Topic guide 18.1 Legal requirements and environmental policies · 3 Unit 18 Manage the environmental impact of or activities 18.1 Legal requirements and environmental policies Noise

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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities

The construction and engineering industries, because of their potential to pollute and heavy use of natural resources and energy, are highly regulated both nationally and internationally. It is vital that any professional with environmental responsibility understands the legal and regulatory requirements – not least because the consequences of not understanding or complying with them can have serious outcomes, including heavy fines or even custodial sentences.

It is also important to be aware of the major policies driving environmental practices that aim to improve environmental performance in the workplace.

This topic guide will cover: • legal requirements that impact on sustainability in construction and

engineering • environmental policies that impact on engineering and construction.

Legal requirements and environmental policies18.1

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18.1: Legal requirements and environmental policies

1 Legal requirements that impact on sustainability in construction and engineering

Before you startLegislation, best practice and technology are continually changing and improving so, to remain effective as an environmental manager, you must be alert to changes and developments in your field. In particular, legal and regulatory matters are subject to change. Therefore, although the information presented in this topic guide is current at the time of writing, check all available information before carrying out tasks or acting on legal or regulatory matters.

Construction and engineering operations are subject to a great deal of legislation covering environmental performance. An environmental officer or any professional working within the industry needs to understand and be able to explain the legal requirements within their area of responsibility. Detailed legislation exists to protect the environment in:

• waste management • air and water quality • noise pollution • land use.

You should be fully aware of the environmental impact of your areas of operation and the legislation that covers these areas. Those involved in manufacturing engineering must be aware of the impact of manufacturing operations in terms of energy use, management of waste products, emissions to air and water, packaging, transport and noise. Similarly, construction professionals need to be aware of the impact of their activities in the same way.

To do this, you need to look closely at your operations and assess what environmental impact your activities will have. This will include the issues outlined below.

Materials handling Are the materials subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), or any other form of legislation? Are the materials controlled in any way? Is their sourcing and distribution regulated?

Waste Do any of the processes you conduct lead to emissions of gas or waste products into the air or water? Do any waste products go to landfill? Do you supply products with packaging?

Emissions Does your work involve the production of any waste substance that is released into the environment in the form of gas or particulate matter, or released into the local groundwater system?

LinksHNC in Construction and the Built Environment: Unit 47 Energy utilisation and efficiency for building services engineering, learning outcome 1, assessment criteria 1.2 and 1.3.

Individual pieces of legislation are explored in detail in NVQ Unit 1: Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements.

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Noise Does any activity you are part of cause noise or disturbance to the environment?

If you work for a quoted company, then under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013, your company will be required to report its annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its annual directors’ report. There is further discussion of this later in this topic guide.

Figure 18.1.1: A work site for the replacement of London’s Victorian water

main system. What environmental impact might this work have?

If your employer or work activity falls within any of the following categories, then you will also need an environmental permit to operate. The categories are:

• an installation (where technical activities are carried out) • a mobile plant (which carries out a technical activity) • a waste operation • a mining waste operation • a radioactive substances activity • a water discharge activity • a groundwater activity • a small waste incineration plant • a solvent emission activity.

An environmental permit is available by application from the Environment Agency and is designed to help businesses monitor and regulate waste, pollution and water discharge. There is a wide variety of standard permits available for activities such as waste management and treatment, water discharge, mining and water discharge activities.

ActivityFind out whether your company has an environmental permit for any of its activities. If so, locate and inspect the permit: check what type it is, its conditions of issue, the permitted activities, monitoring and recording requirements, and any notifications required.

Key termQuoted company – a company whose shares can be bought or sold.

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2 Environmental policies that impact on engineering and construction

Environmental policies may range from a simple statement of intent issued by a company, to detailed and targeted guidance issued by a government or regulatory body.

Your company should have an environmental policy statement setting out how it minimises its impact on the environment, including how it deals with waste, emissions, water and energy use and, where relevant, future targets or areas for improvement.

A number of generally understood policies are set out and explained in this section. These are policies in the broad sense; they are methods of viewing environmental issues, or ‘philosophies’, which may be incorporated into a more detailed policy statement. Government policies with targets for national improvement are discussed later in this topic guide.

The precautionary principleThe precautionary principle is the principle of taking action to stop harm as soon as there appears to be a risk of some harm occurring. There does not have to be strong evidence that any harm, such as pollution or a health hazard, has actually occurred, but if a regulatory body may reasonably suspect that there is a realistic risk of harm occurring then that body has a duty to take relevant action.

The United Nations Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 invokes the precautionary principle. The declaration defines the responsibilities of humans to safeguard the environment.

Rio Declaration 1992, Principle 15:

‘In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.’

