These Regulations amend two Regulations, namely the Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014 (SI.2014/3263) and the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (England) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3259).

The amendment to SI 2014/3263 covers, with respect to landholdings covering more than one territory, the determination of a competent authority and the date for making a single application. The amendment to SI 2014/3259 covers payment application dates

The species in question are: a) New prohibition - Scolymia spp. from Tonga b) No longer prohibited - Hippopotamus amphibius from Cameroon, Gambia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo;— Crocodylus niloticus from Madagascar; Catalaphyllia jardinei, Euphyllia cristata, Plerogyra sinuosa, Plerogyra turbida, Eguchipsammia fistula, Heliofungia actiniformis, Hydnophora microconos, Blastomussa wellsi, Scolymia vitiensis and Trachyphyllia geoffroyi from Indonesia c) Prohibition of only live species of Euphyllia divisa, Euphyllia fimbriata, Euphyllia paraancora, Euphyllia paradivisa and Euphyllia yaeyamaensis from Indonesia.

This Order amends Article 55 of the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order to take account of amendments to section 32 of the Electricity Act 1989 by the Energy Act 2013.

Articles 55EA and 55EB to the Energy Order confer a power to make a renewables obligation closure order.

This Order amends The Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (SI 1992/231 (N.I. 1) and The Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996 (N.I. 2)) with respect to transmission network independence.

This Order modifies the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 by adding nitrogen trifluoride to the green house gasses listed in section 10(1) of the Act.

The list the list of specified risk material (SRM) concerning bovine animals should be amended so as to include the last four meters of the small intestine, the caecum and the mesentery but to exclude the remaining parts of the bovine intestines, namely the duodenum, the colon and the small intestine except for the last four meters.

These Regulations consolidate the Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 1993 and subsequent amendments to those Regulations and make further amendments. They also implement the land-use planning aspects of Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (“Seveso III”). o Part 2 and Schedule 1 sets out the substances which are hazardous substances for the purpose of the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997, the controlled quantities of those substances and exemptions from the need for hazardous substances consent. o Part 3 sets out the processes for applying for, and determining, applications for hazardous substances consent and related applications.

These regulations also make amendments to: a) SSI 2007/570. The Transport and Works (Scotland) Act 2007 (Applications and Objections Procedure) Rules 2007 b) SSI 2008/426. The Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 c) SSI 2013/ 155. The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013

These Rules set out the procedures to be followed in connection with local inquiries held for the purposes of certain applications and appeals under the Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Act 1997

The Rules apply to inquiries held in connection with— a) applications referred to the Scottish Ministers under section 18 of the Hazardous Substances Act on or after 1st June 2015; and b) appeals under section 19 of the Act and regulation 43 of the Town and Country Planning (Hazardous Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 2015 on or after 1st June 2015

These Regulations provide for the appointment of competent authorities in relation to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (“the CLP Regulation”)

These Regulations amend various enactments to effect changes as a consequence of the amendment of Directive 2008/98/EC on waste.

Amended regulations are: a) 1990 c.43 Environmental Protection Act 1990 b) SI 1996/972. Special Waste Regulations 1996 c) SSI 2003/235. Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 d) SSI 2005/157. Landfill Allowances Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2005 e) SSI 2007/251. National Waste Management Plan for Scotland Regulations 2007 f) SSI 2009/140 Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009. g) SSI 2010/60. Management of Extractive Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2010. h) SSI 2011/139. Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 i) SSI 2011/204 Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) (Scottish Inshore Region) Order 2011 j) SSI 2011/228. Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011. k) SSI 2012/360. Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012

These Regulations amend the Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 to bring into effect the changes introduced by Commission Decision 2014/955/EU amending Decision 2000/532EC (on the list of waste).

Amended regulations are: a) SI 1997/2778 (NI 19) . The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. b) SR 2002/271. The Controlled Waste (Duty of Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002. c) SR 2003/493 . The Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003. d) SR 2005/300. The Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 Revoked regulations are: a) SR 2005/301. The List of Wastes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

These Regulations amend the list of waters which are now exempt from catch and release for salmon angling.

