Commencement:  29th March 2018

Amends: The Energy Information Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1524) 

Mini summary of the 2011 Regulations

These Regulations set energy labelling and standard product information requirements for energy-related products and is linked to the Ecodesign for Energy Related Products Regulations 2010. It also defines the Market Surveillance Authority which is responsible for enforcing these Regulations.

Amendment

These Regulations amend the 2011 Regulations to implement Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU. They replace references to the Directive with references to the EU Energy Labelling Regulation and alter the domestic enforcement regime for the labelling of energy-related products.

Part 3 (responsibilities of suppliers and dealers) and Part 4 (information requirements) of the 2011 Regulations are revoked. Duties for suppliers and dealers are now contained in Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 €“ LUS entry available here.

Link to legislation.gov.uk

A property development company has been ordered to pay £20,000 for destroying bat habitats in Kent.

Following allegations that bat roosts and resting places were unlawfully lost in 2016 during demolition works, the Kent Police Rural Task Force carried out an investigation.

Knightspur Homes commissioned a series of surveys on their site in Edenbridge which showed substantial bat activity, with buildings being used as resting places and breeding roosts for multiple bat species. The surveys were included in the planning application for the site. The work required a European Protected Species Mitigation Licence, which is issued by Natural England. The licence is necessary where demolition or renovation will disturb, destroy or remove bat roosts.

However, in August 2016 one of the buildings identified in the survey as containing roosting bats was demolished without any application for a mitigation licence.

Knightspur Homes pleaded guilty to three counts of damaging or destroying bat habitats. They were fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,036. The company was also ordered to pay an additional £5,285 following a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act. This amount was deemed by the courts to reflect what Knightspur Homes had benefited from by not carrying out the correct legal processes and checks during demolition works.

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The Environment Agency is introducing a new discretionary Definition of Waste service from June 2018 that will provide formal opinions on the waste status of material. 
 
In England, if you produce a product from waste you will be able to ask for the Environment Agency’s opinion on the waste status of your material.
 
Customers will pay an initial fee of £750 when they submit a request for a definition of waste opinion. The Environment Agency will then provide a cost estimate of further work needed to complete a full technical and legal assessment; this will be based on £125 per hour plus VAT.
 
Before the service is available you can do a self assessment using the IsItWaste tool and the Definition of Waste Service checklist. 

The regulator suspended the Definition of Waste Panel in September 2016. 

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A demolition contractor and two of its managers have been prosecuted for forging documents needed to obtain an asbestos licence.

Between 16th March 2012 and 10 March 2016, Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd used both forged medical certificates and forged asbestos training certificates for their asbestos removal staff. The documents had been made by their asbestos operations manager, David Lloyd. The company operations manager, Lee Cooper and managing director Brendan O’Halloran were named on the forged documents. The Doctor who purportedly signed off the medical certificates is retired and no longer lives in the UK.

David Lloyd had used the fake documents to win business across the North West. In March 2016 they won the tender to remove asbestos from Manchester Hall. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector visited the site on the first day and found the fake documents. The company also failed to show that it had properly trained or monitored its workers who were exposed to asbestos.

Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 10(1)(a) and 22(1)(c) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.

David Lloyd pleaded guilty to breaching the same regulations. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

Lee Cooper also pleaded guilty to breaching the same regulations and was ordered to undertake 80 hours of community service and pay costs of £1,000.

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The Building Regulations 2010 [SI 2010/2214] require that external walls on all buildings resist fire spread. Statutory guidance in Approved Document B (fire safety) sets out two ways that external wall can meet the Building Regulations requirement to resisting fire spread:

• The first is for each individual component of the wall (insulation, filler etc.) to meet the required standard for combustibility; and
• The second is to ensure that all the combined elements of a wall, when tested as a whole installed system, adequately resist the spread of fire to meet a set standard.

Appendix A of Approved Document B outlines how tests should be carried out for the performance of materials, products and structures and establishes the principle of assessments in lieu of test. The term ‘desktop study’ has commonly been used to describe an assessment in lieu of test, with respect to external wall insulation and cladding systems.
 
