The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued The Clean Air Strategy 2019, this document builds on an extensive consultation process. 

This Clean Air Strategy sets out plans for:

• Dealing with all sources of air pollution;
• Making the air healthier to breathe;
• Protecting nature and boosting the economy.

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:   19^th 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.

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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:   11^th 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

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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:  Northern Ireland

Commencement:   17^th 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:

• Regulation (EC) No. 1493/2007 becomes Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2068 which establishes label formats for products and equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases
• Regulation (EC) No. 303/2008 becomes Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2067 which establishes minimum certification requirements for people and companies dealing with stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment, and refrigeration units of refrigerated trucks and trailers, containing fluorinated greenhouse gases.
• Regulation (EC) No. 305/2008 becomes Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2066 which establishes minimum certification requirements for people carrying out installation, servicing, maintenance, repair or decommissioning of electrical switchgear containing fluorinated greenhouse gases or recovery of fluorinated greenhouse gases from stationary electrical switchgear.
• Regulation (EC) No. 308/2008 becomes Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2065 which establishes format for notification of the training and certification programmes of the Member States

The new EU Regulations implemented several new requirements for businesses and employees in Northern Ireland using F-gases:

• New requirements for business on labelling of equipment containing f gases
• New requirements for businesses transferring work with F-gases to another organisation to ensure that the second business has the appropriate certification to work legally with F-gases
• New certification requirements for work with F-gases in stationary refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps and refrigeration units of trucks and trailers
• Variation in existing provisions for certification of work on F-gases in switchgear.

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.

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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:   25^th 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.

• p-Mentha-1,4(8)-dien-3-one
• 2-Aminoacetophenone
• 4-Acetyl-2,5-dimethylfuran-3(2H)-one

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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:

1. removed;
2. made clear that any updates to the Directives after exit day will not be relevant to this Regulation; or
3. are replaced with reference to Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015.

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:

• Replace reference to Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substance with Regulation 5 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015 in paragraph 2(i)(iii); and
• remove paragraph 3 which references Directive 2012/18/EU.

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

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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:   29^th 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)).

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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.