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3. INTRODUCTION
The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 developed the framework for the future management of our rivers, lochs, coasts and groundwater. It gives Ministers powers to make regulations to control activities that impact on the water environment. In 2005 the Scottish Ministers introduced the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (' CAR') as a means of protecting the water environment.
CAR is designed to ensure that the level of regulatory control, and hence the burden on industries and on the regulator, is proportionate to the risk to the water environment. Accordingly, CAR provides for three levels of authorisation, depending on the risk that an activity involves. The three levels of authorisation are 'general binding rules' ( GBRs), 'registration' and 'licensing'.
Activities that are a potential threat to the water environment may be authorised under CAR provided that they are carried out in accordance with specified general binding rules ( GBRs). Operators undertaking, or intending to undertake, any of these activities need not apply to SEPA for authorisation provided that they comply with the relevant GBRs.
CAR, which came into force in April 2006, provides a regulatory regime for point source pollution, replacing many of the provisions under the Control of Pollution Act 1974, and for the main source of urban diffuse pollution: discharges from buildings and roads. The activities authorised in this way are set out in column 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 3 of CAR, together with the relevant GBRs.
This consultation is about rural land use activities that present a risk of diffuse pollution. It proposes a set of GBRs to prevent diffuse pollution or minimise the risks. At the same time the opportunity is taken to relax a provision of the Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil ( SSAFO) Regulations to permit lightly contaminated water from farm yards to be drained to constructed farm wetlands.
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