There is an opportunity to work within a Regulatory Position Statement issued by the Environment Agency for England but, first, it is best to cover the situations where an environmental permit is required.
In these cases, you need to apply for a bespoke permit if:
- your water discharge is from ‘pump and treat’ (pumping out contaminated groundwater or water from contaminated land so it can be treated)
- your water discharge is from quarry activities
- you cannot comply with the conditions in this RPS
In addition, you need to apply for a water resources licence to abstract water if you abstract more than 20 cubic metres of water a day.
You do not need to apply for a water resources licence if you abstract from:
- surface water and your activity meets the conditions of the surface water abstraction exemption under Regulation 6 of the Water Abstraction and Impounding (Exemptions) Regulations 2017
groundwater and your activity meets the conditions of the groundwater abstraction exemption under Regulation 5 of the Water Abstraction and Impounding (Exemptions) Regulations 2017
However, you do not currently need to apply for a permit if you:
- have a short-term, temporary discharge of uncontaminated water which is wholly or mainly rainwater, from an excavation to surface water (such as pumping water out of excavations on a building site)
- comply with all the conditions in the relevant regulatory position statement (RPS)
Compliance Conditions
The discharge must:
- be clean water, for example clear rainwater or infiltrated groundwater which has collected in the bottom of temporary excavations
- not result in water containing fine or coarse suspended solids (silty water) entering surface water
- not last more than 3 consecutive months (the activity may stop and restart but the clock does not restart) – if the activity is likely to go over 3 consecutive months then you need to apply for a permit
- be made to surface water, such as a river, stream or the sea
- have a method statement that minimises the risk of pollution
The discharge must not:
- pollute surface water
- contain any chemical dosing agents, flocculants or coagulants
- be from a site which is contaminated by oil, metals, hydrocarbons, solvents or pesticides or other polluting substances
- result in the spread of non-native invasive species, parasites or disease
- cause flooding from surface water
- cause erosion of the banks or bed of the receiving watercourse
- contain concrete wash water even if it has been treated
- contain site drainage from surface areas such as haul roads, storage or working areas
- be from a site with naturally elevated concentrations of substances which exceed environmental quality standards
Before starting work on site you must:
- plan how to minimise the level of contaminants such as silt entering the excavation
plan how to dispose of water that enters the excavation - plan not to use machinery in excavations while dewatering is taking place
- minimise water entering the excavation, for example from rainfall, runoff, groundwater ingress or high water table
- consider using sustainable urban drainage construction methods
The discharge must not be located within, or less than 500 metres upstream of:
- Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)
- Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
- candidate SACs, possible SACs, potential SPAs and sites of community importance
- internationally designated Ramsar sites
- other nature conservation sites, such as ancient woodlands, local and national nature reserves
- local wildlife sites
Additionally, you should contact the Environment Agency if your discharge rate is more than 10% of the dry weather flow (Q95 low flow) rate of the surface water and dilution is low. A high discharge rate may increase flood risk or have other local environmental consequences.
Enforcement
The Environment Agency will not take enforcement action against you provided:
- your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
- you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS
- your activity does not (and is not likely to) cause environmental pollution or harm human health
This RPS will be reviewed by 30 April 2020.
ACTION POINTS
- Review your current activities as a business that is required to have temporary dewatering discharged from excavations to surface waters
- If you undertake these activities then your organisation should recognise this RPS as a compliance obligation & comply with its conditions.
- Check back with the Environment Agency on or before 30 April 2020 to review whether this RPS still applies as this is their review date for this RPS.