Environmental law update Summer 2014 John Mitchell, Partner, Regulatory Risk & Compliance

Queen’s speech  Plastic bag tax –(but not SMEs…)  Infrastructure Bill –Drilling under land that is not yours –Reforms to planning system for major infrastructure –Control of invasive species –Community electricity right  End to zero carbon homes aspirations –Exempt “small” developments –Allowable solutions

Deregulation  Queen’s speech vaguely promises yet more deregulation  The Business Perceptions Survey 2014: environmental laws are the most burdensome  The Balance of Competencies Review on the environment suggests there is almost appetite for restricting EU competence  Defra publishes Phase 2 of the Smarter Environmental Regulation review

Enforcement and civil sanctions  Enforcement undertakings –A way of pre-empting formal enforcement action –Highest monetary contribution was over £400,000 –Not available for all types of offence –Packaging is the most common offence –Not usually used for water pollution  Now the EA has accepted one from Wessex Water under SAFFA –Sewage pollution –£25,500 monetary contribution

Small sewage discharges  Backstory: –2010 – EA introduces new registration scheme for domestic septic tanks –2011 – EA suspends the scheme in the face of a PR storm  2014 – EA consults on new scheme which does not involve registration: –“General binding rules” have been developed –No registration required if the rules are respected  For septic tanks this means <2m 3 per day

NMO lifts the lid on ovens  NMO’s job is to monitor energy performance claims  Energy Information Regulations 2011 require energy rating to be affixed to a new oven  Energy rating is calculated according to a formula  Enforcement authorities work to a tolerance  NMO found that some manufacturers had added the tolerance to their formula

ASA -v- Green Deal Finance Company  The GDFC is an industry consortium part financed by the Green Investment Bank  Its role is to finance the green deal energy efficiency programme  It claimed that “its payment plans are typically the cheapest on the market for medium sized loans”  Whilst the APR was lower, the ad failed to mention that: –The minimum length of loan was twice that of a personal loan –Therefore the total cost of the loan was dearer