The outcome of the Environment Agency consultation on standard rules for the Environmental Permitting Regulations has now been published. The consultation was undertaken November 2014 to March 2015 and sought views from businesses, communities, ngos and regulators. Proposed changes to the regulations are intended to meet the legislative requirements of the EU Industrial Emission Directive. These are:
The changes proposed in the consultation will now all be introduced. These include the introduction of fire prevention plans at waste sites – aimed at reducing the number of waste fires and the high clean up cost and impact on nearby communities. All respondents to the consultation supported this and a new condition will be inserted into 21 standard rules sets dealing with combustible wastes to bring in this requirement. For example, new standard rules permits will require a fire prevention plan to be approved before the permit can be issued. Limits will also be set on storage time for some waste.
On metals and WEEE – all proposals in the consultation are accepted – these include a number of minor amendments to the rules and definitions (including some IED requirements) affecting 6 rule sets covering Metal Recycling, Vehicle Storage, Depollution, Dismantling and WEEE related activities. For WEEE, the rules will be altered to allow the acceptance of WEEE containing ODS for storage only, along with a new standard rule allowing metal recycling and WEEE treatment activities to take place at the same site.
At Clarity we offer a range of fully-compliant waste disposal options to suit the needs of your business. Contact us on 0845 129 7177 to find out more, or come and talk to us at RWM 2015 on stand 4N39.
