The Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, presented his 2018 Budget to Parliament on 29^th October 2018.
 
The main points of the budget relating to the environment are highlighted below:
 
Waste

• A new tax on plastic packaging which does not contain 30% recyclable material in a bid to incentivise manufacturers to increase their use of recycled materials
• The Environment Agency will be provided with £10 million to clear up abandoned waste sites
• No tax on takeaway coffee cups but this will be reconsidered if the industry doesn’t make enough progress to reduce their environmental impact

 
Transport

• Fuel duty to be frozen for the ninth year in a row;
• Air Passenger Duty for long-haul flights will increase in line with inflation, while Air Passenger Duty for short-haul flights will be frozen until 2021;
• Enhanced capital allowances for companies investing in electric vehicle charge points to will be extended to March 2023;
• Vehicle Excise Duty on heavy goods vehicles will be frozen for the next financial year; and
• The difference between alternative and main road fuel duty rates will be maintained until 2032 to support the decarbonisation of the transport sector.

 
Energy and Climate 

• The Budget sets the Climate Change Levy (CCL) main rates for 2020-21 and 2021-22 and continues with the government’s commitment to rebalance the main rates paid for gas and electricity. The electricity rate will be lowered in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The gas rate will increase in 2020-21 and 2021-22 so it reaches 60% of the electricity main rate by 2021-22. Other fuels, such as coal, will continue to align with the gas rate. The discount for sectors with Climate Change Agreements will change to reflect the change in CCL main rates.
•  The carbon price support on the power sector will be frozen at £18 per tonne of CO2 next year, and will be reduced in subsequent years after if the overall carbon price remains high. 
• A carbon tax of £16 per tonne in the event of a no-deal Brexit, in which the UK would have to leave the EU’s emissions trading scheme. The tax would apply to all stationary installations currently participating in the scheme on each tonne of CO2 emitted above an installation’s emissions allowance, which would be based on how many free allowances it is entitled to under the emissions trading scheme.

 
AOB

• £13m allocated to tackle risks from floods and climate change, through pilot projects to ensure property owners have the best information on protecting their homes, and expanding the flood warning system to an additional 62,000 at-risk properties;
• £20m funding will be given support more local authorities to meet their air quality obligations;
• the government will set up a Woodland Carbon Guarantee scheme which will support the planting of around 10 million trees by purchasing up to £50 million of carbon credits for qualifying tree planting;
• £20 million in funding to support more local authorities meet their air quality obligations

 
Link to full 2018 Budget summary.

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Commencement: 29th March 2019

Amends:  The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006
                 The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007
                 The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015

Mini Summary

What is this regulations?

Amendment

Amendments to The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006
Small changes are made to Article 20 to ensure the Secretary of State can continue to define competent authorities under the welfare at transport legislation after exit day. These amendments do not impose any duties on businesses.

Amendments to The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007
Small amendments are made to Schedule 1 to ensure that an existing cross reference to Directive 96/22/EEC concerning the prohibition on the use in stockfarming of certain substances having a hormonal or thyro-static action and of beta-agonists will continue to work after exit. These amendments do not impose any duties on businesses.

Amendments to The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015
Technical amendments are made to remove references to Member States and European Commission officials to ensure operability of the Regulation after exit.

This Regulation also introduces a policy change. Currently, certificates of competence, issued to slaughtermen by other Member States, must be recognised in the UK. Certificates of competence are required by slaughterhouses in the EU to evidence that an individual has been trained and successfully assessed as reaching a sufficient level of competence to undertake the animal handling, stunning and killing and related operations required of them. This Regulation removes this mutual recognition requirement. Certificates of competence issued in the UK will not be recognised in other Member States after the UK has left the EU.

These amendments do not impose any duties on businesses.

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Commencement: 10th October 2018

Mini Summary

These Regulations set a common set of standards for certain alternative fuel infrastructure (electricity and hydrogen for vehicles and seagoing ships at berth). This will ensure that users of electric or hydrogen powered vehicles and berthed seagoing ships can be confident of using the right infrastructure to the appropriate standard.

The aim of these Regulations is to increase the use of alternatively fuelled vehicles and the environmentally beneficial practices of using electricity to power berthed ships.

These Regulations transpose the requirements of Directive 2014/94/EU on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure.

Recharging and refuelling infrastructure refers to the equipment required to recharge electric vehicles and refuel hydrogen fuelled vehicles. The main requirement is that such charge points must be available for use by the general public and be compliant with the relevant standard.

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Commencement: 17th November 2018

Amends: The Plant Health (Scotland) Order 2005

Amendment

This Order implements Commission Implementing Decision 2018/490 repealing Decision 2007/365/EC on emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and spread within the Community of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier). Also known as Red Palm weevil.

The 2007 Decision introduced emergency measures against the spread Red Palm weevil, and only allowed suspect plants to be imported/moved if specific requirements were met. The emergency measures did not work and Red Palm weevil is widespread in the EU. As a result the 2007 decision has been revoked by the 2018 Decision.

References to the 2007 Decision are removed from The Plant Health (Scotland) Order 2005.

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Commencement: 27th September 2018

Amends: Waste Management Act 1996

Mini Summary

Amendment

These Regulations make amendments to the Second Schedule (Properties of Waste which Render It Hazardous) in order to substitute the entry for HP 14 Ecotoxic.

This amendment inserts conditions whereby waste will be classified as ecotoxic. These conditions include waste which contains substances classified as:
€¢ ozone depleting;
€¢ aquatic acute; and
€¢ aquatic chronic.

The entry for HP 15 Waste capable of exhibiting a hazardous property listed above not directly displayed by the original waste is deleted by this amendment.

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Commencement: 1st January 2019

Mini Summary

This Order sets the national minimum hourly rate of pay from 1st January 2019 at ‚¬9.80.

