 2018

May newsletter

 Dear Simplifi User,

Please find our newsletter covering legislation published during May.

In line with the new GDPR rules coming in to force 25th May 2018, Simplifi Solutions Ltd have updated their Privacy Policy and we have sent this to you as a separate email.

Kind Regards

The Simplifi Team

 

New legislation

Data Protection

A 2018 c.12.  Data Protection Act 2018.  Comes into force 23rd May.  This Act regulates the processing of information relating to individuals, specifies the functions of the Information Commissioner and sets up a direct marketing code of practice.

 Environmental permitting and protection

SSI 2018/162. The Environmental Protection (Micro, beads) (Scotland) Regulations 2018. Comes into force 19th June. These Regulations prohibit the use of microbeads as an ingredient in the manufacture of rinse-off personal care products and the sale of any such products containing microbeads.

 

Amending legislation

Energy

 SI 2018/610. The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2018. Comes into force 22nd May. These Regulations amend the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/928). These Regulations insert a new Part 3A, which provides for the assignment of the right to receive RHI payments. They introduce requirements for heat pumps to have electricity meters installed and exclude meters fitted to comply with those requirements from metering and meter positioning requirements. They simplify the calculation of a plant’s initial tariff and they change the structure of metering and monitoring agreement payments. They withhold metering and monitoring payments where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that specified metering and monitoring registration requirements are not being met.

SI 2018/611. The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 21st May. These Regulations are revoke and replace by the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/2860). These Regulations re-enact the 2011 Regulations with amendments. The premise remains the same: owners of plants which generate heat from specified renewable sources and meet specified criteria may receive payments at prescribed tariffs for the heat used for eligible purposes. Payments may also be made to biomethane producers who produce biomethane for injection. The Regulations confer functions on the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority  in connection with the administration of the Scheme.

 Environmental permitting and protection

SI 2018/527.  The Bathing Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2018. Comes into force 21st May. These Regulations amend the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1675) which implement, in England and Wales, Directive 2006/7/EC concerning the management of bathing water quality. Part 1 of Schedule 2 is amended to include nine surface waters newly identified by the Secretary of State as bathing waters in England and to omit two surface waters no longer identified by the Secretary of State as bathing waters in England. The names of 20 English bathing waters already listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 are also amended.

SI 2018/575. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 1st June.   These Regulations make amendments in relation to England to a number of pieces of secondary legislation within the remit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  Several provisions reflect an amendment to Annex 3 to Directive 2008/98/EC. Amendments are made to:

  • the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/668) to correct a reference relating to the methodology used for calculating nitrate concentration in water bodies.
  • the Water Abstraction (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/1047) to correct an error in the description of what circumstances qualify as granting a more limited abstraction licence than that applied for.

The Regulations make other miscellaneous minor amendments to legislation in the fields of agriculture, animal health and welfare, environmental protection, food, horticulture, plant health, sea fisheries, seeds, waste and water, in particular amending out of date references to domestic legislation and to EU instruments.

Planning

SSI 2018/142. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2018.  Comes into force 1st July. This Order amends the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 (SSI 1992/223). The amendments provide that, other than in certain specified cases, permitted development rights do not apply where the existing fish farm is the result of unlawful placement or assembly of equipment. Conditions are altered relating to the scale of permitted development and remove the need for prior notification where there is like for like replacement of equipment.

WSI 2018/552.  The Building (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2018.   Comes into force 1st November.  These Regulations amend the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214) with respect to water efficiency.

WSI 2018/554. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2018. Comes into force 30th May.  This Order amends the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (SI 1995/418) in relation to Wales.  Article 2 of this Order extends the date by which relevant developments must be completed by to 30th May 2019.

WSI 2018/558. The Building Regulations &c. (Amendment) (Excepted Energy Buildings) (Wales) Regulations 2018. Comes into force 8th June. These Regulations amend the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214) and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2215) in relation to excepted energy buildings in Wales.

Plant health, biocides and food.

 SI 2018/591.  The Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 15th May. Amends Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3263) with respect to the final date on which a single application, aid application or payment claim may be submitted.

Radioactive substances

 SR 2018/116. The Radioactive Substances (Modification of Enactments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018. Comes into force 1st June.   These Regulations are part of a package of measures to transpose Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation and repealing Council Directive 89/618/Euratom, 94/491/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom (the Basic Safety Standards Directive).  They amend, with respect to Northern Ireland, Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (A 1993 c.12), Radioactive Substances Exemption (Northern Ireland) Order 2011 (SR 2011/289), High-activity Sealed Radioactive Sources and Orphan Sources Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2686), Radioactive Substances (Basic Safety Standards) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (SR 2003/208) and Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (SR 2006/345).

