SI 2017/1143.
24th November 2017
EA consulting on future charging arrangements
30th November 2017
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November newsletter

Dear Simplifi User,

Please find our November newsletter.

The Simplifi Team

 

New legislation

Conservation

 SI 2017/1012. The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. Comes into force 30th November. These Regulations consolidate the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/490), with amendments, and make minor modifications reflecting changes to related legislation. They also implement aspects of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c. 23). These Regulations transpose Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

SI 2017/1013. The Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. Comes into force 30th November.  These Regulations consolidate the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/1842), with amendments, and make minor modifications reflecting changes to related legislation. The consolidation makes, amongst things, provision for implementing Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds and Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in relation to marine areas where the United Kingdom has jurisdiction beyond its territorial sea. The Regulations make provision in relation to the offshore marine area, offshore marine installations and certain ships and aircraft. The “offshore marine area” is defined. The Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/1842), as amended, is revoked.

 

Environmental Protection

SI 2017/1050. The Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (England) Regulations 2017.  Comes into force 1st April 2018. These Regulation replace the Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/175) as amended. The Regulations set fixed penalties for aspects such as nuisance from audible intruder alarms, waste receptacles and noise from commercial premises and litter, distribution of printed matter, graffiti and fly posting, abandoning vehicles, transporting waste and duty of care for waste.

 

Planning.

 SSI 2017/350.   The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Monitoring Surface Coal Mining Sites) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st January 2018. These Regulations provide for fees to be paid to planning authorities in relation to site visits made for the purpose of monitoring compliance with surface coal mineral permissions.  Regulation 3 specifies when a fee is payable and the amount to be paid.

 

Amending legislation

Energy.

SI 2017/1053. The Electricity Capacity (Amendment) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st November. These Regulations amend the Electricity Capacity Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2043). Amendments are made with the connection to the de-rating of DSR CMUs, the settlement body is now permitted to make deductions under certain conditions and the requirement to maintain applicant credit cover until a CMU is achieved is entrenched. Schedule 2 amends the Supplier Payment Regulations so that the capacity market supplier charge and settlements costs levy will be collected based on “gross demand”, instead of “net demand”.

SI 2017/1143.  The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products (Amendment) Regulations 2017.  Comes into force 1st January 2018.  These Regulations amend The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2617) and partially implement Commission Regulations (EU) Nos 2016/2281, 2015/1189 and 2015/1185.  New entries to the table at paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to SI 2010/2617 for the following products—

  • from 1st January 2018, air heating products, cooling products, high temperature process chillers and fan coil units;
  • from 1st January 2020, solid fuel boilers; and
  • from 1st January 2022, solid fuel local space heaters.

 

Environmental Protection.

SI 2017/1070. The Environmental Impact Assessment (Miscellaneous Amendments Relating to Harbours, Highways and Transport) Regulations 2017.  Comes into force 5th December. These Regulations implement Directive 2014/52/EU amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. They relate specifically to harbour works (in England and Wales and Scotland), the construction or improvement of highways (in England and Wales) and certain transport related works (in England and Wales).  The amendments are to:

  • Harbours Act 1964 (c. 40) which makes provision for harbour revision and empowerment orders.
  • Highways Act 1980 (c. 66) to provide for procedures governing the environmental impact assessment of projects for the construction or improvement of highways, mainly trunk roads, in England.
  • Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42) and the Transport and Works (Applications and Objections Procedure) (England and Wales) Rules 2006 (SI 2006/1466) which make provision for orders authorising transport-related works in England and Wales.

 

Water.

SI 2017/1042. The Water Abstraction (Specified Enactments) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st January 2018.  These Regulations specify enactments for the purposes of section 102(5)(b) of the Water Act 2003 (c. 37).  That section states that nothing in those specified enactments prevents the Environment Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales from granting an abstraction licence.

SI 2017/1044. The Water Abstraction and Impounding (Exemptions) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st January 2018. These Regulations provide for exemptions from the restriction on abstraction and the restriction on impounding works in the Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57).

SI 2017/1046. The Water Abstraction (Revocations etc.) (England) Order 2017.  Comes into force 1st January 2018. This Order revokes Orders deemed to be made under section 33 of the Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57) which were saved following the repeal of that section. Those Orders provided exemptions from the restrictions on abstraction of water set out in section 24 of that Act.

SI 2017/1047. my Water Abstraction (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st January 2018. These Regulations contain transitional provisions relating to the licensing of water abstraction by certain categories of persons, in the light of amendments made by the Water Act 2003 (c. 37) to the Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57). Those amendments limit or remove certain exemptions from the restriction on abstracting water in the 1991 Act.

SSI 2017/389.  The Water Environment (Miscellaneous) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 1st January 2018. This order amends Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/209). General binding rules 3, 9 to 13, 15, 17 to 20, 23 and 24 in Part 1 of schedule 3 are amended and new general binding rules 25 to 28 are inserted into that part of that schedule.  The Water Environment (Oil Storage) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/133) are revoked.

 WSI 2017/1026. The Water Resources (Miscellaneous Revocations) (Wales) Order 2017.  Comes into force 1st January 2018.  This Order revokes Orders deemed to be made under section 33 of the Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57). Those Orders provide exemptions from the restrictions on abstraction of water in section 24 of that Act. The orders in question are listed in the Schedule.