The precautionary principle is not strictly or firmly defined in any legal sense and is open to interpretation by the user; for example it is left to the regulatory or authoritative body to decide what exactly constitutes a reasonable risk of damage. It is nevertheless applied widely in European law and the European Union (EU) has issued guidance on its interpretation.

Communication from the EU on the precautionary principle can be found at:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52000DC0001.

Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1995–2014. For more information, see the EUROPA website.

Key termRio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 – an environmental declaration made in Rio de Janeiro at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and approved by the United Nations. The declaration includes 27 ‘principles’ and links the right to development with environmental responsibility.

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ActivityResearch and download a copy of the Rio Declaration and read each principle. Then, find Principle 16 and note the reference to the ‘internalization of environmental costs’.

• Which principle promotes the ideals of the world’s youth in encouraging sustainable development?

• Which principle points out that warfare is counterproductive to sustainable development?

Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO)The Best Available Techniques (BAT) are specific techniques that are to be used to develop and carry out an environmental management system. BATs must be used in order to gain a permit to operate through the Environment Agency. The EC Directive 96/61/EC stipulates that BATs are used in integrated pollution prevention and control, and it provides guidance on the development of such techniques in Annex 4 of that directive. Further detailed guidance on BATs, organised by industry type and covering manufacturing and production engineering, is available from The European IPPC Bureau at:

http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reference/.

Source: European Union Joint Research Centre © 2008 EC JRC IPTS. For more information, see the EUROPA website.

The Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) is a set of principles designed to manage waste and environmental issues. The principle of BPEO was introduced into United Kingdom (UK) legislation within the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and is closely related to, and used alongside, BAT.

Under BPEO, a preferred option is chosen for a given set of objectives that provides the optimum balance in terms of emissions and discharges to land, air and water, so as to minimise harm and ensure the protection of the environment, taking account of what is affordable and practicable. BPEO assesses different environmental options under a range of criteria such as environmental impact, safety risk, technical feasibility and cost. Using qualitative and quantitative assessments of the performance in each criterion, and a weighting of the relative influence or importance of the criterion, BPEO will derive an overall score or ranking of the options, allowing comparisons between them.

The polluter pays principle (PPP)The ‘polluter pays’ principle (PPP) is a policy that requires an organisation or operator responsible for any type of pollution to pay for that pollution. In the case of small-scale emissions or localised accidents, the result is that the polluter pays for the remediation involved. However, it becomes more complex when considering the effects of wider, globally polluting practices, such as the production of greenhouse gases or pollution from transport.

Figure 18.1.2: Pollution should be avoided but where it is unavoidable, the organisation or operator responsible for

the pollution should pay for the impact of it under the polluter pays principle.

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In practice, the cost of pollution is often recovered through taxes on the polluting products and this may be interpreted as the consumer paying for the pollution rather than the organisation responsible for creating it.

The Rio Declaration 1992 cites the PPP. The EC Directive 2004/35/CE further embeds this principle and lists in Annex III those industries and operations that are subject to the directive.

Producer responsibilityProducer responsibility requires the manufacturer, or importer of consumer goods, to take responsibility for the disposal of goods once they become waste. The policy of producer responsibility encompasses particular regulations such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006 and the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. In the UK, a stated percentage of packaging materials, WEEE and vehicles must be recovered for materials recovery, reuse or recycling. The UK government provides detailed guidance on these aspects of producer responsibility at:

www.gov.uk/packaging-waste-producer-supplier-responsibilities.

Life cycle costingLife cycle costing is a system for considering the cost of a product throughout its life, including the cost of its manufacture, the environmental costs incurred through its use and the costs in recycling, recovering or disposing of it at the end of its useful life; this is sometimes referred to as ‘cradle-to-grave’ cost. Similarly, but not identically, ‘whole life costing’ accounts for any economic or environmental benefits gained through the use of a product.

When life cycle costing, it is important to consider the materials that will be used in the design of manufactured products or buildings, the amount of energy that will be used in manufacture or throughout the life of a building, and the treatment of these materials in product disposal and demolition. Many construction and engineering materials can be recovered or recycled. Careful life cycle costing at the design or building procurement stage will help identify and minimise the life cycle cost of a product. The EU provides advice on life cycle costing for businesses. You can access this advice at:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/lcc.htm.

Source: Environment © European Union, 2014. For more information, see the EUROPA website.

Avoidance, mitigation and compensationA policy of avoidance should be followed over one of mitigation. Avoidance places the prevention of any damage to the environment as a primary priority and mitigation (lessened impact) or compensatory measures as secondary. Compensation measures should only be taken when avoidance and mitigation of impact is not possible.

• Avoidance of damage to the environment may mean relocating operations to preserve wildlife or features of the environment, or adopting different operating techniques that have no environmental impact on a particular site.

Key termWEEE – waste electrical and electronic equipment.

