SR 2018/1377
18th December 2018
SR 2018/188
20th December 2018
0

Simplifi December news letter

Dear Simplifi User,

My we wish you a very happy Christmas and everything of the best in 2019?

We recently received a query about the regulatory regime for underground fuel tanks (USTs). There is no legislation specific to USTs. Schedule 1 of The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016; SI 2016/1154 covers activities for which an environmental permit is required in England and Wales. The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011; SSI 2011/209 covers similar activities in Scotland.  For both pieces of legislation what matters is the type of substance being stored not how it is stored.  So for England and Wales the storage of a hazardous substance listed in Schedule 22 of SI 2016/1154, which has the potential to impact surface or groundwater requires an Environmental Permit.  USTs located on sites which have Environmental Permits will be included in the scope of the Permit.

Other legislation which may be of relevance includes The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015; SI 2015/627 and Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015; SI 2015/483.

Regulation of above ground storage tanks is covered by The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/2954, The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011; SSI 2011/ 209, Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010; SR 2010/254 and The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016 (WSI 2016/359)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published codes of practice on how to prevent pollution from petrol, diesel and other fuel tanks.  These are: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-groundwater-pollution-from-underground-fuel-storage-tanks. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has published a Code of Practice on protecting groundwater from pollution from USTs https://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/170323-underground-storage-groundwater-protection-code-en.pdf.  The requirements of the NRW Code of Practice are almost identical to those in the Defra Code of Practice.  For Scotland SEPA has published https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/100570/ppg-27-installation-decommissioning-and-removal-of-underground-storage-tanks.pdf.  Guidance on USTs which was part of the pollution prevention guidelines (PPG27 Installation, Decommissioning and Removal of underground storage tanks) was withdrawn in December 2015.

DEFRA guidance states “By following this code you should avoid having to apply for an environmental permit issued under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. You must still follow existing codes, guidance and laws, like health and safety regulations!

 

New legislation

Climate change

 WSI 2018/1302. The Climate Change (International Aviation and International Shipping) (Wales) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 6th December.  These Regulations provide a formula for determining what emissions of greenhouse gases from international aviation and international shipping are to be regarded as Welsh emissions for the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.

 

Amending legislation

 Environmental permitting and pollution

SR 2018/200. The Environment (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018. Comes into force 24th December. These regulations are made in exercise of the powers in, the European Communities Act 1972 in order to make minor miscellaneous technical amendments to update outdated references in existing legislation that transposes current EU environmental requirements.

Health and Safety.

 I 2018/1370. The Health and Safety (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force on Brexit day.  These Regulations make minor amendments to:

  • Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995
  • Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations 1995
  • Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995.
  • Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996
  • Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations 1996
  • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002
  • Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations 2010
  • Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014
  • Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015
  • Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015
  • Amendment of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017.

SR 2018/1377. The Health and Safety (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. Comes into force on Brexit day.  These Regulations make minor amendments to:

  • Installations and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995
  • Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995
  • Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995
  • Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
  • Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
  • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003
  • Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
  • Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016
  • Ionising Radiations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017

 

Planning

 SI 2018/1230. The Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force on 21st December. These Regulations amend a number of sections of the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214).

 SI 2018/1232.  The Environmental Assessments and Miscellaneous Planning (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. Comes into force on Brexit day. These Regulations make amendments to legislation in the field of town and country planning and infrastructure planning.  The legislation in question is:

  • Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (A1990 c.8)
  • Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (A2004 c.5)
  • Planning Act 2008 (A 2008 c.29)
  • Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1633)
  • Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/571)
  • Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/572).

SI 2018/1234. The Planning (Hazardous Substances and Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. Comes into force on Brexit day. Amends SI 2015/627 The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015.  These Regulations: replace a number of references to EU Directives to references within the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015. (SI 2015/483).

SI 2018/1307. The Conservation of Habitats and Species and Planning (Various Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force 28th December. These Regulations transpose Article 6(3) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (“the Habitats Directive”). They amend:

  • Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017,
  • the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012,
  • the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017
  • the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.

SI 2018/1325. The Pipe-lines, Petroleum, Electricity Works and Oil Stocking (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. Comes into force on Brexit day.

These Regulations amend—

  • the Hydrocarbon Licensing Directive Regulations 1995
  • the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999
  • the Public Gas Transporter Pipe-line Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999
  • (the Pipe-line Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2000
  • the Hydrocarbons Licensing Directive Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
  • the Oil Stocking Order 2012
  • the Offshore Combustion Installations (Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2013
  • the Petroleum Licensing (Applications) Regulations 2015 and
  • the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017

SR 2018/1235. The Planning (Environmental Assessments and Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2018. Comes into force on Brexit day.  Makes minor amendments to:

  • Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999
  • Planning (Local Development Plan) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (Management of Waste from Extractive Industries) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (Hazardous Substances) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
  • Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017.

 

Radiation and Radioactive substances

SI 2018/1278. The Ionising Radiation (Basic Safety Standards) (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.  Comes into force on Brexit day. These Regulations make amendments to the Ionising Radiation (Basic Safety Standards) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/482).

 

Consultations

 There have been no new relevant consultations announced during December.

 

 Prosecutions of note.

A North Yorkshire bakery company was fined £159,080 for safety breaches after employees suffered long term exposure to flour dust, a respiratory sensitiser.  Some were medically diagnosed as suffering from occupational asthma. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that over a fourteen year period to 2016 there was no effective method of control to prevent the dust becoming airborne and employees being exposed to breathing in the dust.

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