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Proposals for Amendments to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations: A Consultation Paper

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

The Scottish Executive is consulting on proposals to amend a number of exemptions from waste management licensing as detailed in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (WMLR) 1994.

This consultation is part of a review of exemptions, and follows on from a consultation paper issued on 16 December 2002 which sought views and comments on the proposals to revise the landspreading exemptions contained in Schedule 3 of the WMLR 1994, Paragraph 7(use of waste for land treatment, including blood and gut contents), Paragraph 9(use of waste for land reclamation) and Paragraph 19(use of waste in construction). Regulations, which take into account responses received from the consultation, are now in force — The Waste Management Licensing Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2003.

The main purpose of the proposed amendments is to further tighten up exemptions to ensure that the exemptions covered by the review continue to allow and encourage genuine waste recovery operations whilst preventing abuse and ensuring protection of the environment and human health.

This paper requests comments on the proposed amendments to the exemptions, and on the associated Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment. Responses should be sent by 19 September 2003 to:

Mr Peter Brown
Policy Officer
Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department
SEPA Sponsorship and Waste Unit
Area 1-J
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Telephone: 0131 244 0237
E-mail: waste.team@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Background

Article 11 of the European Framework Directive on Waste (more commonly referred to as the Waste Framework Directive (WFD))¹ gives Member States discretion to provide exemptions from waste permitting requirements for the disposal of waste at the place of production (except hazardous waste) and for genuine waste recovery. The Directive states that this is permitted only if general rules are adopted specifying the types and quantities of waste involved and the conditions under which the activity may be exempted. The exemptions defined must ensure the protection of human health and the environment in accordance with Article 4 of the WFD. These exemptions provide a lighter regulatory approach than the requirement for full waste management licences and are an appropriate regulatory system for lower risk operations.

Waste licensing exemptions have been in operation in the UK since 1994. There have been allegations that some of these exemptions were being abused, that is, that they were being used for purposes other than genuine waste recovery. The Executive therefore made a commitment to review a number of the exemptions to ensure that they act to encourage waste recovery operations whilst, at the same time, ensuring that the environment and human health are protected. This consultation document is a result of that review and, as mentioned above, follows on from consultation on the land spreading exemptions held at the end of 2002.

Key Changes

Five further exemptions are under review in this consultation, including those for:

• small scale composting;
• storage and spreading of sewage sludge;
• waste recovery at a sewage treatment works;
• burning waste in the open.
• the consultation paper also contains proposals to introduce a new exemption for the burning of dunnage at docksides.

In addition the opportunity is being taken to implement EC Decision 96/350/EC; to broaden present descriptions for mobile plant; and to seek views on whether the quantities of wastes allowed to be recovered under paragraph 7(Land Treatment) should be reduced.

The Waste Management Licensing Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2003 enacted amendments to paragraphs 7(Land Treatment), 9(Land Remediation) and 19(Construction) contained in Schedule 3 of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, on 1 April 2003. Waste type coded 17 05 04 in the European Waste Catalogue (soil and stones) was inadvertently omitted from Table 4AA of paragraph 19 in those Regulations. However, the proposed amending Regulations (attached at Annex A) now provide for this waste type to be re-instated.

The proposed changes to the exemptions include:

• specifying more tightly the types of waste that can be recovered under the terms of the exemption;
• imposing new, more stringent information requirements that must be sent to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) before registration of the exemption can take place;
• the payment of fees to SEPA to cover their regulatory costs and inspections.
• powers for SEPA to refuse to register exemptions or remove exemptions from the register.

Tough new penalties in the form of significant fines are also proposed in the consultation for breach of the regulations and for failing to register. The Executive is proposing fines of up to £20,000 for breach of these regulations. Penalties of up to £1,000 will apply for failing to register the exemptions under review. Penalties for failing to register all the remaining exemptions will be raised to a maximum of £500 and will replace the existing flat rate £10 fine.

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