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Written Question
Climate Change
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the findings which informed the Environment Agency’s “reasonable worst case scenario for climate", referred to by the Agency's Chief Executive Sir James Bevan on 23 February.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Sir James Bevan’s speech was underpinned by published evidence from a variety of national and international reports that includes the UK Climate Projections 2018 announced by the Secretary of State for Defra in November 2018. The Environment Agency has recently published research showing an upward trend in extreme floods at two-thirds of their river level monitoring stations and that this trend is 90% certain at over a fifth of locations.


Written Question
Animals: UK Trade with EU
Monday 13th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether trade in live vertebrates between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland takes place under the Trade Control and Expert System and requires an Intra Trade Animal Health Certificate; if so, who provides the certificate; and what changes would be required if the UK leaves the EU.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

For live vertebrates traded between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland the normal EU rules for trade between Member States apply. The rules vary according to the animal.

For most live vertebrates the consignment has to be notified to the Competent Authority of the receiving Member State using TRACES and requires an Intra Trade Animal Health Certificate (ITAHC).

If the UK is listed as a third country after EU exit then EU law as it stands would require commercial exports of most live vertebrates from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland to enter the Republic at a Border Inspection Post and be accompanied by an Export Health Certificate.

Notification would either be by the EU importer, or potentially by the relevant UK competent authority using TRACES if the EU agrees access to this element of TRACES. In Northern Ireland the relevant competent authority is DAERA.

For commercial imports of most live vertebrates from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland in the absence of a deal, the guidance we issued before 12 April set out the process to follow: www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-animals-animal-products-and-high-risk-food-and-feed-not-of-animal-origin-if-the-UK-leaves-the-EU-with-no-deal

This included the requirement for the UK importer to contact DAERA and for the consignment to be accompanied by a UK health certificate. This could be an ITAHC for a transition period of six months. If the EU were to agree access to the relevant elements of TRACES as they did for a limited period in the event of the UK exiting the EU without a deal on 12 April, then notification could take place on TRACES and the process would be the same as now.

If we leave the EU in accordance with the draft Withdrawal Agreement then for the period of that Agreement the processes for trade of live vertebrates between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland would be the same as now.


Written Question
Landfill: EU Law
Wednesday 22nd October 2014

Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the removal of the derogations in the EU Landfill Directive will deliver the Best Overall Environmental Outcome; and how her Department made that assessment.

Answered by Dan Rogerson

The Government considers that the principles outlined in the “Strategy for Hazardous Waste Management in England” (Defra 2010) provide a framework for promoting the Best Overall Environmental Outcome for hazardous waste management consistent with Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste. The Waste Framework Directive introduced a new five-step waste hierarchy which member states must introduce into national waste management laws, and which must be applied by member states in this priority order. Waste prevention, as the preferred option, is followed by reuse, recycling, recovery including energy recovery, and as a last option, safe disposal. In “Guidance on applying the waste hierarchy” (Defra 2011) the Government has indicated that the waste hierarchy already ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment. Furthermore, in the Strategy for Hazardous Waste Management in England, the Government has stated:

“hazardous waste should be managed by waste producers and waste managers in accordance with the EU waste hierarchy. In applying the hierarchy, hazardous waste producers and waste managers shall opt for hazardous waste management that takes into account the resource value of hazardous wastes, and the need for health and safety to be maintained and delivers the best overall environmental outcome. This may require specific hazardous waste streams departing from the hierarchy where this is justified by life-cycle thinking on the overall impacts of the generation and management of such waste.”


Written Question
Landfill: EU Law
Wednesday 22nd October 2014

Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which existing derogations in the EU Landfill Directive the UK applies.

Answered by Dan Rogerson

The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) was transposed into domestic legislation by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. The majority of the provisions came into force on 15 June 2002. The Landfill Directive is supplemented by Council Decision 2003/33/EC establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills pursuant to Article 16 and Annex II to the Landfill Directive. Between them they contain many derogations which can be applied. The information requested on the existing derogations in the Landfill Directive that the UK applies could only be provided at disproportionate cost. It is generally Government policy to take advantage of any derogations permitted by EU legislation which keep requirements to a minimum when transposing into UK legislation, as failure to do so would amount to gold plating.

An example is the derogation from the landfill diversion targets contained in Article 5 of the Landfill Directive. This relates to targets to progressively reduce the biodegradable municipal waste being sent for disposal in landfill. EU wide targets were established for 2006, 2009 and 2016 for reduction of biodegradable municipal waste. As the UK started from a point where over 80% of this waste was being landfilled in 1995, a four year derogation on these targets was available, which the UK applied. Another Landfill Directive derogation of current interest, and one which also applies in England and Wales, is the practice of relying on higher Landfill Directive waste acceptance criteria (the so-called 3xWAC derogation) to enable hazardous waste to continue to be landfilled.


Written Question
Landfill: EU Law
Wednesday 22nd October 2014

Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which derogations in the EU Landfill Directive the Government is planning to remove from application in the UK.

Answered by Dan Rogerson

In the 2010 “Strategy for Hazardous Waste Management in England” the Government signalled its intention to end the practice of relying on higher Landfill Directive waste acceptance criteria (WAC, the so-called 3xWAC derogation) to enable hazardous waste to continue to be landfilled. The Environment Agency consulted in April this year on the removal of this derogation in Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste. Defra is considering the responses to the consultation with the Environment Agency and will be engaging with the waste industry to obtain more information on the impact of the removal of this derogation. The Government is not currently considering the removal of any other derogations in the Landfill Directive.