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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 1st January 2023
Amends: The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020
Following the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU), the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 establishes a UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) covering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from power and heat generation, energy intensive industries and aviation. It replaces the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for UK participants.
The UK ETS begins on 1st January 2021. Before the UK left the EU, the EU ETS was applied in the UK through The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012. All UK operators that carried out an activity covered by the EU ETS were required to hold a permit, which was a licence to operate and emit greenhouse gases covered by the EU ETS. Activities covered by the EU ETS are any of the activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/29/EC to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme of the Community (‘EU ETS Directive’).
The UK ETS does not significantly change the requirements for participating UK operators from those brought in by the EU ETS. Elements of the scheme will be familiar to operators. It is designed to maintain continuity with the EU ETS and to facilitate possible linkage in the future, however this is subject to ongoing trade negotiations between the UK and EU and would require further secondary legislation.
Key provisions included in this Order cover the scope of the scheme, monitoring and reporting requirements, the cap (the total level of emissions permitted) and the trajectory (the rate at which the cap declines) and the roles of the regulators in monitoring and enforcing the rules of the UK ETS. Secondary legislation will be introduced under the Finance Act 2020 to establish other parts of the UK ETS including rules for the auctioning of emissions allowances. Secondary legislation for the UK ETS currently includes:
The regulated activities covered by the UK ETS are listed in Schedule 2. Aviation activities are covered by the scheme and the definition of this is given in Schedule 1. The scheme covers electricity generation and heavy energy-using industries such as power stations, refineries, iron and steel, cement and lime, paper, food and drink, glass, ceramics, engineering, and the manufacture of vehicles. Other organisations, including universities and hospitals, may also be covered by the UK ETS depending upon the combustion capacity of equipment at their sites.
The UK ETS continues the principals of emissions trading by allocating and trading GHG emissions allowances. One allowance equals one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. At the end of each year, installations must have enough allowances to account for their GHG emissions. They have the flexibility to buy additional allowances on top of their allocation, or to sell surplus allowances generated from reducing their emissions below their allocation.
Allocation periods
Phase I of the UK ETS will run from 2021-2030 and is split into two allocation periods:
The regulators in each jurisdiction that the Regulations apply to are the following:
*’Installation’ means a stationary technical unit where one or more regulated activities listed in Schedule 2 are carried out. ‘Installation’ does not include any of the following (which are outside the scope of the UK ETS):
For qualifying aircraft operators the regulators depend on which jurisdiction the aircraft operator is registered in:
The EA is the default regulator for new aircraft operators that do not have a registered office or place of residence in the UK. From 2026, the regulator for aircraft operators will be one of the four above and depend on the jurisdiction where the highest proportion of emissions occur.
Various duties apply.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) now includes flights departing from an aerodrome in Great Britain and arriving at an aerodrome in Switzerland.
Allocation of free entitlement
Due to the addition of Switzerland to the scheme, changes are made to the application process for the allocation of free entitlement.
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Jurisdiction: Wales
Commencement: 31st December 2022
Amends: The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021
The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 implement measures to address agricultural pollution in Wales by setting rules for certain farming practices.
They apply to all farm businesses in Wales. Anyone who is the owner or occupier (e.g. tenants, graziers) of an agricultural land holding (regardless of its size) is responsible for complying with these Regulations.
Provisions are included around the following:
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is responsible for enforcing these Regulations.
Revocations
Previously, water quality was protected by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources polluting ground and surface waters via Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs)* that were in place and these Regulations revoke and replace The Nitrate Pollution Prevention (Wales) Regulations 2013, which means the existing NVZ designations are no longer applicable.
These Regulations also revoke and replace The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage and Slurry)(Wales) Regulations 2010 as these Regulations now set the requirements for silage making, storage of silage effluent and for slurry storage systems. The Regulations are revoked in how they apply to farms situated in a NVZ from 1st April 2021 and fully for all other farms from 1st April 2024.
*Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are areas within Wales that contain surface water or groundwater that is susceptible to nitrate pollution from agricultural activities. A map of these areas can be found here. Note that these Regulations have now replaced NVZs.