Amends SSI 2010/216 The Carbon Accounting Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2010.

An amendment is made to the definition of a “cancellation” and a method is added for determining whether a carbon unit is to be credited to or debited from the net Scottish emissions account for 2013

The defences include the Thames Barrier and three hundred and fifty kilometres of flood walls and embankments, smaller barriers, pumping stations and flood gates. This system of defences protects 1.25 million people and £200 billion worth of property.

Many of the defences are over thirty years old, and in some cases over one hundred years old. The investigations will provide information about the condition of individual defences and about the system as a whole. The results of these investigations will be used to develop the forthcoming ten year work programme of refurbishment and replacement and the management of the system of defences over the next century.

This Order grants development consent for Whitemoss Landfill Limited to construct a new landfill void for the disposal of hazardous waste adjacent to the existing Whitemoss Landfill, Skelmersdale

They have also published L153 Guidance on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l153.pdf

Both guidance documents can also be found in the L Series Section of Simplifi-Solutions compliance guidance.

a) Primary energy consumption in the UK on a fuel input basis rose by 1.7%, on a temperature adjusted basis it fell by 0.7%. b) Indigenous energy production fell by 2.7% driven by falls in UKCS output. c) Nuclear production up 5.1% due to stations returning to operation after outages. d) Lower coal generation due to the closure of plants, however coal share remains above gas. e) Coal provided 34.7% of electricity generation by Major Power Producers, with gas at 25.1% and nuclear at 20.9%. f) Wind generation by Major Power Producers up 1.2%, whilst overall renewables up 13.4% with growth in biomass. g) Low carbon share of electricity generation by Major Power Producers up 3.3 percentage points to 40.2%, due to rises in nuclear and renewables generation.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/energy-trends-and-prices-statistical-release-30-april-2015

http://gov.wales/consultations/environmentandcountryside/geological-disposal-of-higher-activity-radioactive-waste-community-engagement-and-implementation-processes/?lang=en

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/npsapp/llwr/dd.

The Agency comments that the site, established in 1959, has safely disposed of radioactive waste for over fifty years.

The Policy is that long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste should be in near surface facilities. Facilities should be located as near to the site where the waste is produced as possible.

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/8263

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2980/20150511CAP1145ActionA13InvitationToComment.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/nature_fitness_check_en.htm

The consultation paper proposes the following: a) Raising the screening thresholds for Schedule 2 “urban development projects” and “industrial estate projects”. b) Measures to respond to recent case law and implement the Geological Storage Directive. c) Amendments to legislation associated with Local Development Orders (LDOs) in order to allow local planning authorities (LPAs) to make LDOs for Schedule 2 EIA development. d) Specific provision in the EIA Regulations for discontinuance and modification orders.

http://gov.wales/consultations/planning/eia-regulations-and-local-development-orders/?lang=en

A similar incident, which occurred in Liverpool, was reported in our April news letter.

The company was found to have failed to adequately risk assessed the testing of live electrical panels to identify a safe system of work and failed to provide suitable training and supervision to undertake three-phase live testing

HSE’s investigation found that the excessive speed of the grinder coupled with the added load caused by the non-standard attachment had put stresses on the disc way beyond its capacity, resulting in its catastrophic failure. The grinder had no guard so as it exploded, so the pieces were forcibly expelled across the bay, one ending up some ten metres away.

The court was also told that HSE’s investigation had uncovered a number of previous incidents when discs had come off grinders. However, none of these had been mentioned in monthly minutes of the company’s health and safety meetings for the site.

The live cable was part of an old system that had been removed by the company in 2008, but was not identified in any way, and its existence and ‘live’ nature was unknown.

The person in question was diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis as a result of the exposure. However despite advice from a medical professional he continued to work with the substances.

The company failed to identify the risk posed by workers entering the autoclave.

They should either have prevented access, or made sure that the autoclave was properly checked each time before the door was closed and the operating cycle started.