Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Environment Agency regulatory policy statement entitled Using unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) in construction activities: RPS 247, published on 25 June 2024, if she will take steps to update Regulatory Policy Statement 247.

Regulatory position statement RPS 247, first published in January 2021, sets out risk-based conditions which restrict the use of unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) as a replacement for primary aggregate based on tonnage, location, placement, and type of construction project. The regulatory position statement is to be withdrawn by 31 January 2025. The Environment Agency will replace this position statement with a candidate waste exemption and a new standard-rules permit. The Agency are preparing to consult on the new permit later this year.

As is usual, it is likely that the Environment Agency will extend RPS 247 by a few months to allow the new standard rules permit to be published and available for use.