§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what work was undertaken on preparation for the Hazardous Waste Directive in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions; [142517]
(2) when her predecessor Department was informed of the (a) requirements and (b) implementation date of the EU Hazardous Waste Directive. [142518]
§ Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 December 2003]:The European Commission approved the Hazardous Waste Directive in December 1991. In common with the negotiation of other European Directives, the Government took an active part in proceedings, but there is no detailed record of the amount of work spent on preparation for this particular Directive by the then Department of the Environment.
The implementation date for the Directive as 27 June 1995 which was set out in an amendment to the Directive approved by the European Commission on 27 June 1994. The Department would have been aware of the Directive's requirements as it was negotiated.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff who worked on the EU Hazardous Waste Directive in the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions transferred to her Department to continue this work.[142519]
§ Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 December 2003]The European Commission approved the Hazardous Waste Directive in December 1991. Its requirements are currently transposed in England by the Special Waste Regulations 1996, but these are to be replaced by new regulations for hazardous waste in 2004. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was established in June 2001 and all staff that had worked on hazardous waste policy issues in the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions transferred to Defra to continue this work. The Hazardous Waste Branch of Waste Management Division takes the lad on these issues as well as policy work on the transfrontier shipment of waste and consists of eight staff.
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