 

 

Commencements

 SI 2017/1078. The Planning Act 2008 (Commencement No. 3) (England) Order 2017.  Comes into force 1st January 2018.  Sections 14(1)(m) and (n), 27 and 28.  This Order brings into force provisions of the Planning Act 2008 which determine when development relating to the transfer of water resources or to the construction or alteration of a dam or reservoir will constitute a nationally significant infrastructure project.

 

EU legislation

EU 2017/2090.  Commission Implementing Regulation concerning the approval of beer as a basic substance in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, and amending the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 (Text with EEA relevance.)  Comes into force 21st November.

 

Eire legislation

RI 2017/464.   European Union (Drinking Water) Amendment Regulations 2017. Comes into force 27th October. Part 2 and Part 3 of the Schedule to the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014 (RI 2014/122) are amended.

RI 2017/476. European Union (Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Maritime Transport) Regulations 2017. Comes into force 3rd November. These Regulations provide for offences and penalties, as well as powers of inspection, as required by Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport.

 

Consultations

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The Scottish Government are consulting on the introduction of civil penalties in England, Scotland and the marine areas for infringements of the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations. These measures are being considered to address concerns about whether the current penalty system provides sufficient deterrence against non-compliance.  Consultation closes 24th November. https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/fluorinated-greenhouse-gases-f-gas-regulations/

 

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is consulting on amending the English and Welsh regulations on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). Consultation closes 29th December.  https://consult.defra.gov.uk/plant-and-animal-health/tseconsultation/.  TSEs are a family of diseases which include Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats. The changes would:

  • bring UK law regarding controls on feeding animal protein and handling of Specified Risk Material into line with EU regulations
  • update scrapie compensation rates paid to farmers for sheep and goats
  • transfer the cost of sampling fallen cattle, which require testing for BSE, to the farming industry
  • make other minor amendments

These changes would apply to Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/801) and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Wales) Regulations 2008 (WSI 2008/3154)

 

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is consulting on a proposal to bring forward the 2018 compliance deadlines for UK operators in the EU ETS to before the date of EU Exit on 29 March 2019. Consultation closes 24th November. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bringing-forward-eu-emissions-trading-system-2018-compliance-deadlines-in-the-uk

These changes are intended to:

  • Provide clarity to EU ETS participants on the UK’s 2018 compliance obligations during the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
  • Alleviate the negative impacts of an amendment to the EU ETS Directive, recently agreed by the European Parliament and Council, which stipulates that aviation and stationary operators will not be able to use allowances issued by a Member State in respect of which there are obligations lapsing.

 

Department for Communities and Local Government is reviewing the effectiveness of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1693). Consultation closes 9th January 2018. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarm-regulations-2015. This consultation invites views and comments to gather evidence on the effectiveness of the regulations to date. It does not indicate any intention to change the regulations.

 

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is consulting on the development of a National Policy Statement for Water Resources and on proposals to amend the definition of nationally significant water infrastructure in the Planning Act 2008. Consultation closes 22nd December. https://consult.defra.gov.uk/water/nps-water-supply-planning-act-2008/

In the news

HSE Announces health and safety statistics for 2016/17

  • 3 millionworking people suffering from a work-related illness
  • 2,542mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2015)
  • 137workers killed at work
  • 609,000injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force Survey
  • 70,116injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR
  • 2 millionworking days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury
  • £14.9 billionestimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2015/16)
  • 514 cases prosecuted with fines totalling £69.9 million

http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh1617.pdf

Processes and Procedures for Plant Protection Products – Changes to the Detailed Technical Sift Criteria.

 

On 29th June 2016 HSE introduced new processes and procedures for the authorisation of plant protection product applications under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.  Changes to the criteria for the Detailed Technical Sift are now being introduced, following receipt of feedback.  The key changes being introduced, on 27th November 2017, are:

  • General issues (e.g. discrepancies in the GAP, label, addressing EFSA data gaps) relevant to all specialist areas have been included in a new separate section
  • Minor issues, those not considered reasons for rejecting an application but may need to be addressed for an authorisation, will be highlighted to applicants in the conclusion of the DTS. Highlighting these issues early in the evaluation process will provide additional time for them to be addressed by applicants
  • Based on experience a number of rejection criteria have been removed from each specialist area
  • Links to UK and EU guidance documents have been included to support applicants preparing an application for submission
  • The mammalian toxicology section has been separated out into mammalian toxicology and operator exposure

The changes to the DTS criteria are outlined in the guidance document ‘Overview of the Processes and Procedures for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Productions in the UK under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pesticides/topics/pesticide-approvals/pesticides-registration/applicant-guide/applicant-guide-contents.htm?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

 

Sunday Telegraph 12th November.

An independent watchdog to “give the environment a voice” and “hold the powerful to account” will form the cornerstone of a “green Brexit”, the Environment Secretary discloses.

Michael Gove reveals plans to set up a “world-leading” statutory body to maintain environmental standards, together with a national policy statement that will permanently “embed” protections for land, water, air and wildlife into policy-making as Britain leaves the European Union.

He states that “all existing European law, including environmental protection, will be transferred into UK law through the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. Rules and regulations in place the day before Brexit will still be in place the day after”.

He adds that early next year a consultation will be carried out on the formation of the new environmental body and a new policy statement.  Questions will include what functions and powers will the new body have to enforce environmental laws, how the new policy statement will be embedded into public policy making and whether Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland wish to take a similar or different approach.

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