Section 3 - Progress on the Policy and Legislative Framework
13 Further development of the Controlled Activities Regulations
The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 ( CAR) came fully into force on 1 April 2006. CAR enables SEPA to control activities which may have an impact on the water environment and on the interests of other users of the water environment; and is therefore one of the key tools which will enable us to achieve the environmental objectives identified through the RBMP process.
In the course of its regulatory activities SEPA must aim to protect and improve the water environment but in determining how, and to what extent this should be done, it must take account of the social, economic and environmental needs of those who depend on the water environment for their livelihood or quality of life. This includes taking into account wider sustainable development issues, such as biodiversity conservation, flood management, drinking water protection, and access to recreation.
Diffuse pollution
Throughout 2007, in conjunction with stakeholders, the Scottish Government continued to develop its strategy for controls on diffuse pollution from rural land use. In September, a consultation was published which contained a draft of proposed General Binding Rules, which were subsequently laid before the Scottish Parliament in February 2008. These GBRs are designed to fit with the rules that already apply to point source pollution and to urban diffuse pollution under CAR. They are based on good practice set out in the PEPFAA Code and the Forests and Water Guidelines. However, unless otherwise stated they apply to all rural land uses, including the amenity sector.
Although rural land use activities have been identified as the most significant cause of diffuse water pollution in Scotland there is also the need to consider the impact from other sectors. WEWS and CAR introduced some measures which contribute to the control of diffuse pollution from urban sources and the Scottish Government will continue to develop proposals to ensure that a full programme of measures is in place by 2009, in line with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive.
14 Duties of Ministers and Responsible Authorities
In 2006 Ministers designated a range of public bodies as "responsible authorities" in relation to the functions that they have which impact upon the water environment. The purpose of such a designation is to ensure that public bodies with functions that have an impact on the water environment carry out those functions in a way that helps to ensure compliance with the objectives of the Water Framework Directive. These bodies will also help SEPA with river basin management planning.
In order to ensure a fully integrated approach to the protection of our water environment, Scottish Ministers and SEPA also need to ensure their wider functions help to deliver our WFD obligations. Identifying relevant functions by means of a Designation Order will give rise to a number of associated benefits:
- the Scottish Ministers and SEPA must take into account the social and economic impact of the exercise of their functions when protecting the water environment;
- the Scottish Ministers and SEPA must promote sustainable flood management and sustainable development when exercising their designated functions so far as is consistent with the purposes of those functions; and
- the Scottish Ministers, SEPA and the WEWS Responsible Authorities must co-ordinate the exercise of their designated functions.
The Scottish Government is currently identifying relevant functions of Scottish Ministers and SEPA via a designation process to that used for identifying responsible authorities.
Implementing the WEWS Act - view from Forestry Commission Scotland
Forestry, like agriculture, is a major land use in Scotland. The use of fertilisers and pesticides is generally much lower per hectare than in arable farming, but nutrient losses from forestry can make a significant impact on rivers and lochs, particularly in
acid-sensitive catchments.
The Scottish Forestry Strategy ( SFS) sets out the framework for taking forward forestry, and identifies the protection of Scotland's water, soils and air resources as priority under the Environmental Quality theme. The 2007/2008 SFS implementation plan identified establishing baseline data and monitoring processes for forestry and water quality indicators as a key action, and this work is currently being finalised. FCS is continuing to build on this, liaising with SEPA on further key actions to enable FCS to deliver and support the WEWS Act. These actions will be incorporated into the 2008/2009 SFS implementation plan.
An internal WFD Group has been set up with representatives from FCS, Forest Enterprise Scotland, Forestry Civil Engineering, Forest Research and SEPA to act as a forum for exchange of information on matters connected with the WFD in Scotland, in particular River Basin Management Planning. The broad aim is to help FCS fulfil its role as a Responsible Authority under the WEWS Act, maximising opportunities to promote and implement the potential benefits of forestry and removing or mitigating potentially negative aspects. Specifically it helps engage in WFD matters by:
• Providing technical and policy backup to those involved in Area Advisory Groups.
• Enabling a consistent line to be taken across different Area Advisory Groups.
• Offering a channel through which concerns can be taken to the National Advisory Group.
Furthermore, all forest operations are carried out in accordance with the UK Forestry Standard, which sets out the standards for the sustainable management of all forests and woodlands in the UK, and are supported by the Forests and Water Guidelines (2004). The National Forest Estate is also certified under the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme ( UKWAS), a voluntary certification standard for the independent forest management in the UK. Both the UK Forest Standard and UKWAS include criteria and indicators to ensure that water quality is protected.
In 2007 FCS held a programme of regional workshops with SEPA to support the implementation of the WEWS Act and raise awareness of WFD and CAR to the forest industry. A programme of research continues to focus on providing a sound evidence base on the role of forestry in protecting and enhancing the water environment.
15 Implementation of the Controlled Activities Regulations
During 2007, the first full year since CAR came into effect, SEPA made significant progress in implementing these new requirements, processing 164 applications for complex licences, 356 simple licences and 4470 registrations.
One positive aspect of the new regime was the high number of applications for registration. Registration is used for small-scale activities which, prior to CAR, would have required a licence. The authorisation process for registrations is significantly streamlined with a corresponding 63% reduction in application fee. In September 2006 an online registration facility was launched with increased efficiencies - the uptake of this online system steadily increased through 2007 with over 60% of registration applications now being received online.
