The NFU will be taking up the government’s Red Tape Challenge this month by commenting on the environmental regulations it feels are a burden to farmers and growers.
The coalition’s Red Tape Challenge website was launched in April to give everyone a chance to have their say about the red tape they face on a daily basis (more here).
The latest theme in the spotlight is ‘the environment’ and the NFU will take the opportunity to highlight those regulations which have a detrimental effect on agriculture. We recognise that this is not about reducing standards, but protecting the environment in a more effective and simpler way.
NFU better regulation adviser Lee Osborne said: “The agricultural industry is faced with a vast amount of regulation and farmers repeatedly point to the burden of regulation as a key barrier to increased productivity.
“While we submitted a comprehensive response to the Richard Macdonald review on farming regulation, the Red Tape Challenge initiative provides a further opportunity to highlight burdensome regulation.
“The NFU will aim to improve the regulatory landscape for farmers while protecting environmental outcomes.”
The environment theme is in the spotlight until September 21. Future themes include employment law.
- M. Devenish - 07/09/2011
What cost/benefit analysis was undertaken before the following new regulations were formulated:
01 Sep 2011
Numerous small discharges of sewage effluent can cause problems for water quality. While any new sewage discharge to surface waters already requires consent from the Environment Agency (EA), the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2010 introduce registration requirements for existing discharges to surface water and for existing and new discharges to groundwater.
Registration is a free, one-off requirement, although it is a condition of registration that the facilities are properly managed. While most discharges can be registered, there will be some which do not fit within the criteria. These will require an environmental permit incurring a one-off fee, which is currently £125.