One of the recommendations of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Interim Report on the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety was that:

 
In order to implement Dame Judith’s recommendation the Government is proposing to issue amendments to Appendix A of Approved Document B which clarifies the existing text and creates new requirements for desktop studies.
 
This consultation is also seeking view on whether the Government should go further and prohibit desktop studies either for all fire test classification or for fire test classifications relating to the BS 8414 full-scale cladding test.
 
Link to consultation.
 
Consultation ends: 25^th May 2018

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On the 21^st April 2018, Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will come into force and replace the old PPE Directive 89/686/EEC.

PPE are products that the user can wear or hold, in order to be protected against hazards either at home, at work or whilst engaging in leisure activities.

Main changes

The new Regulation now applies to the whole supply chain rather than just manufacturers. Everyone involved in the manufacture, supply and distribution of PPE must ensure their PPE meets with the standard requirements.

Some of the standard requirements are outlined below:

• making sure PPE complies with the essential health and safety requirements;
• making sure technical documentation has be drawn up;
• when compliance has been demonstrated the EU declaration of conformity has been drawn up and a CE mark affixed;
• retention of documents for 10 years;
• sample testing;
• duty to take action in relation to non-conforming PPE;
• labelling requirements;
• providing instructions; and
• cooperating with the national authority.

In certain cases, the manufacturer’s obligations can now apply to importers and distributors. An importer or distributor who markets a product in Europe under their own name, brand or trademark becomes liable for the full manufacturer’s obligations.

The new Regulation slightly modifies the risk categorisation of products. Life Jackets and hearing protection are moved from Category II (Intermediate PPE) to Category III (Complex PPE). This means that they are now subject to stricter conformity assessment procedures and ongoing surveillance.

Transitional period

There is a transition period of 1 year (21^st April 2018 to 20^th April 2019) where both the old Directive and the new Regulation are applicable. Therefore PPE designed and manufactured in accordance with Directive 89/686/EEC can still be placed on the market until 21^st April 2019.

EC type-examination certificates and approval decisions issued under the old Directive shall remain valid until 21^st April 2023 unless they expire before that date.

Purchasing PPE

Regulation (EU) 2016/425 does not apply any duties directly to end users of PPE. Employers who are selecting and using PPE within their own organisation are covered by the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 which are unaltered by this Regulation. Those involved in specifying, sourcing or purchasing PPE for use within their own organisation should continue to select appropriate PPE which has been CE marked.

UK legislation

In the UK The Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/390) provide an enforcement and penalty regime for Regulation (EU) 2016/425.

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The Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPP) which covers above ground oil storage tanks has been updated.

This guidance is intended to assist those responsible for above ground oil storage tanks at sites other than oil refineries and distribution depots.

It provides advice on:

• Complying with the Oil Storage Regulations;
• Deciding where to put the storage tank;
• Types of oil storage tank;
• Installation;
• Ancillary equipment;
• Pipework
• Deliveries;
• Legal compliance for existing tanks;
• Maintenance;
• Mobile bowser;
• Security; and
• Oil spills.

GPPs provide environmental good practice guidance for the whole UK, and environmental regulatory guidance directly to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales only. For business in England, regulatory guidance is available from GOV.uk.

Link to GPP 2: Above ground oil storage tanks

For more information on oil storage legislation read our blog here.

From 1^st April 2018, Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) will replace Landfill Tax in Wales. Associated funding for local community and environmental projects is also being brought under the devolved administration’s control.

Landfill Disposal Tax (LDT)

Like the Landfill Tax, LDT will be a tax on the disposal of waste to landfill and will be charged by weight. It will be payable by landfill site operators, who will pass on these costs to waste operators through their gate fee. There are three rates of LDT a standard rate, a lower rate and an unauthorised disposals rate (see table).

