If You Run A Tree Business - This Affects You

[Mr Ed]

Had a long Chat with the Environment agency today. In fact, I'm doing quite a bit with them at the moment, and one of the things that came out was

a. waste carriers licence

b. Registration for exemption

 

Firstly, under new rules, ALL of us need waste carriers licences. No excuses, no loopholes, you HAVE to have it. No good saying its a product blah blah.etc.

 

secondly, if you take tree waste back to your yard, you need a paragraph 21 exemption certificate for processing controlled waste - details below.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/1745440/1745496/1906135/1985714/1985724/1986619/?version=1〈=_e

 

As I'm given to understand, none of this is optional - by law you need it.

The first is £148, the exemption is free.

 

Be interested to know if you know anything about this.

 

edit -

yes I know its more nanny state bollocks, so no posts whinging about it. but can anyone put forward any case law or similar that disproves what they're saying?

[MasterBlaster]

Not me.

[niftysteve]

Had a long Chat with the Environment agency today. In fact, I'm doing quite a bit with them at the moment, and one of the things that came out was

a. waste carriers licence

b. Registration for exemption

 

Firstly, under new rules, ALL of us need waste carriers licences. No excuses, no loopholes, you HAVE to have it. No good saying its a product blah blah.etc.

 

secondly, if you take tree waste back to your yard, you need a paragraph 21 exemption certificate for processing controlled waste - details below.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/1745440/1745496/1906135/1985714/1985724/1986619/?version=1〈=_e

 

As I'm given to understand, none of this is optional - by law you need it.

The first is £148, the exemption is free.

 

Be interested to know if you know anything about this.

 

edit -

yes I know its more nanny state bollocks, so no posts whinging about it. but can anyone put forward any case law or similar that disproves what they're saying?

 

IF not you get served a notice as i did last year council were riding round with the police checking for waste licences they serve you with £300 fine unless you can produce a licence within so many days

as ED says they cost 148 for 3 years then about 100 per year after that

[Quickthorn]

This is how I understand it, too. Waste carriers licence needed, regardless of what anyone thinks, its what they think that matters. And we should be applying for exemptions every time we chip or burn brash.

 

The waste carriers stuff will be changing.

 

Changes to waste Carrier Legislation

 

The 2nd stage consultation has just closed, and proposals, due to be implemented in April 2009, are in the pdfs on this page. Waste carrier licencing will be a 2 tier system. The upper tier will be everyone who needs to licence now, licences to cost £45 / year, renewable annually. The lower tier is everyone else who were previously exempt. That's a £30 one off fee. We'd be in the 2nd tier. They've changed the wording slightly to make it pretty clear that any one of us that regularly carries waste will need to be licenced. They are thinking of bringing in a disc that must be displayed, and they're hoping to be able to use fixed penalty notices to punish anyone who does not comply with anything (at the moment, they need to drag offenders to the courts, which is costly, and so prosecutions are low. I suppose they want to empower a swarm of inspectors etc. with the ability to issue £300 tickets for anyone in breach, which would have the effect of upping prosecution rates). Powers to seize vehicles are to be increased, too.

 

Interestingly, in one part of the document, they were also talking about issuing fixed penalties to householders who did not carry out their duty of care in making sure that their contractors are allowed to carry waste..but feel that this could alienate the public if such penalties were issued (ie. sounds like they think it's a good idea, but don't have the backbone to do it)

[Mr Ed]

its the paragraph 21 exemption I was surprised by. Seemingly you HAVE to have it, or you can be prosecuted for handleing waste without a licence.

 

Forestry product does not come under the heading of waste, but any Arb waste does.

[Frank]

so where do i get a waste carriers license from...?? or am I being stooopid

[Quickthorn]

its the paragraph 21 exemption I was surprised by. Seemingly you HAVE to have it, or you can be prosecuted for handleing waste without a licence.

 

I'd heard of that, but have never met anyone who has applied for it.

 

Anyway, they are changing the exemptions, and are consulting on this now. Consultation closes on 23rd October 2008.

 

revised waste exemptions from environmental permitting

 

Exemptions in our case would be by premises rather than site. They use the example of a vet who makes many visits to remote locations, bringing waste back to the surgery..the surgery would be where the exemption would be registered, not the many sites where the waste came from. So, for us, we would register an exemption for our yards. For chipping, Para 21 replaced, similar conditions, but only 500 tons/week rather than 1000. Exemptions would last for 3 years and, guess what, exemptions will be chargeable..£50 per 3 years to start off with.

 

All of this will be harder to ignore if they are also move to fixed penalty notices. At the moment, I'd imagine yards unlucky enough to attract their attention might get a warning to comply. Once this lot takes effect, it will be a penalty as well.

 

I'm assuming the AA has got in there and stuck up for the industry during these consultations..

[Quickthorn]

so where do i get a waste carriers license from...?? or am I being stooopid

 

Try here

[Dean Lofthouse]

What really pee's me off is if I had been a member of Arbtalk or been someone that keeps myself to myself I'd have never heard of a waste carriers license until I was pulled and fined.

 

They cannot possibly prosecute unless they have written or given notice to someone, or they can prove that that person knew of the license, Surely

[Quickthorn]

They cannot possibly prosecute unless they have written or given notice to someone, or they can prove that that person knew of the license, Surely

 

Ignorance is no defence in law. This is the thing with the fixed penalty notice, and why they are becoming more common. Whoever stops you has the power to criminalise you there and then, at the stroke of a pen, and it's a lot cheaper and quicker for them than bringing cases to the courts.