The national minimum hourly rate of pay may include the following allowances:
€¢ For board only ‚¬0.87 per hour worked; and
€¢ for lodgings only, ‚¬23.15 per week, or ‚¬3.32 per day.

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Commencement: 7th January 2019

Amends: Flood and Water Management Act 2010

Mini Summary

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 introduces requirements relating to the management of risks in connection with flooding and coastal erosion. They introduce strategies for flood and coastal erosion risk management, establish regional flood and coastal committees, requires the use of suitable drainage, introduce a new set of reservoir safety rules amongst other things.

Amendment

This Regulation applies to Wales only.

From 7th January 2019 Schedule 3 of the 2010 Act comes into force and will require all new developments of more than one house or where the construction area is 100m2 or more to have sustainable drainage to manage on-site surface water. 

Developments may not be commenced unless a drainage system for the work has been approved by the Sustainable Drainage System Approving Body (SAB).

Application for Approval Fees

These Regulations allow an approving body to charge fees in relation to application for approval of a sustainable drainage system and sets out how these fees are determined.

The baseline fee for an application for approval of a sustainable drainage system is £350. An additional amount of up to £7,500 is calculated by reference to the size of the construction are as follows:
€¢ £70 for each 0.1 hectare, for the first 0.5 hectare;
€¢ £50 for each 0.1 hectare, from 0.5 hectare up to and including 1.0 hectare;
€¢ £20 for each 0.1 hectare, from 1.0 hectare up to and including 5.0 hectares; and
€¢ £10 for each additional 0.1 hectare in excess of 5.0 hectares.

If the applicant is a community council the application fee will be half the standard amount chargeable under these Regulations. A community council means a community or town council in accordance with Local Government Act 1972.

Where an approving body grants approval subject to a condition that one or more inspections take place, it may charge a fee of £168 for each inspection.

Link to full government text

Approval and Adoption Procedure

Developments meeting the criteria will be required to make an application and obtain approval from the Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) Approving Body (SAB), alongside planning permission.

The SAB is a statutory function delivered by local authorities to ensure that drainage proposals for all new developments meeting the criteria are designed and built in accordance with the national standards for sustainable drainage published by Welsh Ministers.

These Regulations set out procedures for the determination of applications by the SAB. The SAB will have 7 weeks to determine applications other than those requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment, in which case it has 12 weeks.

Schedule 3 of the Act also places a duty on the SAB to adopt and maintain approved SuDS that serve more than one property as long as the conditions listed in Section 17 are met. This Regulation details this adoption process for SuDs by the SAB and where the duty to adopt does and does not apply (Parts 3 and 4).

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Commencement: 1st November 2018

Amends: The Plant Health (England) Order 2015

Mini Summary

The Plant Health (England) Order 2015 implements plant health legislation in England, namely Directive 2000/29/EC (Plant Health Directive) on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread, and a number of Commission implementing Decisions. The Plant Health Directive sets out the plant health regime in the European Union

Amendment

This amendment implements the specific control measures of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/638 establishing emergency measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of the harmful organism Spodoptera frugiperda commonly known as fall armyworm.

Amendments are also made to ensure that the following EU instruments are correctly implemented:
€¢ Commission Decision 98/109/EC authorising Member States temporarily to take emergency measures against the dissemination of Thrips palmi Karny as regards Thailand; and
€¢ Commission Decision 2004/200/EC on measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Community of Pepino mosaic virus.

Controls relating to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2014/237 and Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1849 which cover measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of harmful organisms as regards certain fruits and vegetables originating in India and Ghana, are removed as these Decisions are no longer in force.

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Date Tuesday 4th December 2018

Time 11am – 12pm

Description

This 1 hour webinar will provide an introduction to the key differences between OHSAS 18001:2007 and ISO 45001:2018 and will focus on the new and amended structure, terminology, concepts and themes in the Standard.

Attendees

The webinar will be of interest to those who are responsible for implementing and / or maintaining a health & safety management system and in particular, those who are tasked with managing the migration to the new Standard.

LUS subscribers can click below to book a free place. 

Please note: LUS subscription must be current and the account paid in full at the time of booking. This event is not open to other consultants or competitors of Newground.

Also see ISO 45001:2018 Migration Training Course – Full Day Courses in Birmingham, London and Manchester 

Commencement: 17th September 2018

Amendment

This Regulation makes various amendments to a number of pieces of secondary legislation. They update out of date references to domestic and EU law.

For example, references to Council Regulation (EU) 2017/997 are inserted. Council Regulation (EU) 2017/997 amends Annex III to Directive 2008/98/EC as regards the hazardous property HP 14 Ecotoxic.

Another example, references to Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/605 are inserted. Regulation 2018/605 makes technical amendments to Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, concerning the scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine disrupting properties.

This Regulation also makes two drafting corrections to the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015 and the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) Regulations 2018.

The list below shows which pieces of legislation have been amended:

• The Environmental Protection Act 1990
• The Environment Act 1995
• The Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999
• The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006
• The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009
• The Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986
• The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003
• The Environmental Information Regulations 2004
• The End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005
• The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007
• The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008
• The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009
• The Marine Strategy Regulations 2010
• The Plant Protection Products Regulations 2011
• The Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012
• The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012
• The Climate Change Agreements (Eligible Facilities) Regulations 2012
• The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012
• The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013
• The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015
• The Landfill Tax (Qualifying Fines) (No. 2) Order 2015
• The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015
• The Renewables Obligation Order 2015
• The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017
• The Water Resources Act 1991
• The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999
• The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017
• The Water Abstraction and Impounding (Exemptions) Regulations 2017
• The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009
• The Beef and Veal Labelling Regulations 2010
• The Wine Regulations 2011
• The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) Regulations 2018

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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.