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The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued The Clean Air Strategy 2019, this document builds on an extensive consultation process.Â
This Clean Air Strategy sets out plans for:
Within this, it will set out the comprehensive action that is required from across all parts of government and society to meet these goals.
New legislation will create a stronger and more coherent framework for action to tackle air pollution. New England-wide powers will be introduced to control major sources of air pollution, plus new local powers to take action in areas that have problems with air pollution. These will support the creation of Clean Air Zones to lower emissions from all sources of air pollution, backed up with clear enforcement mechanisms.
View the plan here
Newground are proud to be supporting their local community and thinking green by donating old equipment to new ventures for the local people of Wakefield.
With South Elmsall Town Council setting up a number of construction workshops for the local community, Newground saw the opportunity to brush the dust off their old equipment and make a donation that will support the new venture.
Clare Baxter, Town Clerk at South Elmsall Town council, said: “We have some exciting plans in place to create a workshop which will offer training to people in the local community. The workshops will target worklessness, helping local people to socialise, improve their employment prospects, and in turn their mental health.”
Newground were able to gather a wide range of surplus tools which were no longer in use, and donate them to the workshops where attendees will have plenty of use for them.
Lucy Keogh, Youth and Community Senior Project Officer at Newground, helped to organise the donation. “The staff at South Elmsall Town Council are extremely grateful for the equipment that we have been able to donate”, says Lucy. “They feel that this will really benefit the local community and they will be able to put it to good use.
“At Newground, we are always looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the environment. We are pleased that these tools will be given a new lease of life, and other local people will have the opportunity to enjoy them.”
Jurisdiction: Republic if Ireland
Commencement: 19th December 2018
Amends: Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
Mini Summary
The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 sets out the statutory rights for employees in respect of rest, maximum working time and holidays.
Amendment
This was amended by Organisation of Working Time (General Exemptions) Regulations, 1998 to include exempt categories of workers from section 11 (minimum rest periods), section 12 (breaks) and section 13 (daily rest) of the Act.
This 2018 amendment clarifies that the caring, rearing, breeding and training of racehorses is included in the category of exempt agricultural workers as prescribed in The Organisation of Working Time (General Exemptions) Regulations 1998.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 22nd December 2018
Amends:
Road Traffic Act 2016
Road Traffic Act 2010
Road Traffic Act 2002
Road Traffic Act 1961
Mini Summary
These Acts sets out requirements for driving licenses, speed limits, driving offences, insurance and public vehicles.
Amendment
This amendment commences section 1, 4 and 5 of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018.
This removes the insertion of section 35A into the Road Traffic Act 1961. Section 35A made it an offense for the owner of a vehicle to allow their vehicle be driven by a learner driver driving unaccompanied
Makes minor amendments to Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1994. Section 41 concerns the making of regulations regarding the detention of vehicles
Inserts a new section 35A into Road Traffic Act 1961 relating to offenses by the owner of a motor vehicle driven by another person.
It makes an offense for the owner of a motor vehicle to allow another person to drive in a public place:
Jurisdiction: Republic of Ireland
Commencement: 11th December 2018
Amends: European Communities (Pesticide Residues) Regulations 2008
Mini Summary
These Regulations specify the maximum levels of pesticide residues which crops, food and feeding stuffs may contain.
Amendment
These Regulations are regularly amended to update the definition of Pesticide MRL Regulations to include the new European Regulations that add to or change the pesticide Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for food and feed.
Each new amendment revokes the previous amendment which was European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2017 (SI 549/2017).
Further details on EU Legislation for MRLs can be found here including links to commodity lists and the pesticides database
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: England, Scotland, Wales
Commencement: 1st February 2019
Amends: Feed-in Tariffs Order 2012
Mini Summary
These Regulations make requirements for Feed in Tariffs. They set the maximum capacity for small scale low carbon electricity generation for Feed in Tariffs. The Regulations provide for the accreditation of installations, the operations of the registry and general administrative functions.
