ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF PRACTICE
Water Pollution
The Water Resources Act 1991
This is the key piece of legislation relating to water
pollution. Under the Act it is an offence to allow any polluting,
poisonous or noxious material (including solid waste matter) to
enter a ‘controlled water’, without a consent, or outside of the
terms of the consent issued by the Environment Agency or SEPA. This
applies irrespective of whether the substance was released
accidentally or not. Controlled waters are defined as virtually all
fresh and saline natural waters up to the UK offshore territorial
limit (3 miles), including rivers, streams, lochs, estuaries,
coastal waters and groundwater. Water contaminated with diesel, oil
and petroleum spirit, sewage and contaminated bilge water would all
require consent to discharge from the Environment Agency as they
could fall within the definition of polluting matter if discharged
into controlled waters.
Please note that sewage and trade effluent from vessels is
exempt from the pollution offence in the Water
Resources Act 1991 but most navigation authorities will have
byelaws prohibiting overboard discharges from sanitary appliances
and members should be aware of any byelaws in place.
Such an offence carries a maximum penalty of two years’
imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, for conviction in a crown
court. For conviction in a Magistrate’s court, the maximum penalty
is £20,000 fine and/or three months imprisonment.
Water Industry Act 1991 and Trade Effluents (Prescribed
Processes & Substances) Regulations 1989
These regulations, which control discharges to sewers, require
that a consent from the sewerage undertaker (in most cases this is
the local Water Company) is obtained to discharge trade effluent to
sewers. This consent may be subject to conditions.
Groundwater Regulations 1998
These are aimed at controlling the introduction of List I or II
substances into groundwater. Businesses should seek to prevent the
introduction of any List I substances and to limit the introduction
of List II substances directly or indirectly into groundwater.
These include the substances which are most dangerous to the
aquatic environment of relevance to the industry such as:
List I
- Solvents and mineral oils
- Substances which have carcinogenic or mutagenic properties
- Organohalogenated substances
List II
- Biocides (not in List I)
- Copper, tin, lead, arsenic
- Ammonia and nitrites
Food & Environmental Protection Act (FEPA) 1985
Part II of this act requires licences for the deposit of
substances or articles at sea or under the seabed. It is under this
legislation that consents are required for the disposal of dredged
material from capital and maintenance dredging.
The Marine & Fisheries Agency (MFA),
is the licensing authority for this process in England and Wales,
whilst in Scotland it is the Fisheries Research Services of the
Marine Laboratory, an agency of the Scottish Executive.
The provisions of FEPA regarding disposal at sea apply in
Northern Ireland, and the Department of the Environment NI
administers licences.
Water Framework Directive
The EC Directive 2000/60/EC Establishing a Framework for
Community Action in the Field of Water Policy, has been termed the
Water Framework
Directive in the UK and is a piece of legislation that will
establish an integrated approach to the protection, improvement and
sustainable use of Europe’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal
waters and groundwater. The Directive has a series of
implementation deadlines already being implemented and stretching
to December 2015, the date by which most environmental objectives
set within River Basin Management Plans must be met. The directive
is transposed into domestic legislation through the Water
Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (England and
Wales) 2003, Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act
2003; Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (Northumbria
River Basin district) Regulations 2003; Water Environment
(Water Framework Directive) (Solway Tweed River Basin District)
Regulations 2003 and Water Environment (Water Framework Directive)
(Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003.
The Directive is intended to enhance the whole water environment
and associated wetlands throughout Europe to make sure that water
is used in a sustainable way, to reduce human impact on the water
environment and to lessen the effects of floods and droughts. The
holistic nature of river basin management planning means that the
Water Framework Directive covers a range of issues and is intended
to deal with them in an integrated way. Therefore any programme of
work developed to support its implementation, requires the
consideration and co-ordination of a large number of complex issues
right across the water environment and community.
There are strong links between the Habitats, Birds and Bathing
Water Directives and the Water Framework Directive. Conservation
sites identified under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive
(with water related interest features) will be designated as
Protected Areas under the WFD, as will areas designated as Bathing
Waters. For more general information on the Water Framework
Directive, see the Environment Agency website.
Relevance to recreational boating sector:
• Potential implications for maintenance and capital
dredging
• Potential implications for bank protection, water level
management and other operational work carried out by navigational
authorities
• Potential implications for water users when ‘good ecological
status’ is not met
• Potential implications for new developments, e.g. moorings,
marinas, restoration of abandoned waterways and recreation of new
ones.
BMF and RYA are working closely with the relevant departments to
ensure that the implementation of the Directive into UK law does
not impose an unnecessary burden on the sector.
For more information contact BMF's Environment Executive.
Bathing Water Directive
The objective of the 1976 EU Bathing Water Directive
(76/160/ECC) is to protect public health and the environment from
faecal pollution at bathing waters. The Directive is transposed
into UK legislation through the Bathing Waters (Classification)
(England and Wales) Regulations 1991, The Bathing Waters
(Classification) (Scotland) Regulations 1991 and The Bathing Waters
(Classification) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1991.
The Directive requires Member States to identify popular beaches
and monitor the bathing waters for indicators of microbiological
pollution. In the UK the environment agencies are the competent
authorities for this Directive and have responsibility for the
monitoring and reporting of bathing water quality. The results are
reported to the European Commission which produces an annual Report
on the quality of European bathing waters. For more information on
Bathing Water Quality see the Environment Agency’s website.
The directive defines ‘bathing water’ as all running or still
fresh waters or parts thereof and sea water, in which:
- Bathing is explicitly authorised by the competent authorities
of each Member State, or
- Bathing is not prohibited and is traditionally practised by a
large number of bathers
Biocide Directive
EU Directive, 98/08/EC is concerned with the placing of biocidal
products on the market and applies to a wide range of products
including anti-fouling products. The key objectives are to provide
for a common approach to the regulation of biocidal products within
the EU and to protect human health and the environment.
The Directive is implemented through the Biocidal Products
Regulations 2001 as amended, which are applicable in England, Wales
and Scotland. The Biocidal Products Regulations (Northern Ireland)
2001 as amended are applicable in Northern Ireland. They introduce
provisions in respect of the approval of active substances,
biocidal products and their labelling and packaging. The authority
responsible for this is the Biocides and Pesticides Assessment Unit
(BPAU) of the Health and Safety Executive.
A copy of the guidance note on the Biocidal Products
Directive is available from the Health and Safety
Executive.
Biocidal products include all products currently approved under
the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986, together with
preservatives, disinfectants, water biocides and certain cleaning
and specialist products. The Biocidal Products Regulations 2001
will eventually apply to the approval of all biocidal products and
will supersede the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 in
respect of approval for use.
Control of Pesticide Regulations 1986
These regulations provided the legal basis for the approval of
new and existing pesticides and are administered by the Advisory
Committee on Pesticides as referred to above.
Water pollution in Northern Ireland
The main legislation dealing with water pollution in Northern
Ireland is:
• Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966
• Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973
• Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972
• Water & Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order
1973
The former two pieces of legislation are the responsibility of
the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, whilst the
Department of the Environment NI has responsibility for the latter.
The Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 repeals and re¬enacts with
amendments the Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The main
amendments include modifications to discharge consents and the
giving of more power to the Department of the Environment and the
Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI) to carry out
anti-pollution works and works in relation to waterways.