Latest Legislation Updates

February 2024

• The Energy Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
  United Kingdom: Section 303 and part of section 304, relating to decommissioning of civil nuclear sites, were scheduled to come into force on 31st January 2024. This amendment cancels the commencement date, without providing a new date when the two sections should come into force.
  
• The Biodiversity Gain Site Register (Financial Penalties and Fees) Regulations 2024
  England & Wales: The Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024 requires Natural England to establish a public register of biodiversity gain sites.  The Biodiversity Gain Site Register (Financial Penalties and Fees) Regulations 2024 sets out the fees and fines related to applications to register land on the biodiversity gain site register.
  
• The Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 8 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024
  United Kingdom/England:From 12th February 2024, applications for planning permission in England must be accompanied by a biodiversity gain plan.
• The Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 6) Regulations 2024 
  United Kingdom: It is now a legal requirement for the accountable person for a higher-risk building to display assessment certificates and manage building safety risks under The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc) (England) Regulations 2023.
  
• The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (Commencement No. 10) Order 2024 
  England & Wales: Section 34 and Schedule 5 are brought into force. These introduce provisions for companies that have entered special administration because of being unable to pay their debts. 
  
• The Value Added Tax (Installation of Energy-Saving Materials) Order 2024 
  United Kingdom: A zero-rate of VAT applies to installation of energy-saving materials* in buildings used solely for charitable purposes, until 31st March 2027. From 1st April 2027, a reduced rate of VAT will apply. The reduced rate of VAT is currently 5%.

January 2024

• The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023
  Great Britain: Operators of electricity generators may now retroactively apply for free allocations if they did not anticipate supplying electricity to the grid but subsequently did.
  
• The Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes Order 2023
  Great Britain: A series of trading schemes are established to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and vans.
  
• The Hydrogen Production Revenue Support (Directions, Eligibility and Counterparty) Regulations 2023
  United Kingdom: Low carbon hydrogen producers may apply for financial support via a hydrogen production revenue support contract.Producers are only eligible if the hydrogen is produced in accordance with the UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard – Version 3.
• The Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (Amendment and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 
  Great Britain: Changes are made to the CLP Regulation in Great Britain, which became assimilated law at the end of 2023. It is no longer a requirement to include the chemical’s unique formula identifier in the supplemental information section of a label.
  
• The Plant Protection Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2023 
  United Kingdom: Seeds that have been treated with a plant protection product before 31st December 2020 may continue to be placed on the market until 1st July 2027, in accordance with the Plant Protection Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
  
• The Car, Van and Heavy Duty Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emissions Performance Standards (Civil Penalties and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2023 
  United Kingdom: The Secretary of State can impose premiums on vehicle manufacturers for excess CO2 emissions. Administrative fines can also be imposed on manufacturers where they do not report correct data on engine types for vehicles.

December 2023

• The Controlled Waste (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023
  England: Under The Controlled Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2012, construction and demolition waste can be classified as household waste under certain conditions. This amendment adds new conditions when this is the case, allowing waste from construction and demolition works to be classified as household waste.
• The Climate Change Agreements (Administration and Eligible Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
  United Kingdom: Changes are made to the Climate Change Agreement scheme, including extending it until 31st March 2027.
  
• The Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023
  Great Britain: Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts, and PFHxS-related compounds are added to the list of substances that are prohibited from being manufactured, used or sold from 16th November 2023. Exemptions are in place for when PFHxS is present as an unintentional trace contaminant, subject to the concentration limits.
• The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2023 
  United Kingdom: Since 2014 large organisations (those employing 250 people or more, or with a turnover exceeding £44 million) have been required to audit their energy use every 4 years under the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS).
  
• Energy Act 2023 
  United Kingdom: Organisations who transport hydrogen gas or carbon dioxide through a pipeline, or dispose of carbon dioxide via geological storage, are required to have a licence from the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority.
  
• The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases (Amendment) Regulations 2023 
  Great Britain:The recalculation of reference values based on the annual average of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) placed on the market under the F-gas regulation (EU 517/2014) began in 2015. However, a previous amendment made by the UK Public General Act 2020 (c. 1616) incorrectly changed this start date to 2021. This amendment changes the start date back to 2015.

November 2023

• The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2023
  Scotland: The recovery and recycling target for 2024 is updated. Producers must now recover and recycle 80% of packaging waste.
  
• The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
  England & Wales: Operators of materials facilities must notify the regulator in writing if they receive 1,000 tonnes or more of any waste material.
  
• Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
  Great Britain: Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees during their employment. Compensation cannot be more than 25% of the amount initially awarded for the harassment claim.
• The Building (Restricted Activities and Functions) (England) Regulations 2023 
  England: Local authorities, the BSR and registered building control approvers must get approval from registered building inspectors for restricted activities.
  
• The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 
  Wales: Changes are made to the application of livestock manure, calculations and records & Delays to the transition period.
  
• The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (Commencement No. 16) Order 2023 
  United Kingdom: The following sections have been brought into force in England: Section 53 (extinguishment of unrecorded rights of way), Section 54 (excepted highways and rights of way), Section 55 (bridleway rights over ways shown as bridleways), Section 56 (cut-off date for extinguishment etc).