News

The Waste England and Wales Regulations SI 2011/988 aim to implement Directive 2008/98/EC, on waste (the revised Waste Framework Directive), by updating national legislation already in place and introducing new provisions which put greater emphasis on the need to apply the five step waste hierarchy.

From 1 October 2011, whenever you pass waste on to someone else, you will have to declare on the waste transfer note (or consignment note for hazardous waste) that you have applied the waste management hierarchy. From 28 September 2011, you must also include on the waste transfer note, the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) code of the person transferring the waste.

Importantly, the Regulations also make amendments to existing legislation to reflect the above changes as well as revoking the provisions relating to the registration of waste carriers and brokers and the duty of care for waste contained in the:

• Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations SI 1991/1624;
• Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations SI 1991/2839.

The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations SSI 2011/209 aim to protect Scotland's water environment by prohibiting the carrying out of certain activities that pose a risk to it, unless they have one of the following levels of authorisation:

• general binding rules;
• registration; or
• water use licence.

They consolidate the provisions originally introduced in the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations SSI 2005/348, and bring the Regulations in line with the Better Regulation agenda by introducing emergency provisions and improving transparency.

The controlled activities which were prohibited under the previous Regulations remain prohibited unless they are authorised, and all authorisations previously granted will be treated as an authorisation granted under the new Regulations.

As of 1 April 2011, the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Order SI 2010/768 was amended by the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Amendment) Order SI 2011/234.

Its first phase has been extended by one year, and the original phases replaced with new ones. The phases, other than the first and seventh phases, will be six years. The seventh phase will be five years so that the scheme ends on 31 March 2046.

Each phase will overlap the previous phase by one year instead of two years.

Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) has been fined £385,000 over the death of a junior geologist. The fine is the first of its kind under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

The geologist died from asphyxia by being buried beneath several tonnes of mud after the sides of an excavated trench collapsed. He had been working alone in a 3.8m deep and unsupported pit.

The judge, Mr Justice Field, explained the fine reflected the gravity of the offence and that it should act as a deterrent to companies that fail to adhere to health and safety legislation. A sentencing guideline issued to judges last year by the Sentencing Council set a benchmark fine for corporate manslaughter of £500,000. However, courts were given leeway to reduce or increase the fine according to mitigating or aggravating circumstances and the convicted company's financial health. Cotswold Geotechnical, which was described in court as in a perilous financial state, can pay the money back over 10 years at a rate of £38,500 per annum.

The judge said the company was operating on a small scale and a larger fine would cause it to be liquidated, and four people presently employed would lose their jobs. Mr Justice Field added that the company was well aware of a rule dating back to 1981 which said that pits over 1.2m deep should be supported due to the danger of collapse, but ignored it. He said, "This approach to trial pitting was extremely irresponsible. It flew in the face of the rationale of the 1.2 metre rule." Defence lawyer, Richard Lissack QC, had argued that industry guidance, which says that workers should not enter unsupported excavations more than 1.2m deep, "gives best advice to a broad sector" rather than dictating a hard rule.

Paul Verrico, a partner specialising in health and safety law firm Eversheds said he expected the successful conviction would lead the Crown Prosecution Service to progress other corporate manslaughter cases.

A new online directory to help businesses find a health and safety consultant was launched on 21 March.

More than 1,600 highly qualified professionals in the UK have signed up to the online Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR), which has been established by a number of professional bodies, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland, in response to the Government commissioned "Common Sense, Common Safety" report into the current health and safety regime.

The UK's landfill tax increased by £8 per tonne on 1 April 2011, making the cost of sending waste to landfill £56 per tonne.

In 2008, it was announced that the tax would increase by £8 per tonne per year until 2010. This date was later revised and 2014 is now the end date for any increases, by which time landfill tax will stand at £80 per tonne.