ADA responds to exemption reforms to the Environmental Permiting Regulations

ADA responded by broadly supporting most of these reforms.

Building on the findings of the Corry Review, ADA’s response recommending that for the operations of risk management authorities (RMAs) a code of conduct is established that negates the need for exemptions, or consents for routine activities. ADA suggested exploring the regulatory approached used for water boards in the Netherlands for IDBs and other RMAs in England. Dutch Water Boards have a Code of Conduct for Sustainable Management and Maintenance (Dutch: Gedragscode bestendig beheer en onderhoud). This code of conduct provides the water boards with rules and tools for management and maintenance. As a result, they do not have to apply for environmental permits, exemptions or exclusions from the regulatory authorities (provincial government in the Netherlands) for all their management and maintenance activities. This significantly streamlines the regulatory landscape, creating a common ruleset for all Dutch water boards to work to, and reduces bureaucratic delay (which is currently significant in England). The code of conduct applies for a period of five years. Before renewal it is reviewed and a new draft publicly consulted upon before coming into effect from the 1 April in the relevant year. This approach even allows for practices that create betterment for the aquatic environment as the rules are made more appropriate for public authorities managing linear lengths of watercourses and thousands of assets across an extensive lowland environment.