Particularly challenging was the determination of the more complex applications for the new water resource and engineering regimes introduced by CAR. Unexpectedly high numbers of applications for new hydro-electric schemes were received, as a result of new government incentives for renewable energy. The majority of these complex applications were for abstractions and impoundments associated with run-of-river hydro schemes. The predicted impacts could have resulted in deterioration in water body status or had a considerable impact on other water users; so an assessment of the socio-economic and environmental costs and benefits of such developments was required in each case. Equally challenging were the complex applications for engineering activities associated with flood prevention schemes. Again, these generally required the application of socio-economic and environmental assessments.
With approximately 7000 authorisations for existing activities being transferred into CAR, a key task for SEPA is to determine the changes required in the management of activities which damage the water environment. For point source discharges this work is a continuation of the ongoing water quality improvement work by SEPA and predecessor organisations over past decades. For water resource activities (the operation of abstractions and impoundments), this is a new area of work for SEPA, and the absence of long-term datasets means that the task of accurately assessing impacts is difficult in these early years. Nevertheless, SEPA has modelled the impacts of all 1800 licensed abstractions and has identified for review those which have the greatest impact. SEPA has now begun the task of identifying the measures required to mitigate those impacts. This will be supported by widespread site inspections in impacted catchments scheduled for early 2008.
SEPA also undertook an extensive stakeholder liaison programme, with a range of activities aimed at specific sectors. In addition to press releases, meetings and conferences to promote key messages, the CAR Practical Guide was reviewed and improved. This document details the scope of CAR and can be found at:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/wfd/regimes/car_practical_guide.pdf
16 Water Environment Charging Scheme
The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) Fees and Charges Scheme 2006 came into effect on 1 April 2006. This replaced the previous charging schemes for authorisation of discharges; and introduced charges for the new abstraction, impoundment and engineering regimes. Charges are influenced by the scale of environmental risk and impact, and exemptions from charging are provided when activities lead to improvements in the environment.
Point source discharge and disposal to land charges were not comprehensively revised when they were transferred into the CAR scheme. SEPA committed to a review of both these and the new water resource charges within 2 years of implementation. This review started in 2007, and a public consultation on proposed revisions will take place in late 2008.
The budgeted CAR income for 2007-08 was £19 million, comprising £1.2 million in application fees and £17.8 million in subsistence charges. Overall, the forecast income to March 2008 is approximately £1 million less than originally projected at the time of implementation in 2006, partly as the result of receiving fewer engineering applications than originally expected; but also because many point source discharges are now charged as registrations rather than licences.
In December 2007, recognising the hardship suffered by sheep farmers as a result of the Foot and Mouth Disease crisis, Scottish Ministers issued a Direction to SEPA to waive the second instalment of charges in respect of disposal of sheep dip. This reduced CAR annual income by £157k.
The approved CAR charging scheme can be found on the SEPA website at:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/charging/legal/water/water_env_scheme_2006.pdf
A comprehensive CAR charging scheme guidance document which explains how SEPA will interpret the charging scheme is also available at:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/wfd/regimes/water_env_charging_scheme_guidance.pdf
17 Remedial and restoration measures
The WEWS Act gives Scottish Ministers powers to make regulations about remedial or restoration measures needed to ensure that the environmental objectives in river basin management plans can be achieved. Remedial or restoration measures might include, for example, removing a redundant weir or lade or cleaning up historical pollution where these threaten the achievement of the environmental objectives for a given body of water.
In collaboration with SEPA, the Scottish Government is now working on an initiative to help deliver restoration measures to support achievement of WFD objectives. We are currently developing a consultation for publication during 2008.
18 Fixing of charges for Water Services
Section 23 of the WEWS Act enables Ministers to make regulations about how charges for water services are made. This means that powers exist to regulate how charges are made by Scottish Water and any other supplier of 'water services', which includes the provision of water and sewerage, if needed to safeguard the water environment.
To date, we have not needed to use these powers and we are satisfied that arrangements included in the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 for charging for water services in Scotland comply with the requirements of the WFD about the recovery of costs for water services. In April 2006, Scottish Water was designated as a responsible authority under the WEWS Act, and therefore will be required to carry out its duties so as to ensure compliance with the WFD.
19 Planning Permission: Fish Farming
The provisions of Section 24 of the WEWS Act, suitably amended to reflect the outcome of the consultation on Extending Planning Controls to Marine Fish Farming, were incorporated into the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 which received Royal Assent in December 2006.
The Town and Country Planning (Marine Fish Farming) (Scotland) Order 2007 came into effect on the 1 April 2007, bringing marine fish farming into the planning system. This Order designated marine planning zones and the planning authorities which are to be planning authorities for the purpose of marine fish farming within these zones. At present the marine planning zones and the powers of the relevant planning authorities with responsibility for marine fish farming have only been designated up to 3 nautical miles. Ministers will consult on the boundaries between 3 and 12 nautical miles in due course.
20 Commencement Orders
Although the WEWS Act received Royal Assent in March 2003, a Commencement Order is needed to activate certain parts of the Act in order for each stage of implementation to go ahead.
During 2007, two Commencement Orders were made.
The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2007 was made in February 2007, and commenced section 24 of WEWS relating to fish farming (see section 20).
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2007/ssi_20070050_en_1
The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2007 was made in November 2007, and commenced section 33 dealing with Sustainable Urban Drainage.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2007/ssi_20070512_en_1