Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to ban the use of microbeads and microplastics in all personal care products, washing powders, household cleaners and industrial blast media.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
On 3 September the Government announced plans to ban the sale and manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads where these are capable of harming the marine environment. Our plans will be informed by a formal consultation later this year. At the same time, evidence will be gathered on the extent of the environmental impacts of microbeads found in other products before considering what more can be done in future to tackle other plastics, for example microfibres, which enter the marine environment.
Given the trans-boundary nature of marine litter, we will also continue to work with other countries in the Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) to address marine litter, including microplastics.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recommendations the Government plans to propose to the Conference on the Illegal Trade in Wildlife in Botswana in March 2015.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government is working with other countries and international organisations to develop an ambitious set of outcomes for the Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade that is taking place in Botswana on 25 March 2015. These will build on and complement the 25 commitments to action on enforcement and criminal justice, demand reduction and sustainable livelihoods set out in the Declaration from the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what measures are in place to protect local authorities from incurring costs relating to waste fires at sites which they do not control.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The responsibility for meeting the obligations arising from an environmental permit for a waste management site lies with the operator. This includes the cost of clearing residual waste after a fire at a permitted waste site.
The Environment Agency may refuse an application for an environmental permit if it believes the site will not be operated in accordance with the environmental permit. Under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, where the Environment Agency considers that an operator has contravened an environmental permit, it may serve an enforcement notice on the operator specifying the steps that must be taken to remedy the contravention. The Environment Agency also has the power to do works (or arrange for works to be done on its behalf) where it considers that the operation of a regulated facility involves a risk of serious pollution or if the commission of certain offences causes pollution.
Where it appears to the Environment Agency that any controlled waters are being or have been harmed or are likely to be harmed, the Environment Agency has the power to issue a notice requiring a “responsible person” to carry out specified works or operations.
The Environment Agency also has the power under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to serve a notice on the occupier or owner of premises to remove waste that has been illegally deposited or to eliminate or reduce the consequences of its deposit.
Subject to the type and quantity of waste stored, waste site fire resilience is a matter for local Fire and Rescue Authorities. The Fire and Rescue Authorities do this through regular inspections and enforcement where necessary. Regular risk assessments are carried out in consultation with the local authority and other agencies, for example the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward proposals to ensure that licence holders not local authorities pay costs arising from fires at waste disposal sites.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The cost of waste disposal should be borne by the operator of a waste management site, including clearance after a waste fire. The Environment Agency has various powers under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. It may serve notice on an operator who is in contravention of an environmental permit to take steps to remedy the situation, including the removal of waste. Where the Environment Agency considers that there is a risk of serious pollution from a regulated facility, it may take steps to remove the risk and charge back the costs to the operator.
Fire and Rescue Authorities have a statutory duty under section 7 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 to extinguish fires and to protect life and property in their areas. The Government has no plans to amend the legislation to enable Fire and Rescue Authorities to charge for these functions.