“Strong aversion” to plans for 50 exemption charge

The concerns have been revealed by the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) in a summary of the responses it received to its consultation on plans to change the system of waste exemptions in England and Wales.

The review, which was originally issued in July 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), aims to ensure the level of regulation across waste operations matches the level of risk sites pose to the environment and complement the environmental permitting regime.

And, while the majority of the proposals received either a favourable or mixed response, plans to introduce a charge for the registration of all registerable exemptions, and not just some, as is currently the case, were strongly opposed by the majority of consultees – many of whom only responded to that particular proposal.

The proposal – number six in the document – suggested charging all facilities which are exempt from having to buy a permit £50 to register as exempt.

The report said that this proposal received the largest response of all the plans outlined in the consultation.

And, it said: “Unlike most other proposals, the vast majority of respondents to proposal six did not agree with the proposal. The proposal received a significant number of responses that expressed significant aversion to the implementation of a charge.”

Exempt

Currently, while some waste operations are exempt from the need to have an Environmental Permit, they do need to be registered.

At the moment, this can be done with either with a 'simple' exemption for a 'low risk' activity that involves one single, free registration and is valid for life, or a 'notifiable' exemption which reflects a 'higher risk' activity and involves an annual renewal and registration charge.

Activities such as composting at schools benefit from a low-risk exemption with no charge, while among the other tasks to qualify for an exemption include storage of waste in a secure container and chipping, shredding, pulverising and cutting of waste plant matter and storage of WEEE pending recovery elsewhere

Most exemptions are registered by the Environment Agency, while some exempt operations are registered by local authorities and a small number do not need to be registered at all.

Oppose

However, a number of organisations including the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, the Association for Organics Recycling and the Community Composting Network have already said that they oppose proposal six (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, the Defra report revealed that the consensus was that charging for exemptions could have a “detrimental effect” on recycling efforts, and would particularly affect not-for-profit organisations such as charitable and community groups and school composters.

A number of respondents said that not-for-profit organisations should have exemption charges waived. One school said it would be forced to stop composting if a fee was introduced.

The report said an “overwhelming” proportion of community and third sector organisations had rejected the proposal, with evidence of “almost unanimous opposition”.

Proposals

Among the other proposals outlined in the original consultation were:
• The current exemptions will be replaced with updated exemptions under the headings of: use, treatment, disposal and storage at the place of production
• Some higher risk activities will move to be regulated through Standard Permits
• Simple exemptions will no longer be registered for life, operations will need to re-register every three years
• The majority of Environment Agency “low risk” positions will benefit from one of the proposed updated exemptions.

In the main, these proposals were supported. However, concerns were raised over the proposal to remove exemptions for the storage of waste associated with 'part B' activities, with respondents expressing concern about how the proposal would work in practice.

The proposal to introduce three-yearly registration periods also caused disagreement. Despite two-thirds of respondents being in favour of the suggestion, about 30% of those consulted were against the idea. They were concerned about the cost implications of re-registering and questioned whether three years was an appropriate timeframe.

The other proposal that concerned respondents was proposal eight – plans to not provide a statutory appeals mechanism for the regulators' failure to register an exempt waste operation.

The report said the proposal was “not well supported”, that respondents expressed “confusion” over it, and that they were unsure about what alternative mechanism could replace the appeals process.

Simplify

The planned changes aim to simplify and update the exemption system, which currently allows 143,000 operators to carry out waste activities without an environmental permit.

While the proposed changes would see an estimated 12% of organisations who currently have to apply for an exemption no longer having to register at all, it is expected that 5% of those who are at present exempt would have to register for a permit.

Defra said in the report: “The Government acknowledged that there are controversial issues raised in this consultation. There will be a need for any changes that are made to be supported by clear unambiguous guidance, and in some cases, more direct support to those affected.”

The department also said a government response to the summary would be published in the “near future”.