The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013

Made: 28th May 2013

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 30th May 2013

Coming into force: 1st July 2013

In accordance with section 21(4), they have had regard to the representations received.

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 and come into force on 1st July 2013.

Amendment of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011

2

• (1) The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011[^f00002] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 3(2), omit “Licensing”.

• (3) In regulation 13—

• (a) for paragraph (1) substitute—

(1) If SEPA receives an application it may, if it considers that the controlled activity has or is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment or the interests of other users of the water environment— (a) publish such details of the application as it considers appropriate on its website; and (b) require the application to be advertised in accordance with this regulation.

; and

• (b) for paragraph (5) substitute—

(5) SEPA must consider all written representations made in connection with an application advertised under this regulation which are received— (a) on or after the date on which the application is received by SEPA; and (b) before the expiry of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the advertisement.

• (4) In Schedule 3—

• (a) in Part 1, for the table substitute the table in the Schedule to these Regulations; and

• (b) in Part 2, after the definition of “application” insert—

• “buffer zone” means an area of land, where no storage or application of fertiliser or pesticide takes place, which intercepts (or would intercept) run-off from the storage or application of fertiliser or pesticide to prevent it from entering the water environment;

SCHEDULE

Signed

PAUL WHEELHOUSE — Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers — 28th May 2013

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (“the principal Regulations”).

Regulation 2(3)(a) amends regulation 13(1) of the principal Regulations to require SEPA to publish details of any application for an authorisation to carry on an activity that it considers is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment or the interests of its users.

Regulation 2(3)(b) amends regulation 13(5) of the principal Regulations to require SEPA to also consider any written representation made in connection with an application advertised under regulation 13 which is received on or after the date on which it received the application (and before the expiry of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the advertisement).

Regulation 2(4)(a) substitutes a new table for the table in Part 1 of Schedule 3 (general binding rules) to the principal Regulations. Column 1 of the new table specifies activities that are authorised under the principal Regulations if they are carried out in accordance with the corresponding rules in column 2. The new table contains the following changes—

• rules 3(a) and 4(a) refer more generally to any body of groundwater;

• activity 5(a) and rule 5(c) and renumbered (h) revised to improve clarity; rule 5(g) is new;

• activity 6 extends to the construction and maintenance of any surface water drainage system outfall which discharges into a river, burn or ditch; old rule 6(f) becomes rule 6(e) and applies only to work in the wetted part of the channel; rules 6(j) and (k) are new;

• activity 10 omits reference to the construction and maintenance of outfalls;

• activity 13 extends to the removal of accumulations from the bed of a river, burn or ditch within 5 metres of certain outfalls and inlets; but the activity is restricted to the purpose of ensuring the proper functioning of a closed culvert, abstraction or discharge pipe;

• new rule 13(g) requires that sediment must, where possible be returned to the river, burn or ditch from which it was removed; old rule 13(g) becomes rule 13(h) and requires any such sediment to be returned as close to the location of its removal as is practicable;

• rules 18(a)(i) and (c)(i) refer more specifically to land within 10 metres of any river, burn, ditch, wetland, loch, transitional water or coastal water, and rule 18(d)(i) refers more specifically to land within 2 metres of such places; rules 18(a)(iv), (c)(iii) (renumbered) and (d)(iii) refer to soil depths of 40 centimetres; rules 18(a)(v), (c)(v) and (d)(v) are new;

• rule 19(c) provides that livestock feeders must be positioned at least 10 metres from any river, burn, ditch, wetland, loch, transitional water or coastal water, and so that run-off does not enter any such place;

• rule 20(a)(i) identifies more specifically land which must not be cultivated; rule 20(b) identifies more specifically land in which moling must not be carried out;

• activity 23 extends to the storage of pesticide; rule 23(a) extends to the filling of pesticide sprayers and requires that relevant activities are undertaken in a way which prevents any spillages, run-off or washings from entering any river, burn, ditch, wetland, loch, transitional water or coastal water; rule 23(a)(ii) is new and prohibits such activities within 10 metres of these places or any opening into a surface water drainage system; rule 23(b) provides that equipment must be maintained so that there is no leakage of pesticide and so that the application rate is properly calibrated; rule 23(c) refers more specifically to any river, burn, ditch, wetland or loch and rule 23(d) extends to the storage of pesticide-treated plants in such places; rules 23(e) to (h) are new; and

• rules 18(g), 19(a), 20(c), 21(a) and (b), 24(a) and (b) refer more specifically to any river, burn, ditch, wetland, loch, transitional water or coastal water.

Regulation 2(4)(b) defines “buffer zone” for the purposes of the rules in Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations; and regulation 2(2) corrects a reference to the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2003 asp 3. Section 20 was amended by regulation 3 of S.S.I. 2005/348. Other amendments are not relevant.

[^f00002]: S.S.I. 2011/209.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1989/1263; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1990/880, S.I. 1996/973 and S.S.I. 2000/62.

[^f00004]: 1990 c. 43; section 35 has been relevantly amended by section 120 of, and paragraph 66 of Schedule 22 to, the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25), S.S.I. 2000/323 and S.S.I. 2011/226. For a definition of ‘waste’ see section 75 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43) as amended by section 120 of, and paragraph 88 of Schedule 22 to, the Environment Act 1995 and S.S.I. 2011/226.

[^f00005]: S.S.I. 2011/228 as amended by S.I. 2011/1043 and S.S.I. 2012/148 and 360.

[^f00006]: S.S.I. 2003/531, as amended by S.S.I. 2006/133 and S.S.I. 2008/54.