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9 Jun 2003 : Column 578W—continued
Asbestos
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether a licence to operate a hazardous waste site includes permission (a) to store and (b) to process asbestos waste. [116201]
Mr. Meacher: Waste management licences are site specific and are subject to individual conditions regulating the activity in question. Whether a licence for a hazardous waste site includes permission to store and process asbestos waste will depend on
- (a) what has been applied for in respect of that site; and
(b) what the Agency has permitted in that particular case.
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how asbestos at waste disposal sites is classified; and if she will make a statement. [116206]
Mr. Meacher: All asbestos waste is classified as hazardous waste for the purposes of disposal and should go to landfill, either to a designated hazardous waste site or to a stabilised cell for non-reactive hazardous wastes within a non-hazardous waste site.
For the purposes of classification, landfill sites in England and Wales are regulated by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. In those Regulations, "hazardous waste" is defined as any waste as defined in Article 1(4) of the Hazardous Waste Directive (Directive 91/689/EEC).
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the addresses of waste disposal and recycling sites in the United Kingdom licensed by the Environment Agency to accept bonded asbestos. [116207]
Mr. Meacher: The Environment Agency has provided a list of sites which are specifically licensed to accept bonded asbestos. A copy of this has been placed in the Library of the House.
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Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what monitoring of bonded asbestos at waste disposal sites other than operator pollution risk appraisals is carried out by the Environment Agency. [116209]
Mr. Meacher: There is no specific monitoring required of bonded asbestos at waste disposal sites.
Each case will be considered using risk assessment methodology and any necessary arrangements put in place accordingly.
Cotswold Conservation Board
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that parish representation on the proposed Cotswold Conservation Board accurately reflects the geographical spread of parishes within the area of outstanding natural beauty. [117610]
Alun Michael: The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 requires at least 20 per cent. of the total membership of an AONB Conservation Board to be drawn from the constituent parishes for that area.
This Department is currently considering the responses to an informal consultation on a draft Establishment Order for a Cotswolds Conservation Board, which would include eight parish members. The draft Order provides for a single parish member to be elected from each of eight groupings of parishes so as to provide the widest possible geographical representation. These proposals take account of discussions with the Cotswold Partnership and each parish in the Cotswolds has been consulted on them.
Emissions
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to ensure the compatibility of the new EU emissions trading scheme with the Energy Efficiency Commitment introduced in April 2002. [116172]
Mr. Meacher: This Department has the lead responsibility in Government for the EU emissions Trading scheme. The Government will take into account all existing policies, including the first Energy Efficiency Commitment, that affect emissions of sectors that will come into the EU emission trading scheme in preparing the draft of the UK's national allocation plan. We will also incorporate estimates of the impact on emissions from forthcoming policies in determining the allocation of allowances.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made by her Department towards meeting the target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent. by 2050; and what representations she has received. [116180]
Mr. Meacher: The Energy White Paper accepted the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's (RCEP) recommendation that the UK should put itself
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on a path towards a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of some 60 per cent. from current levels by about 2050. The Energy White Paper sets out a long term strategic vision for energy policy, setting out long-term strategies and shorter-term policies to put us on this path. A cross-governmental network, the Sustainable Energy Policy Network, will ensure that the aims set out in the Energy White Paper are delivered. The network will report annually on the progress being made towards these aims.
Provisional data for carbon dioxide emissions are now available for 2002. This data shows emissions fell by an estimated 8 to 9 per cent. between 1990 and 2002, which demonstrates that the Government are making progress towards the domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received concerning progress being made towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 12 per cent. by 2012. [116181]
Mr. Meacher: The UK's target under the Kyoto Protocol is to reduce emissions of a basket of six greenhouse gases to 12.5 per cent. below base year levels by 2008–2012.
Data for emissions of the basket of six greenhouse gases for 2001, submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in April 2003, show that emissions fell by 12.3 per cent. between the base year and 2001.
Our latest projections also indicate that we are well on course to meet our Kyoto commitment. This conclusion is supported by two recent, independent assessments.
The Secretariat of the UNFCCC, in its report on the in-depth review of the UK's Third National Communication (3NC) report, published in May 2003, stated that the UK has put in place a diverse and innovative spectrum of measures to tackle climate change and is on course to meet its Kyoto greenhouse gas emissions target.
The Sustainable Development Commission also found, in its audit of the UK Climate Change Programme published in February 2003, that the UK appears very likely to achieve its Kyoto commitment.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable has been established by her Department for the publication of an implementation plan setting out how the Defra strategy for domestic energy efficiency improvements, as outlined in the Energy White Paper, will be delivered; and if she will make a statement. [114682]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 22 May 2003]: The implementation plan for the energy efficiency strategy set out in the Energy White Paper will be published within a year of the publication of the White Paper. Within the framework of the virtual Sustainable Energy
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Policy Network, an energy efficiency workstream has been established and this group will be responsible for drawing up this implementation plan.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets her Department has for improving energy efficiency; and how she intends to achieve these targets. [116654]
Mr. Morley: All departments currently have an interim target of 1 per cent. per annum reductions in (weather-corrected) CO2 emissions from their estate, relative to the base-year 1999–2000. Defra will agree new targets for 2010, based on benchmarking the performance of individual buildings where possible, by the end of this year.
This approach should also provide departmental energy managers with an effective management tool to identify the best opportunities for efficiency improvements. Detailed measures will be a matter for individual circumstances.
Environmental Information
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken by her Department to improve public access to information on (a) air quality and (b) water quality in England and Wales. [117480]
Alun Michael: Defra actively publishes and releases information according to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Its Publication Scheme can be viewed at www.defra.qov.uk/corporate/opengov/accessinfo.htm. The Information Commissioner has approved the scheme. Defra will also release information on request wherever possible.
Policy related air quality information, including the Air Quality Strategy is available on the Defra website (www.defra.qov.uk/environment/airqualitv/). Comprehensive information on past and present air quality and health is published through the Air Quality Information Service on the National Air Quality Information Archive website (www.airqualitv.co.uk), Teletext (page 156) and a freephone helpline (0800 556677). The information is updated hourly. Air Quality is also included in the Government's headline quality of life indicators, which are published annually and announced by means of a press notice. Information is also included in leaflets and reports produced by and on behalf of Defra and the Devolved Administrations.
Defra actively reviews and develops the air quality information it publishes. For example, the Archive was relaunched in May 2002 following improvements to the user friendliness of the pages.
The Environment Agency is the main provider of environmental information in England under the Environmental Information Regulations. The results of the Agency's General Water Quality Assessment scheme are reported annually and are included in the Government's headline quality of life indicators, which are published annually and announced by means of a press notice. The national and regional results are also
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published on the Agency's website (www.environment-aqency.gov.uk) and in fact sheets and reports, as well as on the Defra website (www.defra.co.uk/news/2002/0210Q3a.htm), and the Agency answers an estimated 350,000 queries annually, many of which are related to water quality.
As part of the Agency's Freedom of Information Act publication scheme, the water quality grades for each river stretch are included on the Agency's website under 'What's in Your Backyard'. This site is designed to provide easy access for the public to information about their local environment. Water quality sample results are also placed on the agency public registers and available for inspection in every area office.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received concerning measures required to improve the quantity and quality of public information on (a) air quality and (b) water quality, broken down by region in England and Wales. [117481]
Alun Michael: As a devolved matter, this answer relates to England.
The Department issued a consultation document in January 2001 on the air quality public information bulletin. A summary of the responses to this document are available on http://www.defra.gsi.gov.uk/environment/consult/airpoll/response.htm. The Department is not aware of any other representations concerning access to air quality information in England, which is freely available.
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