The Environment Agency (EA) has published guidance on its regulatory response during the Coronavirus pandemic. The guidance essentially confirms previous updates but provides a consolidated version and contains links to previous guidance and Regulatory Position Statements (RPS). The Response may be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-regulatory-response-to-coronavirus

In addition we have been pursuing a couple of issues with regards to the RPS with the EA:

• Whilst most RPS require “Notification” to the EA prior to use, RPS C7 Monitoring, whilst the RPS itself says “contact the EA if you intend to use”, the covering note on .gov website says you must obtain “written agreement from the EA before use”. A CPI Member, having contacted their Site Officer for such a written agreement, received a “will get back to you in due course “response. This was raised with the EA as being unhelpful when mills are trying to work within the regulations in difficult circumstances In response, our EA contact has agreed to flag with the Paper Sector Group of EA Site Inspectors generally to try and ensure a timely response, which now seems to be the case.

• RPS C8 is in relation to Waste Transfer Notes to ensure strict social distancing measures can be maintained. Under normal circumstances, if a company uses paper waste transfer notes (including season tickets) and consignment notes to transfer waste, they must sign and hand over paper copies in person. Under RPS C8 operators still need to make sure the appropriate person fills in the relevant sections of the waste transfer note or consignment note for each waste transfer. However, they do not need to sign or get a signature in the signature box. The original version of RPS C8 required the responsible person to provide their full name, date of birth and contact number. Concerns were raised over compliance with GDPR in giving out the personal data required. These concerns were again raised with our EA contact. Similar concerns had also been raised by other sectors and RPS C8 has now been revised, removing the requirement to submit date of birth. The EA believes that the RPS is now GDPR compliant.

Please let Debbie Stringer at CPI, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., know if you have any similar or additional concerns with the RPS or anything to do with the Environmental Regulator’s Regulatory response to coronavirus. (From CPI Newsletter 30 April 2020)