Environment Update August 2010
Waterworks – protecting Scotland's water environment
SEPA has published new guidance aimed at protecting and improving Scotland’s water environment, with a specific focus on sediment management. The guidance relates to controlled activities involving sediment management under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (CAR).
CAR requires operators to obtain authorisation from SEPA for all sediment management works within inland surface waters, except for limited types of very small-scale operations, which are covered by a general binding rule. In addition, SEPA's position statement on sediment management makes clear that SEPA operates both:
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a presumption against repeated sediment management operations where other more sustainable options are available; and
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a presumption against sediment removal unless proven necessary for navigation, flood risk management, water supply purposes, infrastructure protection or other sustainable activities.
In cases where sediment management is required, the guidance offers advice on how to proceed in a way that will cause minimal impact on the environment.
Sediment management covers a wide range of activities, ranging from the small scale removal of dry gravels to the dredging of whole river channels and the reintroduction of removed sediment into the water environment. In the past, sediment management has been necessary for several reasons including reducing flood risk, reducing bank erosion, for use as aggregate and to improve land drainage.
In addition to obtaining the correct CAR authorisation for sediment management, engineers are also advised to identify any sites that have been designated for nature conservation (e.g. SSSI, SAC, SPA), and ensure the conservation requirements for such sites are met.
The sediment management guidance, together with the series of good practice guides applicable to engineering in inland waters, are available at the following link:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/water/water_regulation/guidance/engineering.aspx
FYI – charging under Environmental Information Regulations
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published updated guidance on charging for environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). Under the EIR, public authorities are under a general obligation to make information available, and it is also clear that information should be made available in a way that satisfies the applicant’s preference – except where it is reasonable to provide it in some other format. Critically, the EIR outline the circumstances in which it is possible to make a charge for such information, and highlight those circumstances in which information must be made available free of charge.
The aim of the guidance is to help public authorities to determine whether and, crucially, how much they are allowed to charge for environmental information under the EIR. In doing so it examines what information can be charged for, as well as what constitutes a reasonable charge and discusses relevant factors to consider in establishing what is reasonable. It also explains how charging arrangements should operate.
According to the guidance, information should be free of charge in two specific circumstances, namely:
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access to any public registers (including registers of substantive environmental information such as a planning register) or lists of environmental information held by the public authority; and
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examination of any environmental information requested on-site (i.e. at the place where the public authority makes the information available). In this context locations will typically include the offices of the public authority or a drop-in library.
The guidance explains that, aside from the two scenarios described above, the EIR expressly permit public authorities to charge for making environmental information available. However, critically, the charge may not exceed an amount which the public authority is satisfied is a "reasonable amount".
The guidance refers to the EIR Code of Practice for the purposes of defining “reasonable amount”, as no definition for the term exists in the EIR. According to the Code of Practice, a charge must not exceed the cost of producing the information. However, in relation to information made available on a commercial basis, in order to guarantee its continued collection and publication, a market based charge allowing the authority to include a real rate of return will be considered a "reasonable amount". This does not apply to information that a public authority is required to collect by law or in the context of its ordinary functions.
In addition, the guidance sets out example cases of what costs may be considered reasonable in certain circumstances. For instance, where information is being supplied free of charge, such as when the applicant is inspecting original documents or viewing a register or list, public authorities may still recover additional costs such as photocopying. Where a public authority is entitled to charge for information and such information is sent through via electronic or hard-copy documents to the applicant, the public authority has the discretion to decide what a reasonable amount should be. Its decision would consider such factors as the cost of communicating the information to the applicant, and can include staff time spent in relation to supplying the information.
The guidance may be accessed through the following link:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/policy/opengov/eir/guidance/pdf/eir-charge-guide.pdf
Moving towards a microgeneration strategy
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has launched a consultation in connection with a new microgeneration strategy for England. A new strategy has been in the pipeline since the publication of the Green Energy (Definitions and Promotions) Act 2009 (GEDPA 2009) which requires the Government to consult on a new strategy.
The current strategy was published in 2006 and requires updating, particularly given the introduction of important new developments such as feed-in-tariffs. The Energy Act 2004 defines microgeneration as the small-scale production of electricity and heat from a low-carbon source, allowing operators to generate electricity and heat on or near-site for individual homes, businesses or local communities. Feed-in-tariffs now offer the owners of small-scale renewables of up to five megawatts of capacity a tariff per kilowatt hour of electricity generated. The Government also recently lifted the ban on local authorities selling the electricity they generate, so it is expected that there will be an increase in interest in such small-scale renewable energy developments from local authorities, companies and individuals.
Heat technologies of up to 300 kilowatts and electricity technologies of up to 50 kilowatts will be covered by the strategy. A wide range of technologies will be covered by the strategy, including air, ground and water source heat pumps, biomass boilers, micro combined heat and power (CHP), micro wind turbines and micro hydro schemes, solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal water heating, fuel cells and passive flue gas recovery devices.
In line with the primary purpose of the GEDPA which aims to promote microgeneration and energy efficiency, the consultation will seek views on how best to ensure the effective promotion of microgeneration technology, with the underlying objectives being to alleviate fuel poverty and secure a diverse and long-term viable energy supply. Other provisions were introduced by the Act in order to assist in implementing these goals, including specific provisions to provide for planning in relation to the installation of microgeneration equipment.
