Defra drops proposed 50 charge to register permitting exemptions

The department made the revelation on Friday (September 11) in its response to the consultation on the overhaul of the exemptions system (see letsrecycle.com story). It had originally proposed that all waste operators who needed to register their activities as exempt would have to pay the charge every three years.

The proposals had proved particularly controversial with the organics sector, which had raised concerns over the impact it could have on small-scale composting activities, and also on farmers' willingness to comply with permitting requirements (see letsrecycle.com story).

In explaining its decision, the department explained that the “vast majority” of respondents did not support the plans for a charge.

The department had already delayed the introduction of the new exemptions system from its original launch date of October 2009 to April 2010 in a move thought to be linked to its reluctance to be seen to be increasing businesses' administrative and financial burden during the recession (see letsrecycle.com story).

Defra said: “The Government has decided that in the current economic climate imposing charges for the registration of waste exemptions may discourage the take-up of small-scale recycling and recovery operations and have a disproportionate impact on small businesses.

“The revised exemptions will be available for smaller-scale operations with a low environmental risk providing operators comply with the rules laid down for them.

“The Government has therefore decided not to prescribe charges for the registration of exempt operations or to provide powers to the Environment Agency to introduce charges under the scheme agreed each year by the Secretary of State,” it added.

Metals recyclers

Elsewhere in its response, Defra revealed that it would not be entirely removing the paragraph 45 exemption, which relates to the recovery of scrap metal or dismantling of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).

This proposal had attracted criticism from the metals recycling sector in the wake of the government's admission that it could lead to up to a third of the 1,800 scrap yards which are currently operating under an exemption having to apply for an environmental permit (see letsrecycle.com story).

In the response, Defra explained that the exemption would now be “limited”, with any scrap metal yards which handled de-polluted ELVs having to apply for a full permit, while all “large-scale” scrap metal operators who were currently exempt from needing a permit would have to have applied for one by the end of the transitional period that is now set to start in April 2010.

However, with permits only being available for sites with full planning permission, and “concerns” raised by the sector about the planning sector about the planning status of some sites, Defra said that it would work to “identify the scale of any potential impact and introduce a range of measures that will assist those legitimate operators to establish their planning status for the purposes of obtaining an environmental permit”.

Key points

Other key points confirmed in the government's response, and its comments on the 285 responses it received from stakeholders in response to the July 2008 consultation, include:

• “Overwhelming support” from stakeholders for the adoption of a risk-based system for environmental permitting means the government is “committed” to this approach.
• The exemption for Part B activities – operations which are regulated by local authorities because of their emissions – will be removed, with the exception of small concrete crushers.
• Whereas many exemptions are currently valid for life, all will now need to be re-registered every three years. The government remains committed to this despite concerns raised by groups such as the National Farmers Union, largely in relation the £50 charge having to be paid every three years as well. Defra said: “The Government believes therefore that three-yearly registration strikes an appropriate balance between the needs of promoting a more up-to-date public register and the burden on the operator and the regulator to administer re-registration.”
• Deciding not to introduce a formal appeals system for operations which are refused an exemption. Despite acknowledging the arguments for and against a statutory system were “finely balanced”, Defra said it did not plan to use a formal process, and appeals would instead pass through the Environment Agency's existing complaints process, with the potential for some appeals to go to judicial review.
• Extending the proposed transition period, by the end of which applications for newly-required permits and exemptions will have to have been submitted, from three years to three and a half years. Defra explained that “the Government is conscious there may need to be changes to how the transitional provisions apply to individual sectors. It is also important that operators have the necessary guidance on both the revised exemptions and any standard permits so they can make informed choices about their future operations.”

Specific exemptions

The responses document also details the government's response on a number of specific exemptions which it has proposed to remove, reduce the thresholds on, or review in another way.

Alongside the paragraph 45 exemption, these relate to 39 other exemptions relating to the use, treatment, disposal and storage of waste.

In total, there were 285 responses the exemptions consultation, with the largest response received for the proposed introduction of the £50 blanket registration charge.