Ministers have decided to reconsider the requirement that discharges from septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants (included in the term septic tanks for convenience) should be registered with the Environment Agency.
Some dischargers could be required to apply for an Environmental Permit at a cost of about £125. The review will affect England only.
Ministers had proposed that there would be a public consultation to collect views, but it is now intended that key stakeholders including the NFU will be consulted directly instead.
The purpose of this article is to provide individual NFU members with the opportunity to comment on views to go forward to government. Quick responses before 13th December would be particular helpful and the deadline for further submissions is December 20. Responses should be emailed to michaelpayne@waitrose.com, either directly
or via NFU regional offices.
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- Derek Blackburn - 13/12/2011
The question is - what improvement would registration bring? Our tank is looked after and emptied. The EA biz about on the water below and test it regularly. I'm sure that this combination will be the case in other areas of the country, too.
- Peter J Cairns - 11/12/2011
There is no need for more regulation - if a septic tank causes serious pollution then the owner/operator would face prosecution under existing legislation
- P Batten - 09/12/2011
Septic tanks are already subject to planning regulation so why add more?