§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the collection of data on waste within the EC during his presidency of the Council of Ministers.
§ Mr. MacleanWork is already in hand to improve the collection of data on waste within the EC, and we will ensure the work continues under our presidency.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how he monitors the reliability of information provided by persons acting as holders of non ferrous waste requiring disposal, when making declarations for waste covered by article 17 of EC directive 84/631/EEC.
§ Mr. MacleanMonitoring and enforcement of the procedure in article 17 for consignments of hazardous waste containing non-ferrous metals for recycling is a matter for the waste disposal authorities.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he will take to ensure that producers of recycleable waste, or their agents, provide waste regulation authorities with information relating to the quantity of waste requiring disposal by reclamation.
§ Mr. MacleanSection 49 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires waste collection authorities to prepare a recycling plan. In doing so each council has a duty to investigate what recycling arrangements are appropriate for dealing with household and commercial waste arising in its area and it must include information as to the kinds and quantities of waste that it expects to deal 373W with in that way. The draft plans must be submitted to my right hon. and learned Friend for approval; he has asked for them all to be with him by 1 August. Once a council has determined the content of the plan it is under a duty to sent a copy, and any subsequent modification of it, to the waste regulation authority for the area.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will extend the powers of waste regulation authorities giving them rights(a) to require information about the composition of waste and the processes which produce it and (b) to verify the information.
§ Mr. MacleanPowers already exist in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Control of Pollution Act 1974 for these purposes insofar as they are necessary for environmental protection.
Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act requires all holders of waste to ensure that, on the transfer of the waste, a description of it is also transferred. Such a description must be sufficient to enable subsequent holders to manage the waste safely and legally, and will contain information about the processes producing the waste where such information is necessary to that end. Under the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991, made under section 34, waste regulation authorities have powers to require waste holders to produce copies of such descriptions.
The onus to ensure that descriptions are correct and adequate rests on the parties to transfers of waste; authorities are not charged with the verification of waste descriptions. Waste disposal authorities are responsible for the supervision of activities at licensed waste disposal sites under section 9 of the Control of Pollution Act. Authorities may set licence conditions requiring the keeping of records and have powers under section 91 of that Act to enter, inspect and take samples of any waste at licensed sites.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will amend current regulations governing the importation and transportation of waste to ensure that regulatory authorities receiving the waste are fully aware of the companies and countries from which the waste is being transferred;
(2) what action he will take to ensure that adequate information about the harmful and hazardous nature of waste material is made available to regulatory authorities;
(3) if he will introduce a legal requirement for regulatory authorities to receive pre-notification of the precise time of departure and arrival of waste imported for recycling and disposal.
§ Mr. MacleanNegotiations are in progress on an EC regulation, to replace the current regulations, on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community. The current draft of this proposal would require information on the source, composition and the producer of the waste proposed for shipment to be notified to the competent authorities. These authorities would also receive advance notification of the date of shipment of waste for recycling and disposal.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation controlling the imports of toxic and hazardous wastes along the lines of the United States Waste Export and Import Prohibition Act (HR G2580).
374W
§ Mr. MacleanNo. This Bill, which is not a United States Government measure, would prevent all transfrontier movements of waste, except pre-sorted textile rags, glass and paper wastes for recovery. The United Kingdom is looking to the draft EC waste shipments regulation to improve existing controls on movements of waste. This will include appropriate controls on wastes destined for recovery, implementing a recent decision by the OECD on this subject, which will also be implemented by the United States of America.