Amendment
Closure of the FIT scheme
The Feed-in Tariffs scheme (FIT scheme) will be closed to new applicants from the 31st March 2019. This follows a government review in 2015 which decided that spending on new generation would cease in March 2019 to ensure that there would be no additional impact on energy bills from generation tariffs.
The closure of the FIT scheme has no effect on currently accredited installations and generators will continue to receive payments until the end of their support in accordance with the existing rules.
There are some limited extensions to the closure for certain installations and the following extensions are given:
Tariff rates for installations accredited after 31st March 2019 will be determined in accordance with the existing rules, with the exception of MCS-scale community energy installation with an MCS certificate issued on or after 1 April 2019, which will receive the tariff rate of the 1st January 2019.
Other administrative amendments
Updated guidance: Renewable Installations
Updated guidance: Electricity Suppliers
Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
Commencement: 17th January 2019
Amends: The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
Mini Summary
These Regulations attempt to limit emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by ensuring that employees and companies in a number of sectors of business in Northern Ireland are certified to handle equipment during the course of their business without emitting large quantities of F-gases.
Amendment
This Regulation makes changes following repeal and replacement of 4 EU Regulations, and is established in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 517/2014:
The new EU Regulations implemented several new requirements for businesses and employees in Northern Ireland using F-gases:
As a result of the changes, this regulation introduces new offences.
In addition, amendments made by these Regulations will enable the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to appoint the bodies which undertake certification, evaluation and verification of F-gas handlers, without having to specify the name of the certification, evaluation and attestation bodies in the Regulations themselves.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: EU
Commencement: 25th November 2018
Amends: Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2008 on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties for use in and on foods
Mini Summary
These Regulations lay down rules on flavourings and food ingredients with flavouring properties for use in and on foods. Their aim is to ensure the effective functioning of the internal market whilst ensuring a high level of protection of human health and a high level of consumer protection.
Amendment
This Amends the European Communities Regulation No. 1334/2008 Part, A of Annex, I (Community list of flavourings and source materials approved for use in and on foods) by deleting the following and sets out transitional arrangements for products contain them.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: England
Commencement: 29 March 2019
Amends:
Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008
The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015
The Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015
Mini Summary
The following are amended to ensure they are able to operate on the day that the UK leaves the EU. References to EU Directives are either:
Amendment
Amendments to The Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008
Article 6 (Mayors power to direct refusal of a PSI application) is amended to:
Amendments to The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015
In Schedule 4 (Consultations before the grant of permission) reference to Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substance are replaced with reference to Regulation 6(6) of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015. In the interpretation table, reference to Directive 2012/18/EU is omitted (paragraph k (i)).
Amendment to the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015 (Health and Safety)
References in Directive 2012/18/EU are amended to make it clear that any updates to the Directives after withdrawal from the EU will not be relevant to Regulation 2 (Interpretation).
In Regulation 6, 10 and 26, paragraph ii(a) is inserted to ensure that the reference to the EU law Directive 2012/18/EU continues to operate effectively.
Regulation 24 is amended to replace reference to Article 13(2) of Directive 2012/18/EU with Regulation 5 of Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015.
Regulation 25 makes reference to Article 13 of Directive 2012/18/EU. This has been amended to mean any retained EU law which implemented the directive
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.
Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 29th March 2019
Amends: The Climate Change Agreements (Eligible Facilities) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/2999) as amended
Amendment
Agreements within the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) Scheme which have been made before exit day are amended to ensure that they continue to operate once the UK has left the EU.
Facilities can only be certified as being covered by a CCA if in the previous certification period it has complied with any obligations set out in the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012 (as amended); this replaces the previous reference to Directive 2003/87/EC (EU ETS Directive)
The definition of technical annex is updated to correct deficiencies in the cross-references with Annex 1 to the EU ETS Directive, which lists the activities excluded from the Directive.
This amendment also updates the reference to the European Commissions guidelines on the meaning of a firm in difficulty to the latest version (European Commission Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring non-financial undertakings in difficulty (2014/C 249/01)).
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Our intuitive online system helps manage your compliance obligations for environment, health & safety and food.