Sewage Sludge: proposals to amend the statutory controls for agricultural use (consultation paper)

Note: This consultation has now closed. A summary of responses, and an indication of what actions the Government intends to take following the consultation, will be published in due course. The following material has been left in place for reference/archive purposes.

Proposals for improvements to the sewage sludge treatment regulations were announced on 21 October 2002.

The proposals are to encourage the recycling of the sludge to agricultural land and to improve enforcement and monitoring by the Environment Agency. It is also intended that a provision should be made for a charging scheme to enable the Environment Agency to recover the costs it incurs in enforcing the revised regulations. There will be a further consultation on any proposed charging scheme before the regulations are made.

Those affected by the revised regulations would be anyone involved in sludge production and treatment, or the recycling of sludge on agricultural land. The regulations directly affect the water undertakers, owners of private sewage treatment works, contractors desludging septic tanks, farmers and landowners.

The consultation paper - available in Adobe Acrobat format (160kb) for downloading and printing - includes draft Regulations, a draft Regulatory and Environmental Impact Assessment, and a list of consultees. See also this News Release.

Responses

Comments on the proposals set out in the consultation paper should be sent to the address below by 21 January 2003.

Mirella Covington
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Water Quality Division (WQ4)
Floor 3/H15, Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6DE
Telephone: 020-7944 5342 Fax: 020-7944 5209
E-mail: sludgeconsultation@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Those in Wales are asked to copy their comments to the Welsh Assembly Government:

Mr Patrick Moran
Environmental Protection Division 1
Welsh Assembly Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Telephone: (029) 20 825629 Fax: (029) 20 825008
E-mail: Environmental.Protection.Division@Wales.GSI.Gov.UK

It is the Department's policy to publish or make available the responses to consultation. If you wish your response to remain confidential, please make this clear.

Printed copies of the consultation paper and RIA can be obtained by contacting Defra Publications, Admail 6000, London, SW1A 2XX, Tel: 08459 556000, Fax: 020 8957 5012, Email: defra@iforcegroup.com.

Background

The Government (including the Welsh Assembly Government) considers the controlled application of sewage sludge to agricultural land to be the best practicable environmental option in most circumstances. The addition of organic matter improves soil structure, workability and water holding capacity as well as bringing savings in fertiliser costs.

The Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations implement EU Directive 86/278/EEC and lay down requirements that must be followed in order to ensure that the recycling of sewage sludge to agricultural land is carried out in a way which has regard to the need to safeguard human and animal health and the environment.

The draft regulations would cover England and Wales and are being made jointly by Defra and the National Assembly for Wales. The Scottish Executive will shortly be issuing its own separate consultation paper about similar amendments to the Scottish regulations. The Department of the Environment (NI) is considering whether equivalent regulations are required in Northern Ireland.

The Adobe Acrobat Reader can be freely downloaded. Viewers with visual difficulties may find it useful to investigate services provided to improve the accessibility of Acrobat documents - http://access.adobe.com