---

12 Mar 2004 : Column 1766W—continued

Marine Consents

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish the conclusions of the Review of Marine Consents. [157185]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 27 February 2004]: The Review is being led by my right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker, Minister of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Government are considering a range of options for reform of the current consenting regime. An announcement will be made in due course.

Over-30-months Scheme

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the legal advice her Department uses to determine eligibility for payment under the over-30-months scheme when cattle are presented for slaughter without an official tag but with other supporting documents; and how many claims previously regarded as ineligible for want of tags have been accepted since this advice. [159486]

Alun Michael: When cattle are presented for slaughter at a designated abattoir the Rural Payments Agency must be satisfied of the origin of the animal. There is a risk that without an ear tag an animal might have been substituted. However, provided that there is some clear and unequivocal identification on the animal itself which directly links with the animal's official documentation it may be concluded that an animal can be satisfactorily identified.

Sixty six animals initially regarded as ineligible because of a missing official tag have since been accepted onto the scheme.

Refrigerators

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Environment Agency has not implemented a minimum standard for the amount of ozone-depleting substances recovered from each refrigerator. [154777]

Mr. Morley: Two of the principal aims of the Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS) Regulation (EC 2037/2000) are to prevent the release of existing ODS and ensure their recovery.

When setting performance standards the Environment Agency must have regard to the ODS Regulations and the criteria set out in Waste Management Paper No4 (WMP4). Licence conditions must be necessary, enforceable, unambiguous and comprehensive. The standard set by the Agency is based on the emission loss to the atmosphere from the process based on throughput, and the percentage loss through attachment to residual metal, plastic, foam and oil. The ODS Regulations do not require minimum
 
12 Mar 2004 : Column 1767W
 
recovery; only that releases are prevented and ODS recovered. The Environment Agency considers that the performance standards set meet these requirements.

Setting a minimum standard of ODS recovered would be problematic when assessed against the aforementioned criteria and the fact that fridges accepted at the facilities do not contain an average or an assumed amount of ODS, as carried out by certain other standards.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of chlorofluorocarbons is extracted from recovered refrigerators in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) other EU member states. [154778]

Mr. Morley: To calculate the percentage of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) from recovered refrigerators the average recovered CFCs per fridge for R11 and R12 needs to be used, which for 2003 in England and Wales are 186.13g and 50.5g respectively, and the average amount of CFCs contained in a refrigerator.

However, there is currently no agreed figure for an average amount of CFCs in a refrigerator across member states, primarily because of the variation in size and volume of units. Therefore it is not possible to assess and compare the percentage of CFCs with any confidence. It is for this reason that the performance standards set in the UK work on the basis of emissions lost in the process and those lost through attachment to residual metal, plastic, foam and oil.

Sellafield

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent information she has received from the Environment Agency on the management of Technetium-99 radioactive wastes at Sellafield. [156639]

Mr. Morley: In September 2001 the Environment Agency published its proposed decision on the future regulation of technetium-99 (Tc-99) discharges from Sellafield into the Irish sea. In December 2002, the Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and for Health published their decision not to exercise their powers under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 to direct the Agency in respect to its proposed decision. The Agency's decision was, therefore, implemented in full. It contained a number of elements including a requirement to work towards the abatement of Tc-99 discharges through "MAC Diversion". This technique came into operation in middle of last year. The Agency also required research to be carried out into the use of tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (TPP) to abate Tc-99 discharges still further. A plant-scale trial using TPP was carried out towards the end of last year. The results of the trial are currently being evaluated by the Agency and the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. We look forward to hearing their conclusions, which are expected in April.

Thames Estuary

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the possible rise in sea level in the Thames Estuary as a result of (a) climate change and (b) other
 
12 Mar 2004 : Column 1768W
 
factors in the next (i) 25, (ii) 50 and (iii) 75 year terms; and what research her Department has (A) carried out and (B) commissioned into the subject. [154230]

Mr. Morley: The Thames Barrier was originally constructed to accommodate an 8mm per year increase in sea level, which at the time of design was extrapolated from tidal records through the Estuary. This, in principle, provides protection against a one in a 1000 year tidal surge up to 2030. Current guidance from DEFRA suggests an increase in relative sea level of up to 6mm per year is built into plans for future flood defences.

The 6mm per year figure is intended to accommodate the impact of climate change on sea level; that is thermal expansion of the oceans and ice melt of coastal ice-sheets, as well as long-term regional land subsidence.

Currently the Environment Agency is undertaking work to consider flood risk management options for the estuary up until 2100 under the project, Thames Estuary 2100. This will also involve making a full assessment of the risks associated with climate induced sea level, including potential changes in North Sea surges.

Predictions for the next 100 years will be developed using UK Climate Impact Programme research combined with trends inferred from the project's investigation into absolute ground level changes. This research is currently scheduled to be completed by September 2006.

Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what construction and refurbishment her Department is undertaking; at what locations; and what measures are being implemented to ensure that all timber used (a) on the construction sites and (b) in the final projects will come from legal and sustainable sources. [158102]

Mr. Morley: The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its executive agencies are  undertaking the following construction and refurbishment projects valued at over £100,000:

New technical buildings for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge;

New farm buildings for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge;

New lifts for the Rural Payments Agency, Carlisle;

Office redevelopment in Whitehall, London;

Office refurbishment in Millbank, London.

Procurement centres in Defra and its executive agencies have been issued with guidance, including a model specification clause and contract condition, which explains how to seek to acquire timber and wood products from legal and sustainable sources. Contractors for the projects listed above are required to supply timber from legal and sustainable sources. Building site supervisors are instructed to monitor compliance with these contract requirements.

Toxic Waste

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which sites, broken down by region, are licensable for disposal of
 
12 Mar 2004 : Column 1769W
 
toxic waste; what the most recent return of annual disposal of toxic waste is; and whether each site will be licensable after the EU directives on toxic waste disposal have been fully implemented. [155105]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 February 2004]: I have placed a list, compiled by the Environment Agency, in the Library. This list identifies all the facilities, in alphabetical order, that had hazardous waste consigned to them in the year 2002 in England and Wales. Disposal, recovery, treatment and transfer stations are included. Sites where wastes were disposed of on the site of production are not included. The location and total quantity of hazardous waste received in 2002 are given. Most, if not all, of the non-landfill sites on this list will continue to be licensed to take hazardous waste in the future.

In terms of the impact of the Landfill Directive, the Agency are considering applications for hazardous waste landfills from operators wishing to continue to accept hazardous waste after the ban on co-disposal (of hazardous and non-hazardous waste) comes into force in July this year in accordance with the EU Landfill Directive. In addition, other landfill sites, classified as non-hazardous, may opt to accept stable non-reactive waste in separately constructed cells. Both these issues are being kept under regular review. Not all hazardous wastes are toxic and the Landfill Directive specifically bans hazardous wastes that are explosive, corrosive, oxidising or flammable from being disposed of to landfill.

---