The standard and lower rates are in line with charges in other parts of the UK. This will provide stability and reassurance to businesses and prevent waste being moved across borders to obtain a cheaper rate (‘waste tourism’).

The unauthorised disposals rate is a new rate introduced by the Welsh Government. It applies to waste that has been dumped illegally and is set at 150% of the standard rate. It aims to create an additional financial deterrent for people seeking to avoid their environmental obligations and dispose of waste illegally.

The Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017 [WWAS8] establishes the legal, administrative and operation framework for the LDT. The tax will be collected and managed by the Welsh Revenue Authority working with Natural Resources Wales on the compliance and enforcement of the tax.

Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme

A landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme will be established to replace the existing Landfill Communities Fund. The scheme uses a proportion of the tax to fund community projects and will support biodiversity, waste minimisation and other environmental enhancement projects in areas affected by the disposal of waste to landfill.

Administration of the scheme will move from Entrust, which currently regulates the fund in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

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A 12-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of £100,000 has been issued to a Cheshire land owner for illegally landfilling thousands of tonnes of waste.

The Environment Agency (EA) found that Eric Hale of Bank Top Farm, had been dumping tens of thousands of tonnes of waste on his land without the appropriate environmental permit.

Hale’s waste removal company, Eric Hale Skip Hire, had been using the 19-acre farm to dispose of the majority of its waste material to avoid paying for the use of a legitimate site.

Hale, along with two other men, Dennis Whiting and Stefan Street, were witnessed driving large waste vehicles onto Bank Top Farm and depositing a mixture of waste on the site, including carpets, mattresses and demolition waste.

The Environment Agency worked closely with the police and local authorities and found that most of the waste collected by Eric Hale Skip Hire was illegally dumped and landfilled at Bank Top Farm instead of being taken to a legitimate waste site.

Eric Hale pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £100,000, sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, disqualified from driving for 12 months, order to work 200 hours unpaid and received a three month curfew.

Dennis Whiting and Stefan Street also each received a conditional discharge for two years after pleading guilty to dumping and landfilling controlled waste without a permit.

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The former owner of a plastics recycling centre in Blackburn has been given a suspended prison sentence and order to pay £10,000 for breaching his environmental permit.
 
David Holt was the owner of V10 Polymers Ltd. The Environment Agency became aware of problems at the site in 2012 after complaints were received from members of the public. Due to concerns about the way the site was being operated, the Environment Agency served a formal notice requiring the company to remove all controlled waste form the site. It also advised the company to apply for a permit if it wished to continue its operations. Any permit issued would require storage of combustible waste at the site to be improved and meet minimum fire prevention standards.
 
David Holt made an application and was issued a permit. However, the first inspection of the facility in April 2014 revealed excessive quantities of plastic waste stored in a manner that presented a fire risk and in breach of the company’s permit. A number of joint inspections were carried out by the Environment Agency and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services to bring about improvements at the site but David Holt failed to adequately respond to those interventions.
 
The Environment Agency revoked the site’s permit from February 2016 and ordered the company to take steps to remove all remaining waste from the site by 21^st March 2016. They decided to prosecute after the company continued to illegally operate without a permit, and failed to tackle the fire risk posed by excessive stockpiles of plastic waste.
 
On 21^st August 2017, a serious fire at the site resulted in road closures and evacuation of nearby residents. Since then there have been another three fires which have significantly impacted on local residents and businesses. But the court was told that all the fires had happened after David Holt was evicted from the site.
 
David Holt pleaded guilty to three environmental offences, breaching the company’s environmental permit, failing to comply with enforcement notices and continuing to deposit waste despite suspension and subsequent revocation of its permit. He was sentenced to 8 months in prison, suspended for 2 years, and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £10,000 of the £18,000 costs incurred by the Environment Agency in bringing the case against him.
 
V10 Polymers Ltd site has now been bought by Driftdale Ltd, an isle of Man company, who is now responsible for ensuring that waste is removed from the site and correctly disposed of. The company has planning permission for 181 houses. 

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