November 2021 Edition

ChemRegs Newsletter – November 2021

Environment Act 2021

On 9 November 2021 the long awaited Environment Bill was passed into UK law as an Act of Parliament – the Environment Act 2021.

The Act aims to clean up the country’s air, restore natural habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce waste and make better use of resources.

It proposes to halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas.

It also makes the transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.

These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which will hold government and public bodies to account on their environmental obligations.

The Environment Act comprises two thematic halves. The first half provides a legal framework for environmental governance, including:

  • Long-term targets to improve air quality, biodiversity, water, and waste reduction and resource efficiency
  • A target on ambient PM2.5 concentrations, the most harmful pollutant to human health
  • A target to halt the decline of nature by 2030
  • Environmental Improvement Plans, including interim targets
  • A cycle of environmental monitoring and reporting
  • Environmental Principles embedded in domestic policy making
  • Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to uphold environmental law Provisions to extend the application of the OEP to Northern Ireland, and make separate provision for Environmental Improvement Plans and environmental principles in Northern Ireland.

The second half makes provision for specific improvement of the environment, including measures on waste and resource efficiency, air quality and environmental recall, water, nature and biodiversity, and conservation covenants:

Waste & Resource Efficiency

  • Extend producer responsibility to make producers pay for 100% of cost of disposal of products, starting with plastic packaging
  • A deposit Return Scheme for single use drinks containers
  • Charges for single use plastics
  • Greater consistency in recycling collections in England
  • Electronic waste tracking to monitor waste movements and tackle fly-tipping
  • Tackle waste crime
  • Power to introduce new resource efficiency information (labelling on the recyclability and durability of products)
  • Regulate shipment of hazardous waste
  • Ban or restrict export of waste to non-OECD countries

Clean Air

  • Require Local Authorities to tackle air quality
  • Simplify enforcement within smoke control areas

Nature, Biodiversity & Conservation

  • Strengthened biodiversity duty
  • Biodiversity net gain to ensure developments deliver at least 10% increase in biodiversity
  • Local Nature Recovery Strategies to support a Nature Recovery Network
  • Duty upon Local Authorities to consult on street tree felling
  • Strengthen woodland protection enforcement measures
  • Conservation Covenants
  • Protected Site Strategies and Species Conservation Strategies to support the design and delivery of strategic approaches to deliver better outcomes for nature
  • Prohibit larger UK businesses from using commodities associated with wide-scale deforestation
  • Requires regulated businesses to establish a system of due diligence for each regulated commodity used in their supply chain, requires regulated businesses to report on their due diligence, introduces a due diligence enforcement system

Water

  • Effective collaboration between water companies through statutory water management plans
  • Drainage and sewerage management planning a statutory duty
  • Minimise damage water abstraction may cause on environment
  • Modernise the process for modifying water and sewerage company licence conditions

Work on implementing the Environment Act policies has already started, including developing legally binding environmental targets, launching consultations on the deposit return schemes for drinks containers, extending producer responsibility for packaging, and consistent recycling collections to transform the way rubbish is handled.

A draft Principles Policy Statement has also been published, with the aim of putting protecting the environment at the heart of future policy.

The Office for Environmental Protection was set up in an interim, non-statutory form in July, providing independent oversight of the Government’s environmental progress and accelerating the foundation of the full body. The OEP will formally commence its statutory functions shortly.

Other News

UK product authorisation holders December deadline

Businesses that hold a biocidal product authorisation that was originally granted under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (EU BPR) and is currently valid in the UK, must contact HSE by 31 December 2021 to confirm that they are based in the UK.

If they do not contact HSE by 31 December 2021, then HSE will contact each business to confirm that their authorisation, originally granted under the EU BPR, has been cancelled.

Location requirements for product authorisations in GB

Under the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR), product authorisation holders must be established in the UK. This means that the holder, or their business, must have a physical presence in GB or NI. This must be:

  • The permanent business location; or
  • The permanent location of the human and technical resources needed to carry out, either in whole or in part, the business operations.

Location requirements for product authorisations in NI

Under the EU BPR, product authorisation holders must be established in the EU. This means that the holder, or their business, must have a physical presence in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, or in Northern Ireland. This must be:

  • The permanent business location; or
  • The permanent location of the human and technical resources needed to carry out, either in whole or in part, your business operations.

Businesses can tell HSE where they are located as follows:

To find out more about the requirements and what businesses need to submit, go to the HSE website.

New GB active substance open invitations

Several active substance/product type combinations that were being evaluated as part of the EU Review Programme for the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR) have not been resubmitted to Great Britain (GB).

HSE has now published open invitations to provide an opportunity for a person, company or task force/consortium to notify an intention to take over the role of participant in the GB Review Programme for these active substance/product type combinations.

You can find out which active substance/product type combinations have open invitations here.

The open invitation list contains active substance/product type combinations that have not yet been supported in GB and product manufacturers are advised to check the list to find out if the active substances used in their products are affected and to raise this with their active substance suppliers.

Anyone wishing to support one of the active substance/product type combinations on the list in GB will need to submit a notification to HSE by 12 November 2022.

If a notification to take over the role of participant is not received, these active substance/product type combinations will be subject to a GB non-approval decision.

Biocidal products containing active substances with GB non-approval decisions for the relevant product types will have to be removed from the GB market and HSE will provide separate updates on these where relevant.

For more information on anything in this Newsletter, please contact us at info@chemregs.co.uk

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