Regulatory Regimes

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Regulatory Regimes

• Joyce Carr
• Water Framework Directive Team Scottish Executive

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Water Environment and Water Services Act -
Section 20

• Gives Scottish Ministers powers to make
  regulations to control activities for the
  purposes of protecting the water Environment.

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Working Groups

• Abstraction and Impoundments
• Point source pollution
• Engineering and building works
• Diffuse pollution to be considered at a later
  date.

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Draft Regulations Current Status

• Early drafts
• Provisions still to be included
• Priority substances
• Groundwater
• Remedial restoration works
• Derogations
• Details still under consideration

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Draft Regulations - Principles

• Selective
• Streamlined
• Applied only where there is a risk to the
  environment

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A single cohesive framework

• Three tiers of control
• Registration
• Registration under General Binding Rules
• Water use licences
• Activity specific - responsible person

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Registration

• Low risk activities providing SEPA with a full
  picture of all activities affecting the water
  environment

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General Binding Rules

• Where impacts are predictable
• Where mitigation measures can be prescribed in a
  common form
• A range of GBRs to support each regime
• SSIs

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Water Use Licences

• Most comprehensive method of control
• Tailored to particular circumstances of activity

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Timing

• New regimes introduced from April 2005
• Point source pollution and abstraction/
  impoundment by September 2005
• Engineering works by November 2005

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Application

• Not prescriptive
• Sufficient information for operators
• SEPA Risk Assessment

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Next steps

• From September 2005 - SEPA to begin to identify
  requirements to be met by operators for 2012

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Other provisions

• Variation of licence
• Surrender of authorisation
• Change of responsible person
• Revocation of authorisation
• Enforcement provisions

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Other provisions

• Information and publicity
• Offences
• Appeals

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Appeals Regulatory Regimes

• Robust appeals process
• Long term - integration with land use planning
• Interim - appeals specific to regulations
• Who should handle appeals?

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Points for consideration

• Key role for Scottish Ministers
• Possible doubts over ECHR-compliance
• Experience of environmental appeals
• Experience of land issues
• Resource implications
• Flexibility