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29 Oct 2003 : Column 245W—continued
ENVIRONMENT
US Reserve Fleet (Decommissioning)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions, between which individuals, have taken place between the Government and the US Administration in respect of the ships from the US Reserve Fleet intended for dismantling in the UK. [133364]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 October 2003]: There have been discussions between officials in the Department, the Department for Transport, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, and the Environment Agency, and their counterparts in the US State Department, the US Marine Administration and the US Environmental Protection Agency. These discussions covered a range of issues including the safe transportation of the vessels across the
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Atlantic, the environmentally sound management of wastes arising from the dismantling of the vessels, and the authorisations and notifications necessary to undertake these operations.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact on the marine environment of the Tees estuary of the planned dismantling of ships from the US Reserve Fleet. [133365]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 October 2003]: An assessment was made, by the Environment Agency in combination with other regulatory bodies, regarding modification of the waste management licence for the facility where the dismantling will take place. The assessment satisfied the Agency that the planned operations at the site would be unlikely to have a significant effect on the Tees estuary or the Teesmouth and Cleveland Special Protection Area. Other applications for permissions and consents relating to this case are subject to appropriate scrutiny by the relevant authorities.
Abandoned Cars
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to deal with the problem of abandoned cars. [134348]
Mr. Morley: Defra is working closely with other Government Departments on a range of initiatives to tackle the problem of abandoned vehicles.
Our role in this has included introducing, on 9 April 2002, regulations reducing the statutory notice period after which local authorities can remove abandoned vehicles from the highway. Local authorities can now remove from the highway those vehicles that they consider merit destruction after the expiry of a 24 hour notice placed on them.
We have now consulted on a proposal to reduce the statutory notice period whereby a landowner can object to the removal of a vehicle(s) abandoned on their land. The consultation closed on 24 October. Depending on the outcome of the consultation, we may introduce a regulation in the new year to amend the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986.
Climate Change
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the impact of climate change on low lying coastal areas; and if she will make a statement. [134248]
Mr. Morley: The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) was set up in April 1997 and is funded by Defra. In April 2002, a set of scenarios, referred to as the UKCIP02 scenarios, were published. These scenarios cover four potential future UK climates based on a range of emission scenarios: low, medium-low, medium-high and high.
Overall, the report concludes that is is likely that relative sea level will continue to rise around most of the UK's shoreline. The rate of increase will depend on the natural vertical land movements in each region and on
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the emissions scenario. By the 2080s, the sea level may be between 26 cm and 86 cm above the current level in south-east England.
The report also concludes that extreme sea levels will be experienced more frequently. For some east coast locations, extreme sea levels could occur between 10 and 20 times more frequently by the 2080s than they do now, under the medium-high emissions scenario.
The Defra publication, "Flood and Coastal Defence Project Appraisal Guidance 3: Economic Appraisal", advises operating authorities to assume an increase in sea level of between 4 mm and 6 mm per year, where the higher level applies to the south and east of England. These allowances have been built into FM measures since the mid 1980s.
EU Shellfish Directive
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulatory impact assessment has been carried out to establish the likely costs to (a) water companies, (b) other companies, (c) local authorities and (d) the Environment Agency arising from the implementation of the EU Shellfish Directive. [133110]
Mr. Morley: A Regulatory Impact Assessment was prepared for the major review of designated waters under the Shellfish Waters Directive (79/923/EEC) announced in 1999. It showed (a) costs to water companies in England estimated at £81 million, (b) no costs identified at the time to other companies and (c) no costs to local authorities. Costs to the Environment Agency are taken into account in their grant received from Defra and are in the region of £320,000 for 2003–04. Costs to water companies of possible further measures are being assessed as part of the current periodic review of water prices.
Fly-tipping
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the use of fixed penalty notices to deter fly- tipping. [133103]
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Mr. Morley: Because fly-tipping is a serious offence, it attracts penalties of up to £20,000 or six months imprisonment if convicted in a Magistrates' Court, or an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment if convicted in a Crown Court. Fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping are not being considered as it could give a confusing message as to the seriousness of the offence.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research she has commissioned into fly-tipping; and if she will make a statement. [133104]
Mr. Morley: Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS), a Defra sponsored organisation, recently carried out a study to provide information on fly-tipping. The report is available from the ENCAMS website (http://www.encams.org).
The Environment Agency have also conducted some research which has considered the types and volumes of waste illegally deposited on agricultural land. Details of this report will be published soon.
Defra are currently developing an comprehensive research project to collect data on the causes of fly-tipping, an analysis of types and locations of fly-tipped waste, consideration of how fly-tipping might best be prevented and the effect that various waste management policies, both national and local, are having and will have on fly-tipping levels. Results should be available late next year.
GM Organisms
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list National Grid references of trial sites where genetically modified organisms are being released into the environment under directive 2001/18/EC. [134707]
Mr. Morley: There are currently five active consents allowing companies to undertake clinical trials of GM bacteria for the development of vaccines in England. The sites of each release are set out in the following table. There are currently no field trials of genetically modified crops taking place in the UK.
| Company | Type of GMO | Site of release | Ordnance Survey grid reference | Consent reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acambis Research Ltd. | GM bacterium | St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London | TQ 346 816 | 02/R35/1 |
| Acambis Research Ltd | GM bacterium | Chiltern Clinical Research Unit, Slough, Berkshire | SU 983 793 | 03/R35/2 |
| Acambis Research Ltd. | GM bacterium | St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London | TQ 346 816 | 03/R35/3 |
| MicroScience Ltd. | GM bacterium | St. Georges Hospital Medical School, London | TQ 269 712 | 02/R37/01 |
| MicroScience Ltd. | GM bacterium | BIBRA International Ltd., Carshalton, Surrey | TQ 275 621 | 02/R37/02 |
Hazardous Waste
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the circumstances under which the Environment Agency treats the movement of waste as an unacceptable risk to public health. [134451]
Mr. Morley: Establishments or undertakings which transport waste on a professional basis in England and Wales, are required to be registered with the Environment Agency. Carriers of waste are also subject to the duty of care under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Both these sets of controls are designed to minimise the risk to the environment and human health.
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Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Landfill Directive which will come into force in July 2004, with reference to existing potentially toxic landfills awaiting remediation. [134452]
Mr. Morley: Under the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002, which implement the technical and regulatory components of the Landfill Directive, all hazardous waste as defined in the regulations will require treatment prior to landfill from 16 July 2004. From that date, co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste will be banned, except in certain specific circumstances. The Environment Agency is undertaking a permitting exercise that will bring all currently operating landfill sites, including hazardous waste sites, within the Pollution Protection and Control permit system. This will make the more stringent controls contained in the Landfill Directive a requirement for operating a landfill site in England and Wales.
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