Transition period
Requirements are being phased in for farms not previously located in a NVZ over three years, with certain requirements applying from 1st January 2023, 30th April 2023 and 1st April 2024:
All other parts of the Regulations applied from 1st April 2021. More information can be found in the duties section below. For farms that were previously located in a NVZ, they needed to be compliant with the Regulations on 1st April 2021 (the date they come into force).
Various duties apply.
An abbreviation for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Index Map 2013 (NVZ index map) is added.
The implementation date for regulation 4 (Application of livestock manure – total nitrogen limit for the whole holding) and regulation 36 (Record of nitrogen produced by animals on the holding) is amended. Regulations 4 and 36 will now come into force on 30th April 2023.
Requirements are added for occupiers of a holding or part of a holding that was not previously located within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. These requirements are set out below.
*12 month period means the period 30th April to 29th April.
Schedule 1 (Amount of manure, nitrogen and phosphate produced by grazing livestock and non-grazing livestock) and Schedule 3 (Calculating nitrogen in organic manure) are amended as follows.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
Commencement: 30th December 2022
Amends: The Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012
The Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 prescribe the ranges within which District Councils are allowed to set fixed penalties for environmental offences including littering, dog-fouling, some noise violations, nuisance and abandoned vehicles. It also sets the levels at which the Councils can accept reduced amounts for quick payment (within 14 days).
This Regulation means that for littering and dog-fouling offences which formerly carried a £75 fixed penalty, District Councils will now be able to set this fine between £50 and £80 and will be able to set a quick payment amount at a minimum of £40. For offences which formerly carried a £100 fixed penalty, District Councils will now be able to set this fine between £75 and £110 and will be able to set a quick payment amount at a minimum of £60.
Certain other offences, including those under the Noise Act 1996 and those related to abandoning vehicles are fixed at £100 and £200 respectively with no facility for a district council to specify a different locally applicable amount. These Regulations provide that the smaller quick payment sums will not be less than £60 or £120 respectively.
Regulation 5 revokes the Litter (Fixed Penalty Notices) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995, which had prescribed the form of notice which may be given by an authorised officer of a district council to a person who he believes has committed an offence under Article 3(1) of the Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 offering the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction by payment of a fixed penalty.
There are no requirements for businesses.
The fixed penalties for environmental offences are updated as follows.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: 31st December 2022
Amends: GB Retained: Regulation (EU) 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products
Various duties apply.
Article 26 (Applicable procedure) and Article 29 (Submission and validation of applications) are amended.
The competent authority* must inform applicants** of any fees payable by 31st December 2027.
*The competent authority is:
**Applicants refers to applicants of any application:
**Relevant category B products are any product containing an active substance listed in the Simplified Active Substance List.
Authorisation and evaluation of applications
The competent authority must decide whether to authorise applications that were validated in accordance with Article 19 by 31st December 2027. This applies only to applications that were validated before 31st December 2026.
The competent authority must authorise any application by 31st December 2027 if:
N.B. The deadline may be extended if the competent authority requires additional information on an application.
An application must be rejected if the applicant fails to submit the required information.
Minor technical changes are made to Article 89. The deadline by which the competent authority must authorise applications concerning biocidal products is extended to:
Transitional measures for applications
Applicants must resubmit the application and any supporting data to the competent authority by 31st January 2023.
The competent authority must reject any application which does not meet the requirements set out in Article 95FA.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 1st January 2023
Amends:
This Act sets out the general duties of the Forestry Commission (FC), its organisational structure and commissioner and staff roles. It allows the FC to manage and use any land granted to it the by the Minister, manage and supervise any woods or forests and buy and sell timber.
The main impact of the Act relates to the control over the felling of trees, Felling Licences and how they interact with Tree Preservation Orders.
A Felling Licence from the FC is required to fell growing trees, except in cases where:
A person can fell up to five cubic metres on their own property in any calendar quarter without a Felling Licence as long as no more than two cubic metres are sold.
In cases where a Felling Licence is requested in order to fell trees protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or in a conservation area the FC will consult with the local planning authority that issued the TPO before deciding whether or not to issue a Felling Licence which would overrule the TPO.
