Carbon Accounting Regulations 2009

Draft Statutory Instrument

Introduce a carbon accounting system which will be used to monitor compliance with the targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions introduced by the Climate Change Act 2008.

Proposed commencement: 31 May 2009

For draft SI, please visit: OPSI Website

For Explanatory Memorandum, please download: Draft Carbon Accounting Regulations 2009 Explanatory Memorandum

Carbon Budgets Order 2009 / Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions) Order 2009

Draft Statutory Instruments

Form part of an implementation package for the Climate Change Act 2008. The Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions) Order 2009 amends the level of the 2020 target in s 5(1)(a) of the 2008 Act, sets a limit on the use of carbon credits that may be used to meet the first carbon budget and, finally, defines “international aviation” and “international shipping” for the purposes of s 30 of the Act. The Carbon Budgets Order 2009 sets the first three carbon budgets.

Proposed commencement: 31 May 2009

For draft Carbon Budgets Order, please visit: OPSI Website
For draft Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions), please visit: OPSI Website
For Explanatory Memorandum, please download: Carbon Budgets Order 2009 and Climate Change Act 2008 (2020 Target, Credit Limit and Definitions) Order Explanatory Memorandum

Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009

SI 2009/890

Enabling powers: European Communities Act 1972, s 2(2).

These Regulations partially implement Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators. They establish the scope of “producer responsibility”, requiring producers of batteries and accumulators to take responsibility for separately collecting and recycling batteries and accumulators once they become waste.

Commencement: 14 Apr 2009

For full text, please visit: OPSI Website
For Explanatory Memorandum, please download: SI 2009/890 Explanatory Memorandum

Benacre Estates Co & Anor v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government & Ors [2009] EWHC 680 (Admin)

QBD (Admin) – 7 Apr 2009

The applicants applied to quash a decision letter in which an inspector granted planning permission with conditions for the construction and operation of two wind turbines and the associated infrastructure on land in Norfolk.

Held: in recognising non-compliance of parts of the interim local policy with national policy, the Planning Inspector was clearly correct as a matter of fact. In saying that he disregarded the policy requirements, the Inspector meant that he was not attaching any weight to those parts of the interim policy which were in conflict with national policy. Issues of weight to attach to a non-statutory policy were matters for the Inspector. Reading the decision letter as a whole, it was clear that what he was doing was looking, first, at the development plan and then weighing the other material considerations that he had identified. It was a classic example of the balance of judgment which was integral to a planning decision. The decision letter was of adequate clarity to the informed reader. The Inspector had a clear understanding of the policies and applied them to the development proposed. He then found that the objective that the policy matrix of the local plan and the interim local plan strove to achieve, namely preservation of the setting of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, was not harmed to such an extent that the policies could not be overridden by other material considerations. The Inspector did not misdirect himself as to government policy. The key point was whether, in the particular circumstances of the case, the environmental impact of the development was capable of being addressed satisfactorily. The phrase "perceived conflict", used by the Inspector, was no more than another way of describing the balancing of the various factors that went into making the ultimate judgment.

For judgment, please visit: BAILII

Fish Legal and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Scottish Information Commissioner Decision – 31 Mar 2009

Fish Legal requested information relating to specified pollution incidents – whether exempt from disclosure by virtue of FOI (Scotland) Act 2002, s 39(2) as environmental information and also excepted from disclosure under the EI(S)Rs – Commissioner found that SEPA had been correct to deal with Fish Legal's information request under s 39(2) but had partially failed to deal with the request in accordance with the EI(S)Rs – Commissioner found that SEPA was incorrect in its application of reg 10(5)(b) (relating to the course of justice, fair trials and the conduct of criminal investigations) in relation to statements made by SEPA employees, but correct in its application of this exception to the remaining information.

Decision 038/2009

For full text, please download: Decision 038/2009

Mr Rob Edwards of the Sunday Herald & the Scottish Ministers

Scottish Information Commissioner Decision – 3 Apr 2009

Request from environment editor of the Sunday Herald for copies of all documents contained in a specified file relating to nuclear waste disposal – Commissioner concluded that the information under consideration was environmental information and so he considered the case under the EI(S)Rs 2004 – found that all of the documents withheld were internal communications, and so were exempted from disclosure under reg 10(4)(e) – after consideration of the public interest test, the Commissioner required disclosure of certain information.

Decision 044/2009

For full text, please download: Decision 044/2009

Renewables Obligation Order 2009

SI 2009/785
Enabling powers: Electricity Act 1989, ss 32–32M

Imposes, inter alia, an obligation on all electricity suppliers to produce a certain number of renewables obligation certificates in respect of each megawatt hour of electricity that each supplies to customers in England and Wales during a specified period known as an obligation period.

Commencement: 1 Apr 2009

For full text, please visit: Office of Public Sector Information Website

For Explanatory Memorandum, please download: SI 2009/785 Explanatory Memorandum