New legislation for the water environment includes changes to CAR licensing

New legislation, the Water Environment (Miscellaneous) (Scotland) Regulations 2017, has come into force as of 1st January 2018. These Regulations amend the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (“the Principal Regulations”). This new legislation changes a number of the General Binding Rules (GBRs), and requires a CAR (Controlled Activities Regulations) licence to be in place prior to commencing construction works which involve discharging water to the water environment for projects which:

•             are larger than 4 hectares;

•             have access road longer than 5 km; or

•             have an area of more than 1 hectare or length >500m with slope in excess of 25 degrees.

These regulations also revoke the Water Environment (Oil Storage) (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

This means that pre-construction, all projects that satisfy one of these criteria will have to develop and present a site specific Pollution Prevention Plan (PPP), detailing the site characteristics, water environment receptors and Construction Sustainable Drainage System (Construction SuDS). Once this is in place a CAR licence can be applied for. CAR licence applications typically have a 4 month determination period and could therefore have a significant impact on a project’s start date and timescales.

Ellendale Environmental Ltd are experienced in pollution prevention and in CAR licence applications, and are available to offer your project support in the creation of your Pollution Prevention Plan and to help guide you through the CAR licence process. Ellendale are also available to help offer ongoing support and guidance with our ECoW service which can provide ongoing assistance throughout the construction phase of your works.