Defra has issued a consultation paper on further draft guidance for the proposed Environmental Permitting Regulations. The consultation relates to Government Guidance for EU Directives and Waste Technical Competence and has been issued under the Fourth Environmental Permitting Programme (EPP).
The EPP is a Better Regulation initiative designed to reduce costs for business and regulators by cutting red tape. The aim is to do this without changing levels of protection for the environment and human health. Defra’s intention is that this will be achieved by streamlining and simplifying environmental permitting and compliance systems.
Click the link below to see the framework of guidance to support the EPP (Fig 1 - source Defra © 2007)
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Defra has previously consulted on part of the Environmental Permitting Government Guidance package earlier this year as the Third EPP.
Environmental Permitting Guidance will be replacing existing lengthy guidance for the waste management licensing (WML) and pollution prevention and control (PPC) systems. The exception to this is for activities regulated by local authorities where the existing General Guidance Manual will be updated to reflect the changes to the system, with an easy-to-read, concise piece of guidance, according to Defra.
Figure 2: How it all fits together (Source Defra-Crown © 2007)
The aim is to make this a simple, single reference point explaining how the new, streamlined Environmental Permitting Regulations work and where possible, how they will be implemented.
Defra says that the consultation provides the rest of the Government guidance package.
The consultation documents cover the structure and content of guidance on the European Directive requirements, including guidance on the:
- Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (96/61/EC) including
Titanium Dioxide Directive (1992/11/EC)
- Large Combustion Plant Directive (2001/80/EC)
- Solvent Emissions Directive (1999/13/EC)
- Waste Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC)
- Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC)
- Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC)
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (2002/96/EC)
- End of Life Vehicles Directive (2000/53/EC
The consultation also covers proposals for demonstrating technical competence for permit holders with waste operations.
The deadline for comments on the consultation documentation, which applies to England and Wales, is 10 October 2007.
Further information
Further information and downloads of the consultation documentation can be found on the Defra website.