§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the waste management regulations were subject to an environmental appraisal using the guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment"; if he will publish the appraisal; what alternative courses of action from those set out in the waste management regulations were considered in the appraisal; how the regulations were modified by the results of the appraisal; and what procedures have been 553W put in place by his Department to monitor the environmental impacts arising from the implementation of the regulations. [29494]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe main purpose of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 is to transpose into national law the requirements of the amended EC framework directive on waste. In view of the objectives and requirements of the directive, a separate environmental appraisal in relation to the 1994 regulations would not have been appropriate.
The Environment Agency is a competent authority for the purpose of the regulations and has a duty under section 42 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to ensure that licensed activities do not cause environmental pollution or harm to human health.