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Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was formally introduced in the House of Commons on 7 December 2004 and contains a package of measures to create safer, cleaner and greener communities. The Bill seeks to tackle fly-tipping and also proposes to reform the recycling credits scheme and to repeal the divestment provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Progress of the Bill
The Bill has passed through the House of Commons without amendment to its clauses on waste. The Government rejected amendments which would have introduced variable and direct charging and provided officers of the Environment Agency with the power to arrest an individual suspected of fly-tipping. The Bill receives its second reading in the House of Lords on 22 March 2005.
Main Provisions of the Bill Relating to Waste
a. Tackling Fly-tipping
The Bill aims to tackle fly-tipping by:
- giving new powers to the Environment Agency and to local authorities;
- introducing new requirements – for example on a developer; and
- amending existing legislation.
New powers for the Environment Agency and Local Authorities
Local authorities and the Environment Agency will be given the power to issue fixed penalty notices of £300-and in the case of local authorities to keep receipts from such penalties-to deal with waste carriers who fail to produce their registration details or provide evidence that they do not need to be registered. They will also both be able to issue a fixed penalty notice against businesses which fail to produce their waste transfer notes.
Local authorities will also be given the power to issue a fixed penalty notice of £100 for businesses which fail to put out wastes at the time(s) specified by the waste collection authority.
Officers of a local authority and the Environment Agency will be given the powers to seize-but not to stop-a vehicle involved in fly-tipping without any need for assistance from a police constable, and to require owners (as well as occupiers) to clear fly-tipped waste, or pay the costs of the clearance, in cases where they caused or knowingly permitted the deposit of waste.
New Requirements
The Bill requires developers and contractors to produce a written site waste management plan for all construction projects above the value of £200,000. The Plan would need to identify the volume and type of material to be demolished and/or excavated and demonstrate how off-site disposal of wastes would be minimised and managed.
Amending Existing Legislation
The Bill amends section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) to increase the fine from £20,000 to £50,000, and to enable the courts to deprive an offender of their vehicle upon a conviction.
The Bill also amends existing legislation to remove the defence of acting under an employer’s instruction. In addition, it enables the Secretary of State to make new regulations covering the registration of waste carriers to implement the findings of Defra’s review of the Duty of Care Regime.
b Reforming the Recycling Credits Scheme
The Bill proposes to reform the recycling credit schemes by:
- giving WCAs and WDAs the power to disapply the duty placed on WDAs to make payments to waste collection authorities where the two parties involved agree to alternative arrangements;
- giving the Secretary of State powers to disapply the duty on joint waste disposal authorities (JWDAs) to make payments to waste collection authorities: the Government intends to alter the levy to a tonnage base or to a system of direct charging to provide a further incentive for collection authorities to reduce waste sent to JWDAs;
- enabling the Secretary of State to introduce regulations to specify the method by which payments are to be calculated by WCAs and WDAs: the Government suggests that committing funding to programmes operated by waste collection authorities may not be the most cost-effective route to achieve waste management targets;
- enabling the Secretary of State to introduce statutory guidance to assist WCAs and WDAs in determining whether to make payments to third parties, such as charities, for waste recycled that would otherwise require collection and disposal; and
- extending the scheme to include payments for waste that is reused.
c. Repealing the 1990 Divestment Provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990
The Government claims that the “prescriptive framework” imposed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requiring waste disposal authorities to divest themselves of their waste disposal operations does not sit well with the approach of Best Value. The Bill therefore proposes to repeal the divestment provisions of the EPA 1990, specifically:
- the provision in section 32 of EPA 1990 covering the transition to Local Authority Waste Disposal Companies (LAWDCs);
- the requirement in various sections of Part II of EPA 1990 that authorities carry out their waste disposal function only through arrangements with waste disposal contractors; and
- Schedule 2 of EPA 1990 which lays down detailed procedures for the transition to LAWDCs and for putting waste disposal contracts out to tender
March 2005
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