§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to introduce those sections of part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which prevent the surrender of a disposal licence until a certificate of completion has been issued by the relevant authority.
§ Mr. BaldryDisposal licences are issued under section 5 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, and there is no provision in that Act to prevent their surrender. Disposal licences will be replaced by waste management licences granted under section 36 of the Environmental Protection Act. The provisions of section 39, including the issue of certificates of completion, will govern the surrender of those waste management licences that are site licences.
Under the target timetable for the implementation of part II of the Act, announced on 25 June 1991 by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside, these waste management licensing provisions of the Act are due to come into effect in April 1993. The consultation paper "Improving environmental quality—the Government's proposals for a new, independent Environment Agency" issued on 3 October 1991, stated that the timing of these provisions will need to be reviewed in the light of the emerging timetable for the agency.