If the FC issues a Felling Licence for trees covered by a TPO or in a conservation area and the applicant has not declared the TPO or conservation area, then the Felling Licence does not cover the felling of those trees and felling them may be a criminal offence.
The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 implements key aspects of the Government’s Rural Strategy published in July 2004 and also addresses a wider range of issues relating broadly to the natural environment. The Act requires every local authority to consider the purpose of conserving biodiversity. The Secretary of State for England and National Assembly for Wales, are required to publish a list of the living organisms and types of habitat which are of principle importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity.
Various duties apply.
The following provisions of the 2021 Act come into force on 1st January 2023.
These provisions require a public authority* to set out biodiversity objectives and publish biodiversity reports.
*Public authority means an authority whose functions are of a public nature.
Lastly, duties are imposed on the Forestry Commission and Natural Resources Wales regarding the enforcement of tree felling and restocking notices.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 1st January 2023
Amends: The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020
Following the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU), this Order establishes a UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) covering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from power and heat generation, energy intensive industries and aviation. It replaces the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for UK participants.
The UK ETS begins on 1st January 2021. Before the UK left the EU, the EU ETS was applied in the UK through The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012. All UK operators that carried out an activity covered by the EU ETS were required to hold a permit, which was a licence to operate and emit greenhouse gases covered by the EU ETS. Activities covered by the EU ETS are any of the activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/29/EC to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme of the Community (‘EU ETS Directive’).
The UK ETS does not significantly change the requirements for participating UK operators from those brought in by the EU ETS. Elements of the scheme will be familiar to operators. It is designed to maintain continuity with the EU ETS and to facilitate possible linkage in the future, however this is subject to ongoing trade negotiations between the UK and EU and would require further secondary legislation.
Key provisions included in this Order cover the scope of the scheme, monitoring and reporting requirements, the cap (the total level of emissions permitted) and the trajectory (the rate at which the cap declines) and the roles of the regulators in monitoring and enforcing the rules of the UK ETS. Secondary legislation will be introduced under the Finance Act 2020 to establish other parts of the UK ETS including rules for the auctioning of emissions allowances. Secondary legislation for the UK ETS currently includes:
The regulated activities covered by the UK ETS are listed in Schedule 2. Aviation activities are covered by the scheme and the definition of this is given in Schedule 1. The scheme covers electricity generation and heavy energy-using industries such as power stations, refineries, iron and steel, cement and lime, paper, food and drink, glass, ceramics, engineering, and the manufacture of vehicles. Other organisations, including universities and hospitals, may also be covered by the UK ETS depending upon the combustion capacity of equipment at their sites.
The UK ETS continues the principals of emissions trading by allocating and trading GHG emissions allowances. One allowance equals one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. At the end of each year, installations must have enough allowances to account for their GHG emissions. They have the flexibility to buy additional allowances on top of their allocation, or to sell surplus allowances generated from reducing their emissions below their allocation.
Allocation periods
Phase I of the UK ETS will run from 2021-2030 and is split into two allocation periods:
The regulators in each jurisdiction that the Regulations apply to are the following:
*’Installation’ means a stationary technical unit where one or more regulated activities listed in Schedule 2 are carried out. ‘Installation’ does not include any of the following (which are outside the scope of the UK ETS):
For qualifying aircraft operators the regulators depend on which jurisdiction the aircraft operator is registered in:
The EA is the default regulator for new aircraft operators that do not have a registered office or place of residence in the UK. From 2026, the regulator for aircraft operators will be one of the four above and depend on the jurisdiction where the highest proportion of emissions occur.
Various duties apply.
Operational changes and other minor changes are made to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). These changes come into effect on 1st January 2023.
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For a small group of women from Sheffield, each dealing with issues of isolation, mobility & other physical and mental challenges, the idea of being involved in a drama club was perhaps the furthest thing from their minds. That was until they met Diane Cairns.
Diane runs a local community theatre group in Sheffield aimed towards women. It initially started with Diane pulling together a small amount of funding to pay for professional help to support the women in writing a short play. “It was all very much their story, about their lives – women’s lives,” says Diane.