Road Traffic.

SI 2018/592. The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 11th June.  Amends the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986/1078) by adding an exemption to provide that a person is not in contravention of the regulation where the hand-held mobile telephone or the hand-held device is being used to perform a remote control parking manoeuvre.

 

 Commencements

Planning

SI 2018/567. The Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 (Commencement No. 5) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 1st October 2018.  These Regulations partially bring into force section 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 (c. 20).

 

EU legislation

Nothing of relevance published

 

Eire legislation

RI 2018/133.  The Health, Safety and Welfare at Work (Mines) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 30th April. These Regulations set out requirements with respect to safety, health and welfare in mines and replace a range of provisions formerly applied in the Mines and Quarries Act, 1965 and in various Regulations made under that Act. The Regulations also re-transpose, in relation to mines, the relevant provisions of Council Directive 92/104/EEC2 on the minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers in surface and underground mineral extracting industries. The Regulations further provide that the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Extractive Industries) Regulations 1997 (RI 1997/467) no longer apply to a mine. The Regulations apply to all mines where persons work and set out duties on the owner, operator, manager and employees at a mine with respect to persons at or in the area immediately surrounding it.

RI 2018/136.  The European Union (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 2018. Comes into force 21st April. The Regulations transpose into Irish legislation the provisions of Regulation

(EU) 2016/425 on personal protective equipment. These Regulations also set out the obligations on economic operators in relation to these products and the required conformity assessment procedures for PPE.  The Regulations revoke and replace the European Communities (Personal

Protective Equipment) Regulations, 1993 (RI 1993/272) and the European Communities (Personal Protective Equipment) (CE Marking) Regulations, 1994 (RI 1994/457).

 

Consultations                                                    

The Environment Agency is consulting on new and revised standard rules environmental permits to cover operation of medium combustion plant (MCP) and emission controls on generators. Consultation closes on 15th June.  https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/environmental-permitting/standard-rules-consultation-no-17/.  The EA would like to know, from interested parties, if a single standard permit should be issued to an operator to cover a number of locations for the new medium combustion plants (MCP) standard rule sets.

DEFRA is consulting on the development of an Environmental Principles and Governance Bill. Consultation closes 2nd Augusthttps://consult.defra.gov.uk/eu/environmental-principles-and-governance/   This new piece of legislation will create a statutory and independent environmental watchdog to hold government to account for, English, environmental ambitions and obligations after the UK leaves the EU. The consultation considers some of the key questions around how environmental principles should be embedded into law, public policy-making and delivery, and what functions and powers the new environmental watchdog should have to oversee environmental law and policy.  It is set out in three parts:

  • Part 1 – Environmental Principles
  • Part 2 – Accountability for the Environment
  • Part 3 – Overall Environmental Governance

DEFRA and HM Treasury are consulting into whether red diesel for non-road mobile machinery discourages the purchase of cleaner alternatives.  Consultation closes 24th July. https://consult.defra.gov.uk/airquality/non-road-mobile-machinery-and-red-diesel/.

DEFRA is consulting on the draft Clean Air Strategy 2018.  Consultation closes 14th August.  The consultation covers each of the main themes of the strategy document: our understanding of the problem; protection of the nation’s health; protection of the environment; securing clean growth and innovation; reduction of emissions from transport; reduction of emissions from farming; reduction of emissions from industry; and leadership. https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/clean-air-strategy-consultation/

 

Prosecutions of note.

A Somerset pre-cast concrete products manufacturing company has been fined £660,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,563 after a maintenance fitter was fatally injured when trapped by machinery.  HSE told the Court that when the site was inspected after the incident a spare key was discovered, which meant that access to machinery in the incident area was possible without turning off and isolating the machine. During the investigation HSE also found there was insufficient supervision over the isolation of machines; the company’s procedures for safe maintenance work were not consistently understood or applied, pointing to deficiencies in instruction and training; it was common for people to access dangerous areas while machines were running; and there were other spare keys which were easily accessible.

A South Tyneside car parts manufacturer has been fined £1.6million after a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak and an explosion occurred at the same plant within a year.  Newcastle Crown Court heard that between October 2014 and June 2015, two employees, two agency workers and a local resident fell seriously ill with Legionnaires Disease. HSE found the illness was caused by the company’s failure to effectively manage its water cooling systems within the factory, causing the legionella bacteria within the water supply to grow to potentially lethal levels. HSE found that adequate measures were not put in place to protect operators from explosion risks, this was despite previous explosions having occurred.