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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Environment Agency powers to tackle sites such as the site operated by Rowan Oak Waste at Shaw Road in Dudley.

In 2015 the Government consulted on enhancing regulators’ powers to tackle non-compliance with waste regulations at sites operated under an environmental permit. A large majority of the respondents were supportive of the proposals, and of additional measures detailed as part of a call for evidence run alongside the consultation.

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 were subsequently amended in 2015 to give the Environment Agency four new powers, including to suspend permits where the permit conditions are breached and to take steps to remove the risk of pollution at non-compliant sites. Further details are outlined in the Government response to that consultation: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/waste-crime-improving-enforcement-powers-to-reduce-persistent-non-compliance-at-waste-handling-sites.

The Government is currently finalising draft regulations which will give the Environment Agency the power to secure premises to prevent additional waste being deposited, and the power to require operators to remove all waste deposited at a non-compliant site, including waste deposited lawfully.

The Government is also developing proposals to provide the Environment Agency with more powers to assess the competence of waste operators. This assessment would apply to existing and prospective waste operators, and could therefore lead to refusal of new environmental permits, and revocation of existing permits, where operators do not meet appropriate standards.