27/04/2016
Waste Permitting
Could it be any more complicated?!
Carol Romero
Romero Waste Consulting
A gallop through waste permitting
issues…
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What is waste?
…and why does it matter?
1. What is waste?
2. The legislation- why do waste operations need a permit?
3. What are waste exemptions?
4. Examples of exemptions
5. Types of environmental permits
6. Standard Rules v Bespoke permits -example of costs
7. Standard Rules Permits- examples, limitations, pre-app
screening
8. Bespoke permits & Opra scores
9. Waste Recovery Plans
10. Technical Competence Requirements
11. CL:AIRE Code of practice
The legislation- why do waste operations
need a permit?
Environmental Protection Act 1990
Section 33. Prohibition on unauthorised or harmful
deposit, treatment or disposal etc. of waste.
(1) a person shall not:—
(a) deposit controlled waste or knowingly cause or knowingly
permit controlled waste to be deposited in or on any land
unless an environmental permit authorising the deposit is
in force and the deposit is in accordance with the licence;
1A) Paragraph (a) above does not apply in
relation to a waste operation that is an
exempt waste operation.
Waste Exemptions
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Environmental Permitting (England &Wales)
Regulations 2010
Schedule 3 lists 60 exempt waste activities
including the Use of Waste in Construction (U1)
Activities must be registered with EA
No charge to register them
Last for 3 years
Are listed on the EA public register (can search
using post code)
http://epr.environment-agency.gov.uk/ePRInternet/SearchRegisters.aspx
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U1 exemption
• This exemption allows you to use suitable waste rather
than virgin raw material in construction activities
• Construction means building or engineering work including repairing, altering, maintaining or improving
existing work and preparatory or landscaping work.
• Land reclamation is only allowed when it is an integral
part of the construction activity.
Types of Waste Permits
Permits are needed for:• Disposal of waste
• Keeping or transferring waste
• Biological treatment
• Metal recovery, scrap metal, vehicle dismantling
• Treatment to produce aggregate/construction
materials
• Recovery or use of waste on land
U1 Exemption cont.
Examples of U1 activity you can carry out:• using crushed bricks, concrete, rocks and aggregate to create a noise bund
around a new development and then using soil to landscape the area
• using road planings and rubble to build a track, path or bridleway
• bringing in soil from somewhere else to use in landscaping at housing
developments
You can’t:
• dispose of waste by using waste that is unsuitable or by using more waste
than is needed. You need to be able to justify the amount needed
• use waste for land reclamation, for example by infilling a hollow
• register this exemption more than once at the same place for 3 years after
registration
• de-register and then re-register this exemption at the same place within a
3 year period
• store the waste for longer than 12 months before you use it
Standard Rules v Bespoke permits
• Applying for a standard rules (SR) “off the peg” permit
is quicker and costs much less than a bespoke permit,
but if you don’t meet the conditions for the standard
rules permits you must apply for a bespoke permit.
• Conditions include proximity to receptors, quantity
restrictions, waste type limitations
• Conditions have already been consulted on so you
can’t change (vary) them and you have no right of
appeal against them
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Standard Rules v Bespoke permits
Standard Rule
2010 No.101
Bespoke Permit
Application Fee
£1950
Opra2 x £172=
£4472
Annual Subsistence Fee
£2040
£2460
Technical Competence
£850(EPOC only)
£850(EPOC)
Plus
WAMITAB 6 units3.
£40004 (estimate)
Surrender Application Fee 5
£540-basic surrender
£2540-Low Risk Surrender or
Full Surrender (Opra x £125) = £3250
Site Condition Report (including
water and soil sampling)
Not required, but advised
Required.
£1500(estimate)
Consultancy Fees (including
EMS)
£1500
£2500 (estimate)
£6,880
£19,032
Restriction for Standard Rules
Restrictions vary depending on which permit is
being applied for:SR2015 No.39. “Use of waste in a deposit for
recovery operation-Construction, reclamation,
restoration or improvement of land”
• Maximum volumetric capacity of recovery
operation 60,000 m3
First year + surrender total costs
Locational restrictions SR2015 No.39
The activities shall not be carried out:
• (a) within 500 metres of a European Site or a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI);
• (b) within 250 metres of the presence of Great Crested Newts where the site is
linked by good habitat to the breeding ponds of the newts,
• (c) within 50 metres of a site that has species or habitats protected under the
Biodiversity Action Plan that the Environment Agency considers is at risk from this
activity,
• (d) within 50 metres of a National Nature Reserve (NNR), Local Nature
Reserves(LNR), Local Wildlife Site (LWS), Ancient woodland or Scheduled Ancient
Monument,
• (e) within groundwater Source Protection Zones 1 and 2 or if a source protection
zone has not been defined then not within 250 metres of any well, spring or
borehole used for the supply of water for human consumption. This includes
private water supplies.
• (f) on any landfill whether historical, closed, or operational,
• (g) within 10 metres of a watercourse,
• (h) within a specified Air Quality Management Area for particulate matter less than
10 microns (PM10).
