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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: Various dates, as listed below.
Amends: Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (c.55)
Levelling-up missions
Planning data
*Approved data standards are written standards as published by the Secretary of State or a devolved authority.
**Planning data is any information provided to or processed by a relevant planning authority for the purposes of planning or development in England.
Environmental outcomes reports
A framework is established under Part 6 to allow the Secretary of State and the devolved authorities to introduce regulations on environmental outcomes reports* (“EOC Regulations”). The EOC Regulations, when published, are expected to require an environmental outcomes report to be prepared for proposed relevant consents or plans. N.B. Definition of relevant consents or plan will be defined in the EOC Regulations when they are published.
*An environmental outcomes report is a written report which will assess:
This Act does not currently define duties for organisations. Duties will be introduced through subsequent legislation.
The following parts of the Act come into force on 31st January 2024:
Section 135 relating to biodiversity net gain comes into force on 12th February 2024.
Section 190 relating to the power to require prospects of planning permission being ignored in England comes into force on 30th April 2024.
Section 189 relating to prospects of planning permission for alternative development comes into force on 31st January 2025.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: Great Britain / United Kingdom
Commencement: 1st February 2024
Amends:
The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) Regulations 2022 enable the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to charge fees to recover their costs where it finds an organisation in material breach of health and safety regulations.
Various duties apply.
The full list of changes to fees can be found in the Schedule.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Commencement: 12th January 2024
Amends: Flood and Water Management Act 2010
Various duties apply.
Section 34 and Schedule 5 are brought into force. They introduce provisions for companies that have entered into special administration as a result of being unable to pay their debts.
This amendment has no direct relevance to environmental matters.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 16th January 2024
Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
Various duties apply.
The following sections come into force on 16th January 2024.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom / England
Commencement: 12th February 2024
Amends:
The Environment Act 2021 aims to improve air and water quality, tackle waste, improve biodiversity and make other environmental improvements.
Various duties apply.
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Biodiversity gain plan
Applications for planning permission in England must now be accompanied by a biodiversity gain plan. This must include information on:
*The biodiversity value of the site is measured using the biodiversity metric.
Licences
Additional conditions may be imposed on licences in England. Organisations may now be required to:
Enhancements must increase the biodiversity value of the site.
These Regulations do not apply to developments where an application was made before 12th February 2024.
Environment Act 2021
The following sections come into force on 12th February 2024.
Minor technical changes are made to:
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Commencement: 12th February 2024
Amends: The Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024
The Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024 sets out that Natural England must establish a register of biodiversity gain sites. This must be accessible to the public.
Land may be registered as a biodiversity gain site if:
Each entry must be assigned a unique registration number.
Various duties apply.
Fees and fines are set out in relation to applications to register land on the biodiversity gain site register.
Fines
Natural England may impose a fine of up to £5,000 for provision of false or misleading information in connection with an application to register land on the biodiversity gain site register.
Fees
A fee must be paid for applications under The Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024. The fees for different types of applications are listed in the Schedule.
The fees must be paid by the applicant within 28 days from the date when the application is received by Natural England.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 30th January 2024
Amends: Energy Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2024
The Energy Act 2023 sets out that Organisations must have a licence to transport hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide through a pipeline, and dispose of carbon dioxide via geological storage*.
*Geological storage is the injection of captured carbon dioxide into rock to remove it from the atmosphere.
It aims to promote sustainable development and help the United Kingdom achieve net-zero emissions** targets.
**Net-zero emissions means reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero.
Counterparties
The Secretary of State may appoint a counterparty* for:
*A counterparty is an individual or organisation that provides financial support to organisations.
**A carbon dioxide capture, transport and storage provider is a person that captures, transports or stores carbon dioxide under a licence.
***A hydrogen transport and storage provider is a person that transports or stores hydrogen or a compound containing hydrogen.
Counterparties may:
Various duties apply.
The Energy Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2024 is amended so that Section 303 will no longer come into force on the 31st January 2024. Section 303 relates to the decommissioning of civil nuclear sites.
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Making good use of The Compliance People’s volunteering days, some of the team recently took a trip to the Fylde Sand Dunes. Their goal was simple: plant as many Christmas trees as possible!
The dunes along the Fylde Coast harbour a rich and specialised ecosystem, supporting a range of distinctive plants and animals. These dunes, recognised as sites of special scientific interest, are vital for offering habitat to flora and fauna of both international and national significance. Regrettably, over the last 150 years, over 80% of the dunes have disappeared owing to the expansion of coastal towns.
