The Environment Agency has launched its fourth consultation concerning the standard rules which form part of the environmental permitting regime. This latest discussion sets out a number of new and revised rules for water discharge activities, waste operations, and radioactive substances activity and groundwater activity.
Standard permits were introduced as part of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations SI 2007/3538, which came into force at the beginning of April 2008. They are named as such as they contain only one condition which refers to a predetermined set of standard rules - which set out the conditions an operator must comply with in carrying out the specific activity. Following consultation earlier this year, the regime is due to be extended to include further activities such as water discharge consenting, groundwater authorisations and radioactive substances regulation, when amending legislation comes into force in 2010. Ahead of this, the Agency needs to develop new or revised rules which apply to those activities.
A large part of the consultation relates to new rules that have been drafted in relation to the extension of the Regulations, covering the keeping or use of category 5 sealed sources, the discharge to surface water of water from a cooling circuit or heat exchanger, the discharge to surface water of secondary treated domestic sewage and the discharge to land of enzyme treated sheep dip. In addition, the current rules relating to composting in open windows and closed vessels has also been revised.
The consultation will remain open for comment until 27 November and further details can be found at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/consultations/110788.aspx.
