101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 166 Control on persistent organic pollutants if there's no Brexit deal Purpose This notice outlines the arrangements that would come into force to regulate Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no deal. POPs are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They persist in the environment for long periods, are capable of long-range transportation, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue and biomagnify in food chains, and have potentially significant impacts on human health and the environment. Exposure to POPs can cause serious health problems including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, and greater susceptibility to disease. Before 29 March 2019 The POPs regulations implement, manage and enforce the international Stockholm Convention agreement on POPs and the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on POPs (CLRTAP). Competent authorities in the four UK countries manage permits and inventories. They are also responsible for some monitoring and enforcement of the regulations. The competent authorities are: For England, the Environment Agency, For Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, For Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, For Wales, the Natural Resources Body for Wales After March 2019 if there’s no deal The UK is a party to both the Stockholm Convention and the CLRTAP in its own right and as such would be bound by their obligations and retain existing protections. This will not change after leaving the EU. The competent authorities would remain the same as currently. Control of production, placing on the market and use The criteria for managing existing substances and new substances exhibiting characteristics of POPs would remain the same. Future updates would be in accordance with Stockholm Convention decisions and agreed scientific and technical progress. The Secretary of State, Scottish Minister, Welsh Minister and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland are responsible for ensuring that these substances are not produced and do not reach the market once identified in accordance with restrictions set out in the annexes to the legislation. Competent authorities in the relevant country should be contacted if there are any concerns about a substance. Exemptions from control measures Exemptions from the restrictions agreed by the Stockholm Convention and set out in the current EU regulation would remain the same. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Inventories Each competent authority is responsible for keeping a record of PCB equipment still to be destroyed. They would continue to keep this record and should be informed if any equipment is identified as containing PCBs or when they have been safely destroyed. Annexes The list of substances in the annexes to the current EU regulation that are controlled and monitored would be unchanged. Waste management methods and concentration limits for individual substances set out in the annexes to the EU regulation would remain unchanged. Future updates would be in accordance with Stockholm Convention decisions and an agreed scientific and technical progress. New POPs substances Identification of potential new POPs substances, with the exception of pesticides, may come from any source but would be managed initially through the UK chemicals regulatory regime that would replace REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). If all the characteristics of a POP emerge from the evidence gathering, the UK would develop a dossier to present to the Stockholm Convention’s POP Review Committee (POPRC) for assessment.