The Christmas trees, which local residents donated, were to be planted to help create a line of defence. The idea is that as the wind blows, the branches of the trees trap sand, gradually creating new dunes.
Last year, the project was very successful, with over 2,500 trees donated, resulting in an impressive 90-metre increase in the width of the Fylde Sand Dune system. This year this grew to 4,000 trees… meaning our team were kept very busy!
You can find out more about the project here.
CBAM has been introduced as a complement to EU and UK ETS, in order to “put a fair price” on carbon emitted during the production of intensive industrial goods, such as the aluminium, cement, ceramics, fertiliser, glass, hydrogen, iron and steel sectors. This is done by reporting emissions and buying CBAM certificates to cover those emissions.
Importers will be required to pay a price on imported goods from a third country to cover the emissions as though they had been produced under the EU pricing rules. If a non-EU importer can show they have already paid a carbon price, then that price will be deducted from the costs to the EU importer.
The goal of the scheme is to help tackle climate change and to try and prevent carbon leakage*.
*Carbon leakage is where a manufacturer moves production to another country with a lower carbon price or less stringent emissions regulations.
The mechanism is currently in a transition phase in the EU. This means that any organisation that imports eligible goods* into the EU must report the following information every quarter.
*Eligible goods for this phase are from the cement, iron & steel, aluminium, fertilizer, electricity, and hydrogen sectors. A list of the eligible sectors and associated guidance can be found here.
The full scheme, including requirements to pay for certificates will only fully come into effect in the EU by 2026.
The UK is also aiming to implement UK CBAM by 2027, with consultations on the design and delivery of the scheme happening later this year. There are no current requirements under UK CBAM, however, applicable organisations are encouraged to start collecting data for reporting.
There are current trading systems in place, namely the EU and UK ETS, which operate through the trading of emissions allowances between organizations using a ‘cap and trade’ system. They also include free allowances for organisations who are at risk of carbon leakage in order to keep production in the country.
CBAM differs from an emissions trading scheme in that there is no trading system between organisations. It also aims to phase out free allowances from 2026 as CBAM will apply if they import goods into the EU, regardless of where they are located.
More information and guidance can be found below.
A number of changes that aim to improve the quantity and quality of waste data, especially packaging data, obtained from materials facilities* (MFs), will come into force from 1st October 2024. This data will be used in the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme, to ensure packaging producers pay the cost of managing the packaging they place on the market.
*Materials facility refers to a site that receives waste material and separates it or consolidates it.
Part 2 of Schedule 9 to The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 was amended by The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The changes aim to improve the quantity and quality of waste data, especially packaging data, obtained from MFs. Also, more MFs are brought into the scope.
MFs that received and separated mixed waste* were required to collect and report data on the material arriving and leaving the site. MFs likely to receive 1,000 tonnes of mixed waste in a year were required to sample at least 60kg for every 125 tonnes of mixed waste received at the facility from each supplier. Those MFs were also required to sample and report against fewer categories of input and output waste material** and report average data.
*Mixed waste means waste material** of 2 or more types.
**Waste material means household waste or waste of similar type or composition, which contains glass, metal, paper, card, plastic, or fibre-based composite material, and which has been separately collected for re-use or recycling.
From 1 October 2024, more materials facilities will need to sample and report their waste. This includes MFs managing source segregated or single waste streams, bulking stations, and waste transfer stations.
MF operators affected for the first time in October 2024 must notify the regulator in writing if they receive 1,000 tonnes or more of any waste material.
Exemptions
The changes will not apply to MFs that:
Input sampling
Waste material received from each supplier (input material) must be identified within a sample as 1 of the following material types: glass, aluminium, steel, paper, card, plastic bottles, plastic pots, tubs and trays, film or other flexible plastic, other plastic, fibre-based composite material*.
*Fibre-based composite material means packaging material made of paperboard or paper fibres, laminated with plastic.
MF operators must take a sample (input sample) for every 75 tonnes of waste material they receive from a supplier. The average weight per sample must be 60 kg or more and each individual sample must weigh at least 55 kg.
Output sampling
MFs that sort packaging waste must grade specified output materials and record this for the following: glass, paper, card, aluminium, steel, plastic, and fibre-based composite.
Packaging materials
The proportion of packaging and drinks containers (except glass) that are part of the deposit return scheme (DRS) must be measured and recorded during input and output sampling.
N.B. Sampling of glass packaging only needs to be done when requested by the regulator, which must notify the MF at least 4 weeks in advance.
MFs must now report raw data rather than averages and keep data recorded after 1st October 2024 for 7 years.
Detailed guidance on the changes to waste sampling and reporting requirements for MFs can be found here.
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