The consultation is seeking views on four key actions that the DECC proposes to take:
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ensuring that consumers have confidence that equipment and installation is reliable and adheres to the highest standards of quality;
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trialling more technologies which are new to the UK in order to examine how to improve products;
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developing the microgeneration supply chain to ensure that the best skills are deployed to meet the expected rise in demand, as well as creating and sustaining jobs in the UK; and
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making advice more accessible and providing information about microgeneration to homeowners, communities and small businesses.
Rather than producing a consultation document focusing on specific questions, the consultation process will involve discussions on these key policy areas with four separate working groups on quality and certification, technology development, skills and information and advice. The consultation will close on 22 December 2010, with the Government expecting to publish the final Microgeneration Strategy early in 2011.
Details on the consultation, and how to respond or to take part in the working groups can be found via the link below:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/microgen_strat/microgen_strat.aspx
Marine conservation – more MPAs to harbour protected species
Fifteen new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been created, and are to be included as part of the European ‘Natura 2000’ network of protected areas, with the aim of protecting important habitats and species. The Habitats Directive (92/43/EC) requires Member States to operate Natura 2000 for the purpose of conserving the natural habitat types and species that are listed in its Annex I and Annex II. The Habitats Directive, together with the Wild Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), provides the framework for EU biodiversity protection. Individually, the areas within Natura 2000 are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
The establishment of a marine network of conservation areas under Natura 2000 makes a significant contribution to the target of preventing the loss of biodiversity in the EU, but also to broader marine conservation and sustainable use objectives.
MPAs will work in connection with the Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) created under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. MCZs offer further protection to areas of UK waters and the Act ensures that no activities or development will risk hindering the conservation objectives of MCZs.
The selection of a further fifteen MPAs to be included within Natura 2000 takes place on the basis of a series of assessments of the available scientific evidence, with the aim that they will bring protection to various ecosystems found in different locations including reefs, sea caves and sandbanks, where marine life thrives. These habitats support unique and important marine life, providing benefits for many commercial fish species, sea birds, mammals and other forms of underwater marine life.
In addition, two consultations have been launched for sites at the Dogger Bank in the North Sea and proposed new boundaries for Lune Deep and Prawle Point to Start Point. The Dogger Bank is a crucial area in the context of meeting the UK renewable energy target for 2020, as well as being an important sandbank habitat. Therefore, the identification of the Dogger Bank as both a conservation site and an area for wind farm development demonstrates the potential for tensions between renewable energy development in the marine environment and nature conservation.
The deadline for the two consultations is 12th November 2010. More information on the new MPAs and the consultations can be found via the following link.
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/marine/sacconsultation/default.aspx
Consultation on the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on the forthcoming Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (ABPR), which are intended to enter into force on 4 March 2011, replacing the existing Animal By-Products (Scotland) Regulations 2003.
The new Regulations will provide for powers to enforce the requirements of EU Regulation 1069/2009 on animal by-products and to provide for derogations from this legislation and areas of national discretion. The new ABPR will come into force on 4 March 2011, replacing the current ABPR (1774/2002), and is the result of an EU-wide review of controls on animal by-products carried out by the European Commission. Recasting the current ABPR was deemed necessary to meet better regulation principles, to improve measures and make them more effective and efficient, and to reduce unnecessary burdens on operators, whilst still ensuring that protection of animal health and food safety remained paramount.
The new ABPR will maintain the same wide scope as the current ABPR, covering all animal products not intended for human consumption and other products of animal origin including hides, feathers, wool, bones, horns and hoofs. Carcasses of fallen stock on farms, pet animals and wild animals where disease is suspected to be present will also continue to be within its scope. It will also continue to regulate the use of ABPs as feed (including pet food), fertiliser or for technical products and sets down rules for composting and anaerobic digestion, as well as disposal through rendering and incineration. Prevention of catering waste from being used as feed to livestock will also remain a priority.
However, in response to the concerns identified during the EU’s review, the new ABPR makes a number of improvements to the previous ABPR, including:
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providing clearer definitions for products which are no longer considered animal by-products, and which are therefore not regulated by the new ABPR;
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improving the categorisation of animal by-products in accordance with the level of risk that they pose; and
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removing the need for duplicate approval of certain types of premises.
The main aim of the consultation is to gather views on the proposal to update and replace the 2003 Regulations, in order to implement in Scotland the new controls on animal by-products introduced by the new ABPR, and to give effect to such improvements.
Views are sought on a number of matters, including the following:
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whether to allow category 2 and 3 materials to be used for the application to land of bio-dynamic preparations;
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whether to allow certain Category 2 ABPs to be composted or turned into biogas without prior treatment;
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conditions on the collection and use of material from animals which were not killed or did not die from actual or suspected disease communicable to humans or animals for the use of feeding to the animals contained in the Regulations; and
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conditions for use of organic fertilisers / soil improvers derived from processing of category 2 and category 3 material in an approved rendering plant.
The deadline for responses to the consultation is 15th October 2010.
The consultation document may be accessed via the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/08/19161058/5
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