It proved a powerful creative spark. “Some of the women found they had skills they never knew existed. It brought them out of themselves. You could see them growing in confidence.”
Following a major performance of the play at Sheffield Crucible Theatre, a second project with the Sheffield People’s Theatre was born. Now, with the group still growing, they’re soon to present their latest production; a 30-minute drama piece that’s receiving its premiere before the Lord Mayor of Sheffield.
The drama group has been made possible by assistance from Manor Assembly and a range of community grants, one of which has come from Newground Together.
Through our charities’ community grants, small community groups can apply for funding for various projects. In this case, the group applied for and secured funding for a creative scriptwriting tutor to do a 15-week workshop with the drama group.
Diane is hugely grateful for the support of Newground Together and the group’s other charitable partners. “I started working with Belle (from Newground Together) in lockdown,” she says, “so we could only ever have conversations over the phone, but she has always been very informative, very understanding, open and genuine”.
The impact extends beyond the drama group, as Belle notes: “Five of the group will be accessing other community, volunteering or training activities as a result of being involved with this. So, it really is having a lifechanging effect.”
As a not-for-profit organisation, all profits generated by The Compliance People are 100% gift-aided to our parent charity, Newground Together.
The UK Government has announced the implementation of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 which is expected to come into force in 2024. The Compliance People Consultant Katie Pritchard looks at this important change to Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS).
SuDS use nature-based approaches that are designed to mimic natural drainage and encourage infiltration of rainwater. This reduces the speed and quantity of water entering traditional drainage systems.
Once implemented, Schedule 3 will remove the automatic right for builders to connect new developments in England and Wales to the drainage system. This change means that builders will only be able to connect new developments to the drainage system if they have incorporated SuDS into their development design.
Implementation of Schedule 3 will:
This change follows substantial campaigning from leading experts and bodies such as the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, who argued that a more robust regulatory approach to SuDS will alleviate existing pressure on traditional drainage systems and reduce flash flooding.
Additional environmental benefits include:
Want to have your say on the implementation of Schedule 3 and what this means for developers? Keep an eye out for the upcoming consultation on SuDS.
The Building Safety Act 2022 was introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster, which sadly claimed 72 lives in June 2017. The tragedy resulted in a call to reform the way that fire safety is regulated in the UK. The 2022 Act aims to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again by imposing stricter regulations on fire safety in buildings.
Although the Act was published in May 2022, large portions of it were not immediately enforced and it was stated that these portions would be enforced by future regulations, known as commencements. Since then, we have had four commencements with more to come, and the full implementation of the Act is not expected until October 2023. In this article, we will examine the four commencements and their contents.
The first commencement to be introduced was published in May 2022, right after the initial Act came into force, and outlined a range of sections of the Act that would be introduced between May 2022 and June 2022.
Some of the key parts to be introduced over this time were the building liability orders (sections 130, 131 & 132), housing complaints made to a housing ombudsman (section 160) and strategic planning to be done by the regulator (sections 17 & 18).
The second commencement made was in July 2022 and applies only to Wales. Section 48 on the removal of insurance requirements was bought into force, with the effect of removing any insurance requirements for approved inspectors under the Act.
The third commencement came into force at the end of August 2022 and introduced the powers relating to schemes for developers (sections 126 & 127) and the prohibitions on building control (section 129) and the development of land (section 128).
The final commencement that has so far been released came into force at the start of December 2022. It introduced the key duty of the new regulator to facilitate building safety in higher-risk buildings (section 4). It also bought into force the requirements for the regulator to establish building advisory committees (section 9) and residents’ panels (section 11).
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 12th December 2022
Amends:
The Regulations prohibit the storage of carbon dioxide in the water column. The Regulations set out the procedure for applications for ‘appraisal’ times and ‘storage permits’. A list is required to be kept of those with permits.
The Regulations put in place requirements for the closure and post-closure plans for those with storage permits.
The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 have been amended so as to include the Directive on Carbon Capture and Storage.
Minor technical changes are made to replace references to the EU Emissions Trading System Directive with references to The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012 and The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020.
References to ‘exit day’ are replaced with references to ‘IP completion day’.
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