Bespoke permits
Are “made to measure” i.e. are site specific.
Before you apply you must do all the following:
• check you meet the legal operator and competency
requirements (including technical competency)
• develop a management system (a written set of procedures
that identifies and minimises the risks of pollution)
• complete a risk assessment
• design your facility to avoid and control emissions
• check the technical guidance
Cost of application is based on Risk (Opra score)
Pre-app screening check
Calculating Risk(Opra)
The operational risk appraisal (Opra) assessment
provides a risk rating which the EA can use to
allocate its regulatory resources and to determine
how much a business will be charged for an activity.
The Opra banded profile has 4 attributes:
• Complexity (ie type of site)
• Emissions (ie quantity and type of waste)
• Location
• Operator performance (management procedures)
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Recovery or Use of Waste on Land permits
& Waste Recovery Plans
Waste Recovery Plans
• WRPs-Essential when applying for a Waste to Land for
Recovery” type permit
• WRP- referred to within the permit conditions e.g.
“The use and associated secure storage of a
maximum of 60,000m3 of wastes listed .. for the
purposes of the construction work and/or
restoration, reclamation or improvement of land as
detailed in the approved waste recovery plan”
“The operator shall not deviate from the approved
waste recovery plan without prior written
approval from the Environment Agency.”
• Regulatory Guidance Series No.EPR 13 “Defining
Waste Recovery: Permanent Deposit of Waste to
Land.”
Waste Recovery Plans
Recovery v Disposal permits
• From EPR13
“If a site has planning permission this is likely to
demonstrate that there is a need for the
proposed development…
However..
“Where the planning permission requires waste
to be used this would be a factor tending to
indicate that the proposed operation is more
likely to be a disposal operation ….”
Technical Competence
• All permitted sites require the operator to comply
with an approved competence scheme
• The operator competence scheme (sometimes
known as a “WAMITAB” or CoTC) is designed to
allow permitted waste facilities in England and
Wales to demonstrate they employ technically
competent people with the knowledge and skills
to ensure waste sites comply with Environmental
Permitting Regulations (2007).
• https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/up
loads/attachment_data/file/302955/RGN13.pdf
• Must be referred to by applicants seeking a
recovery permit. EA requires justification a
activity is recovery not disposal(and hence needs
landfill permit)
Disposal = Landfill
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No standard rules available
Higher Opra score & hence higher costs
Higher level of technical competence required
No “grace period” for technical competence
No basic surrender available
Landfill tax is payable. ( £2.65/tonne “inactive
waste” or £84.40/tonne)
Technical Competence
• WAMITAB has devised a risk tier table which
identifies which qualification an operator needs.
• Low Risk- 4 units (e.g. aggregate manufacturing)
• Medium Risk- 6 units (e.g. waste to land for
recovery, non hazardous waste transfer, AD
plants, inert landfill)
• High Risk- 12 units (eg non hazardous &
hazardous landfill, hazardous waste treatment)
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Technical Competence
• Low Risk sites – can be satisfied by completing a 2
day EPOC course
• All other qualifications are assessed in the work
place with a requirement for portfolios of
evidence and written “knowledge” questions.
• 12 month “grace period” available for nonlandfill medium or high risk tier sites applying for
a new permit, on completion of EPOC.
• All sites require 2 year continuing competence
assessment to be undertaken
CL:AIRE
• The Environment Agency will take account of this
CoP in deciding whether to regulate the materials
as waste. If materials are dealt with in accordance
with this CoP, the EA considers that those
materials are unlikely to be waste if they are used
for the purpose of land development.
• This may be because the materials were never
discarded in the first place, or because they have
been submitted to a recovery operation and have
been completely recovered so that they have
ceased to be waste
CL:AIRE
The MMP must be produced prior to excavation. It must include:• Details of the parties that will be involved
• A description of the materials in terms of potential use and relative
quantities of each category
• The specification for use of materials against which proposed materials will
be assessed, underpinned by an appropriate risk assessment
•Details of where and how these materials will be stored;
• Details of the intended final destination and use of these materials;
• Details of how these materials are to be tracked;
• Contingency arrangements that must be put in place prior to movement of
these materials
• Verification Plan.
CL:AIRE
• The Definition of Waste: Development
Industry Code of Practice
• http://www.claire.co.uk/index.php?option=co
m_content&view=category&id=977&Itemid=3
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• Code of Practice can be used to
determine if excavated materials
are waste or not.
CL:AIRE
Principles for the use of Materials as Non-Waste.
4 factors considered:1. Protection of human health and protection of
the environment
2. Suitability for use, without further treatment
3. Certainty of Use
4. Quantity of Material
The production of a Materials Management Plan
(MMP) required to considered the above. Must be
signed off by a registered, independent “Qualified
Person”
Summary
• If it’s discarded by the holder it’s waste
• If an activity involves waste it needs a permit
or registered exemption
• Standard Rules permits are a much simpler
and cheaper option than bespoke permits
• Technical Competence is an expensive and
time consuming element of permitting
• In some cases excavated material going off
site may not be waste
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Any questions?
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