Waste Management Paper No. 4 was last revised in 1988. Sections 33, 35 to 43 and Section 54 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (the 1990 Act) introduce a much enhanced system of licensing control on the management of waste, replacing the system of waste disposal licences under the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (COPA). The Secretary of State considers that this new edition of Waste Management Paper No 4 provides formal guidance under section 35(8) and section 74(5) of the 1990 Act which waste regulation authorities (WRAs) have a duty to have regard to on the discharge of their waste management licensing functions under Part II of the EP Act.
New licences issued under section 36 of the 1990 Act authorising the treatment, keeping or disposal of controlled waste, and disposal licences previously issued under the 1974 Act, are known as waste management licences. In Scotland, the waste regulation authorities control the use of land by waste disposal authorities by means of resolutions under Section 54 of the 1990 Act; throughout this Paper, references to the waste management licensing system, licences and licence conditions are intended to apply to resolutions and the sites operated in accordance with them except where the text indicates otherwise.
Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter on the legislative background. It looks at the objectives of licence conditions and how they relate to other legislation.
Chapter 2 gives advice on the information which should be included with an application for a licence, including the working plan. It discusses the matters which should be addressed by the licence and licence conditions and their relationship with the working plan.
Chapter 3 deals with determining whether an applicant for a licence is a fit and proper person as defined in section 74 of the 1990 Act.
Chapter 4 gives advice on the considerations which should be applied to applications for licences for all types of facilities and the drafting of suitable conditions, whilst Chapter 5 gives further guidance on specific types of facilities.
Appendix A gives a checklist ofthe key issues for licensing.
Chapter 6 and Appendix C deal with requirements for landfill monitoring schemes.
Chapter 7 describes the considerations which should be applied when an application is made for the surrender of a licence, except in respect of landfill sites, for which advice is given in Waste Management Paper No 26A; Appendix D gives an example in the case of scrapyards. Guidance on frequency and content of site inspections by WRAs is given in Appendix B.