Environmental Legislation Update for Universities

1. Environmental Legislation Update for Universities Richard Woods College Environmental Safety Officer

2. History • There have been laws aimed at protecting or improving the environment since at least Old Testament times (Deuteronomy 23: 12-13, which concerns sewage disposal). • Related items of legislation through the years, • In the UK the first systematic attempts to control the polluting effects of the industrial revolution were made by the Alkali Acts in the 19th Century. • Environmental Protection Act 1990 • Then the EU/EC got involved....

3. Review of H&S ACOP • 15 ACOPs being reviewed and potentially withdrawn • Including DSEAR, Legionella, Asbestos, Hazardous Substances, • Proposal to simplify and clarify reporting under the reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations

4. HSE Cost Recovery Scheme • Fees for Intervention (FFI) • Charged if an issue is identified, • Charged for all Inspectors, • Charged for research time, • Charged for lab time (at lab rate), • Coming to the Local Authorities in the future... will the EA also go the same route?

5. Powers of the Environment Agency • The enforcement powers available include: • enforcement notices and works notices (where contravention can be prevented or needs to be remedied) • prohibition notices (where there is an imminent risk of serious environmental damage) • suspension or revocation of environmental permits and licences • variation of permit conditions • injunctions • carrying out remedial works (where they carry out remedial works they will seek to recover the full costs incurred from those responsible) • criminal sanctions, including prosecution • civil sanctions, including financial penalties • Civil sanctions provide them with new ways to protect the environment and they have been using them since 4 January 2011.

6. Fines – rare and not that large, but are cumulative • There are a number of potential implications for your business if it is convicted of breaching environmental legislation: • Penalties • Fines - All environmental offences are subject to a fine. Many of the more serious environmental offences are also subject to a custodial sentence. Some environmental legislation sets a level of fine in excess of the statutory maximum, for example, up to £50,000 for some summary waste offences. Typically, environmental offences are subject to an unlimited fine in the Crown Court. • Imprisonment - A court can order a custodial sentence for certain more serious environmental offences. • Regulatory enforcement - New legislation has given regulators (including the EA and other environmental regulators, such as local authorities) the power to impose civil penalties on businesses, as an alternative to prosecuting.

7. Related orders - For more serious offences the court can make related orders, either at the same time as sentencing or in subsequent proceedings. • Directors disqualification order - The offender can be prohibited from acting as a company director. Breach of a directors disqualification order is a criminal offence. • Recovery of assets - A prosecutor (usually the EA in environmental cases) can refer cases to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) after a conviction, asking SOCA to confiscate assets equal to the financial benefit gained from the criminal environmental activity. • Anti-social behaviour order - An anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) prohibits a person from acting in an anti-social manner that causes harm or distress to other members of the public. The power to award an ASBO can apply to environmental crimes. • Serious crime prevention order. A serious crime prevention order (SCPO) can be made after a person has been convicted of a serious offence. A “serious offence” includes a number of environmental offences, for example, a breach of the prohibition on unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste. An SCPO can be made against an individual or a business and may last for up to five years.

8. Adverse publicity - A conviction for an environmental offence may lead to adverse local and, in some cases, national publicity. The EA publicises environmental convictions on its website as part of its “name and shame” policy. Local press also often sit in on criminal court proceedings. There will inevitably be damage to your business’ reputation, even if it is found “not guilty” at the end of the proceedings. • Insurance - A conviction could increase your business’ insurance premiums. • Regulatory relationship - Your business’ ongoing relationship with the regulator may be undermined.

9. EA Civil Sanctions • Unlike prosecution, civil sanctions are imposed or accepted by us. There are six types of civil sanctions: • Compliance notice - a regulator's written notice requiring actions to comply with the law, or to return to compliance, within a specified period • Restoration notice - a regulator's written notice requiring steps to be taken, within a stated period, to restore harm caused by non-compliance, so far as possible • Fixed monetary penalty - a low-level fine, fixed by legislation, that the regulator may impose for a specified minor offence • Enforcement undertaking - an offer, formally accepted by the regulator, to take steps that would make amends for non-compliance and its effects • Variable monetary penalty - a proportionate monetary penalty, which the regulator may impose for a more serious offence • Stop notice - a written notice which requires an immediate stop to an activity that is causing serious harm or presents a significant risk of causing serious harm.

10. What Civil Sanctions are Used for • Civil sanctions can be used for offences committed after 6 April 2010 in England and after 15 July 2010 in Wales. Civil sanctions are available for offences under the following regulations:

11. Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 • Environment Act 1995 • Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 • Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 • Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005 • Land Drainage Act 1991 • Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 (England only) • Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 • Salmon Act 1986 • Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 • Sludge (use in agriculture) Regulations 1989 • Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 • Water Industry Act 1991 • Water Resources (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2003 • Water Resources Act 1991.

12. DEFRA Red Tape Challenge • Under the Defra Red Tape Challenge 255 pieces of environmental legislation have been reviewed. This will improve 132 pieces of legislation, scrap 53 pieces and leave around 70 unchanged.  • This include plans to scrap The Site Waste Management Plans Regulations and the Landfill Allowances and Trading Scheme (England) Regulations. • The State of UK Environmental Law in 2011 - 2012

13. AIR • F-Gas Regulations • EU are updating the regs. to reduce emissions and ban their use in favour of climate friendly alternatives (target 2015),

14. ODS • Environmental Protection (Control of Ozone Depleting Substances) Regulations • Safe disposal, • Serviced by qualified contractor, • New HCFC use banned, • Future ban from 2015 on use of all HCFC – so phase out plan,

15. Laboratory ODS • Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2009 & Regulation (EU) No. 291/2011 • Laboratory and Analytical Uses of Ozone-Depleting Substances • Online EC register, • Justification for use, • Annual use report,

16. Water • Trade Effluent Discharge Consent • Can only discharge what is listed on the consent, • Contractors can apply for TEDC for their activities on site (especially for larger construction projects) • National Guidance for Healthcare Waste Water Discharges • Red List chemicals

17. Water • Connecting to water supply by approved contractor, • Physical break on inlet to potentially hazardous area (lab),

18. Waste • Controlled Waste Regulations • University waste is no longer classified as household, • WTN contain declaration of assessment against the Waste Hierarchy, • Duty of Care – to what degree? • Clinical waste pre-acceptance audits,

19. Land • Due Diligence, • Soil analysis, • Drain survey and mapped (especially if radiation labs will be present in future), • Chemical storage – COSHH, DSEAR, risk assessment, • Prevention of pollution,

20. Hazardous Chemicals • Pollution Prevention Guidance • Bunding design and testing, • HSE ACOP’s • Storage (L135, SR 24), • Explosive atmospheres (L136), • COSHH • Guidance & essentials,

21. Transport • Transport of Dangerous Goods

22. Building • Building Regulations • Site Waste Management Plans • Construction, Design and Management • Health & Safety File,

23. Information • Freedom of Information Act • Environmental Information Regulations

24. Links • http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/144676.aspx • http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ • http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/news/139117.aspx • http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=1 • http://www.ukela.org/ • http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/themehome/environment-2/