The Department for Environmental Food & Rural Affairs has released a National Policy Statement (NPS) for Hazardous Waste Developments – the document provides a framework for planning decisions on nationally significant hazardous waste infrastructure. More specifically, it outlines the Government Policy on Hazardous Waste; details the assessment principles to consider for waste facilities and provides an extensive list of the generic impacts of such projects, such as the effects on air quality and transport.
This NPS applies to the construction of facilities in England where the main purpose is to be the final disposal or recovery of hazardous waste and the capacity is more than 100,000 tonnes per year for the disposal of waste by landfill or in a deep storage capacity, and more than 30,000 tonnes per year in any other case.
It will also apply to the alteration of hazardous waste facilities where the alteration will result in the capacity increase of the facility by more than 100,000 tonnes per year in the case of disposal by landfill or deep storage facility, or an increase by more than 30,000 tonnes per year in any other case.
The Statement will be used as the foundation for decisions on development applications and provides guidance for potential developers, particularly on the criteria for their assessment of the possible impacts of a particular project. This NPS will be helpful to local planning authorities in preparing their local impact reports and may also be a material consideration in decision making on applications that fall under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
