The EA has previously consulted on a new – and increased – fee structure for waste export notifications. The revised charges can be found here. The changes were published in the Agency’s consultation response and include:
- New charges for anyone sending more than 1,000 shipments under a notification. This will ensure the Environment Agency recovers its costs for notifications for very large numbers of shipments.
- Two smaller bands for notifications for 101-300 and 301-500 shipments. This replaces the existing band for 101-500 shipments, so it better reflects the different costs associated with higher numbers of shipments.
- Removing the complexity around different charges for movements involving ‘interim sites’. This makes the scheme simpler for customers to understand and reflects how the Environment Agency regulates these notifications.
- A clearer definition of a single shipment to reflect the Environment Agency’s inspection costs and ensure a level playing field for operators.
- A fee for making any changes to an exports notification after the Environment Agency transmits it to overseas authorities or for imports after the regulator’s acknowledgement, where amendments are allowed. The Environment Agency currently makes some changes without charge which does not reflect the costs. However, the Environment Agency has taken on board the comments made by customers and reduced this charge to £82 per amendment, per notification where amendments can be made. The Environment Agency also will not charge where changes are requested by competent authorities unless changes are needed because of incorrect or incomplete information from the notifier.
- Additional charges for any notification that includes mercury, ozone-depleting substances (ODS), fluorinated gases (F-gases) or Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM). These waste types are particularly complicated so only those operators that handle these types of waste should pay for the additional work to regulate them.
- A charge for the work required to assess applications for ‘pre-consented’ status for facilities in England. The Environment Agency does not currently charge for this work, but pre-consented sites can benefit from extended consenting timescales. The Environment Agency carries out work to ensure that sites continue to be suitable to receive notifiable wastes over an extended period.
- Different charges for applications for end-of-life ships, platforms and fixed oil rigs. Regulating these waste types is complex and they pose a significant environmental risk. The time taken to assess applications is therefore much higher than for other waste types, so it is fairer that operators handling these wastes pay for the full cost of moving them internationally.