Expert welcomes upcoming review of trade waste discharge consenting regime

According to the Red Tape Implementation Plan for water and marine-related regulations (26-page / 228KB PDF), published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), it plans to consult on improvements to the existing rules by April 2014.

The review is one of 235 changes proposed by Defra as part of its 'Red Tape Challenge' review of 371 existing water and marine regulations. Of the regulations identified for improvement, 85 which are now redundant or unnecessary will be scrapped. Many of the other 150 regulations identified for improvement will be consolidated to "simplify the legislative landscape", while the implementation of others will be improved, according to the Defra Implementation Plan.

The Implementation Plan sets out the Government's proposals for change together with a timeline for implementation.

Businesses are prohibited from discharging effluent, such as waste from factories or manufacturing processes, into inland waters or the sea without an environmental permit. Environmental law expert Gordon McCreath of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the proposal to review the regime would be "welcomed" by industry, as "many would say that this regime could be made more effective, to reduce the need for energy and associated carbon emissions to be used on end of pipe treatment".

Although many of the changes proposed by Defra in its report amounted to little more than "cleaning up the statute book", McCreath said that some of the proposals could be controversial.

"For example, Defra has proposed the removal of the secondary treatment requirement for coastal sewage discharges in areas with a population equivalent of under 10,000, as this is not required under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive," he said. "This takes off the 'gold plating' of the EU requirements, but seems likely to be controversial for users of the sea around those discharges."

The Government's review of the consenting regime relating to the discharge of trade effluent will encompass: the Control of Pollution (Discharges into Sewers) Regulations 1976, the Trade Effluents (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1992; Part IV Chapter III of the Water Industry Act 1991; the Trade Effluents (Prescribed Processes and Substances) (Amendment) Regulations 1990; and the Trade Effluents (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1989; the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994; and the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2003.