Latest Legislation Updates

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May 2024

• ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024 Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use — Amendment 1: Climate action changes
  Global: Clause 4, Context of the organisation, is updated. Organisations are required to determine if climate change is a relevant issue for them and must be aware that interested parties might have requirements related to climate change.
  
• The Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 5 and Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024
  Wales: Changes made to section 50 of the Building Act 1984 by the Building Safety Act 2022 in relation to plans certificates issued by a registered building control approver (RBCA) come into force on the 25th April 2024.
  
• The Climate Change (Reporting Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
  Northern Ireland: Under the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, public reporting bodies* are required to prepare reports demonstrating how they are adapting to climate change in the carrying out of their duties.
• The Civil Aviation (Environmental Protection) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 
  United Kingdom: Technical changes are made to update references to the latest version of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. There are no changes to duties to organisations.
  
• The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 
  England & Wales: The keeper of the register (the Secretary of State), accreditation schemes and energy assessors are allowed to share assessment data* on the energy performance of a particular building with the owner, landlord or occupier of that building. Data on air conditioning systems can also be shared with anyone who has control of that system.
• The Phytosanitary Conditions (Amendment) Regulations 2024 
  Great Britain: pests are added to the list of GB quarantine pests.

April 2024

• Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024
  Wales: A framework is established allowing long-term emissions targets to be set in Wales. These targets are related to certain pollutants.
  
• The Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000
  England & Wales: Clarification is made to The Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000, making it clear that references to volumes of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) within the Regulation refer to the volume of a fluid that contains PCBs, rather than the volume of the PCB itself within the fluid. This is an important distinction for organisations who have to register that they hold PCBs. 
  
• The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
  England: The responsibility for reporting packaging waste has been updated
• The Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 
  Scotland: A framework is introduced, allowing the renewables obligation for the period beginning on the 1st April 2024 to be revised.
  
• The Electricity Supplier Obligations (Excluded Electricity) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 
  England, Wales & Scotland: Fixed fees, enabling full cost recovery, are updated & a minor technical change is made.
  
• Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances) Regulations 2024. 
  Republic of Ireland: Employers are required to carry out an assessment of the risks associated with any use of a carcinogen, mutagen, or reprotoxic substance in the workplace, and take steps to control such risks by eliminating or minimising exposure. Exposure must not exceed the set limit value of a carcinogen, mutagen or reprotoxic substance, or the biological limit value as set out in the Code of Practice.
  

March 2024

• The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024
  Scotland: Definitions and responsibilities for reporting packaging waste have been updated. For the purposes of defining packaging, where a drink container is made up of multiple components made of different materials, the drink container is to be treated as being made of the same material as the component which is predominant by weight, unless the predominant component is made of glass. In that case, each component of the container has to be treated separately.
  
• The Water Industry Act 1991 (Amendment) Order 2024
  England & Wales: Changes are made to Schedule 2 of the Act to enable the transfer of assets by hive-down*, when a failing water industry company is in special administration.  
  
• Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) Order 2024
  Republic of Ireland: Several sections of Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 came into force on 15th February 2024. The sections cover the use of CCTV and its admissibility as evidence in court.
• The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2024 
  United Kingdom: The next application window for free allocations of greenhouse gas emissions allowances, as well as for Hospital Small Emitter and Ultra Small Emitter schemes, has been moved to 1st April 2025 – 30th June 2025. Operators not applying for free allocations must also provide information to the UK ETS Authority during this window.
  
• The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) (Amendment) and Gas Safety (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2024 
  Great Britain / United Kingdom: Fixed fees, enabling full cost recovery, are updated & a minor technical change is made.
  
• The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024 
  United Kingdom: Various parts of the act are brought into force. Click the link above for more detail.

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%.

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