Proposed Changes to the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005
The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 control the way in which certain types of waste that are considered to be hazardous, for example asbestos, can be disposed of in England. The intention of the legislation is to reduce the pollution caused to the environment by such waste. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (“DEFRA”) became aware that some of the regulations were not working quite as intended and have therefore proposed amendments to the regulations. The amendments are contained in The Hazardous Waste (England and Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2009.
The changes are expected to come into force on 6 April 2009, save in relation to the new consignment notes which will come into force on 1 October 2009 to give waste management companies time to get used to the new paperwork. Anyone who produces, moves, receives or disposes of hazardous waste in England will need to be aware of the proposed changes. In particular anyone involved in repairs or refurbishment works to property that may contain asbestos will need to ensure that they comply with the regulations as amended.
Production of Asbestos Waste at Domestic Premises
Domestic waste is not normally caught by the regulations but they do apply to asbestos. DEFRA has introduced new wording in the regulations to make it clear that where asbestos waste is produced at domestic premises, for example during refurbishment, construction or demolition works, it is the contractor who is engaged to deal with the waste who is subject to the regulations and not the occupier of the premises. Where the building works that a contractor does at domestic premises produce asbestos waste, or where a contractor collects a skip containing asbestos waste from domestic premises, then the waste must be dealt with in accordance with the regulations rather than as normal domestic waste.
Notification of Premises Producing Hazardous Waste
Under the current regulations, companies that produce hazardous waste must notify the Environment Agency of each individual premises at which they produce hazardous waste in order to make it easier to arrange for inspection of the premises as is required by the Hazardous Waste Directive. However there is currently an exemption that means that sites which produce relatively small amounts of hazardous waste need not notify the Environment Agency provided the total amount of hazardous waste produced was less than 200kg in any twelve month period.
DEFRA are proposing to increase the notification limit so that there will be no need to notify the Environment Agency for all premises producing less than 500kg of hazardous waste in any twelve month period. DEFRA considers such sites to be a low risk to the environment and considers that they would not need to be inspected on a frequent basis. This change will reduce the regulatory burden on businesses but DEFRA believes it will still maintain the requisite level of environmental protection.
Information Obtainable from the Environment Agency
The current regulations allow people involved in the waste management industry to find out whether particular premises producing hazardous waste had been notified to the Environment Agency. This is important as you may have several contractors dealing with the same site and each individual contractor may not handle sufficient hazardous waste from that site to warrant the site being notified. However when the total amount of hazardous waste produced from the site is considered, the site may fall outside the exemption and need to be notified.
The current wording of the regulations means that the Environment Agency is obliged not only to divulge information about the premises producing the waste but also about the organisation that notified the premises. Often in practice waste management companies notify the premises on behalf of the companies that actually produce the waste. DEFRA is therefore concerned that the information being divulged by the Environment Agency may be used by some waste management companies to gain commercial advantage over other such companies. The regulations are therefore to be tightened so that the only information that will be released in the future will relate to the notified site itself.
Changes to Consignment Notes
DEFRA are also introducing changes to the hazardous waste consignment notes that must be completed whenever hazardous waste is transported for disposal. Where the waste that is being moved also constitutes dangerous goods, it is proposed that the dangerous goods declaration should be made on a separate form rather than as part of the consignment note. This will make it easy to spot at a glance however waste management companies will have to take care to ensure that all the relevant paperwork for each load remains together.
It is not uncommon for waste contractors to collect hazardous waste from several premises in one journey. A multiple collection consignment note should then be completed rather than one consignment note for each premises. The Environment Agency charges a reduced fee for multiple collections than it does for the same number of single consignments as the paperwork is reduced by the use of the multiple collection consignment note. Some waste management companies continue to use the single consignment paperwork for each collection but pay the multiple collection fee. This practice will now be stopped and the multiple collection consignment note must be used for all multiple collection journeys.
This article was first published in the Property Law Journal on 2 March 2009.