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• Mitigation may involve using different operating or waste management techniques, a revised building design, rescheduling operations to a different time of year, or the relocation of species.

• Compensation, or offsetting measures, should only be taken as a last resort and may include replacement of species or the creation of a new habitat.

Where operations must proceed in an environmentally sensitive area then it may be necessary to form a Compensation, Mitigation and Monitoring Agreement (CMMA) between the operator and the relevant regulatory body (for example the Environment Agency, local authority, etc.). Under this agreement there will be clear requirements placed on the operator and a monitoring schedule should be agreed. In proposed construction projects, a summary of the existing environment and avoidance, mitigation or compensation measures may be combined into an environmental impact statement. Often, this is a requirement of the planning application process and the project must indicate satisfactory levels of compliance with local authority expectations in order to gain planning permission.

Government policiesPolicies covering the environmental impact of activities in all sectors of business and manufacturing are formed and promoted by the UK government and its departments, such as DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), BIS (Department for Business, Innovation & Skills) and the Department of Energy & Climate Change. Legislation and policy is also provided by the EU, which in turn affects UK government policy. Other agencies and ‘think tanks’ (such as the Green Alliance, the Carbon Trust, and charities and pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the National Trust) also provide information and policies.

We will look at some of the important environmental policies that are being promoted by the UK government and/or the EU at the time of writing.

Take it furtherMore detailed information on the agencies covered in this section and government policies can be found at: • www.gov.uk/government/topics/environment• www.green-alliance.org.uk/home• www.greenpeace.org.uk• www.foe.co.uk• www.carbontrust.com/home• www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

Encouraging businesses to manage their impact on the environment

The construction and engineering industries are highly resource-intensive, consuming a lot of natural and manufactured resources and materials. The extraction of natural materials and the abstraction of water have serious environmental impacts and must be monitored and managed closely.

On a global scale, the use of rare earth metals and other scarce materials has ethical as well as economic and environmental impacts.

Key termRare earth metals – a set of metals, not necessarily rare but difficult to extract, which have growing importance in the electronics industry because of their properties. Rare earth metals include yttrium (used in laser technology), lanthanum (used in lenses and lighting technology) and gadolinium (used in X-ray and scanning technologies, and in television manufacture).

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Many rare materials are used in the production of modern consumer goods and these are often produced in developing countries or states where there are poor employment laws and safety regulations. A large proportion of the UK economy depends on global trade and resources. However, factors such as climate change and increasing populations mean there is more pressure on energy, the extraction of natural resources and environmental conditions where resources are sourced. The government has published a document called Resource Security Action Plan, which provides more details on environmental management in resource extraction. You can access this document at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/resource-security-action-plan-making-the-most-of-valuable-materials.

The government estimates that more efficient use of resources (such as water, energy and natural materials) will bring benefits to UK businesses, including reducing carbon emissions and providing more resilience to climate change and price instability of global commodities.

If businesses provide accurate information about the environmental impacts and performance of products and services, consumers can make informed choices about what they buy.

ActivityDownload the Resource Security Action Plan: Making the most of valuable materials, from:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/resource-security-action-plan-making-the-most-of-valuable-materials.

Read the document and answer the following questions.• Do your work activities utilise any of the materials listed in Table 1? If so, can any alternatives

be used?• Do your work activities utilise any of the EU critical raw materials listed in Figure 3?

Read the sections on substitution of materials and the benefits of the circular economy. Consider whether any of the topics discussed could apply to your work products.

Encouraging resource efficiency and environmental management

Improved resource efficiency and environmental management are encouraged by: • the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which offers specialist

advice to a number of industry sectors including construction, about resource use, waste management, recycling and reuse of materials, meeting environmental legislation and training needs

• implementing the Resource Security Action Plan • using government purchasing power to support businesses that produce

more sustainable products and services • providing tools to help businesses with environmental assessments, including

greenhouse gas emissions reporting • promoting the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures

and Commerce (RSA) Environment Awards Forum, which is a body dedicated to the accreditation of environmental performance awards.

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Improving the sustainability of products

More efficient and sustainable methods of producing and consuming goods will reduce our overall environmental impact. In order to help businesses improve the sustainability of their products, the government is:

• monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from products and services • publishing annual data on the UK’s carbon footprint • publishing evidence that shows consumption-based emissions broken down

by sector and geographic origin • providing wider promotion of sustainable goods and services.

Providing consumers with clear information on the environmental impact of products

The government intends to allow consumers to make an informed choice about the products they buy in relation to their environmental impact. To do this, it will:

• provide advice to businesses on making correct environmental claims in marketing and advertising, and on voluntary environmental labelling schemes

• deliver and enforce the EU energy-efficiency labelling schemes.

ActivityVisit the following websites and research the new regulations on energy-efficiency labelling:• www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-new-eu-energy-label-explained• http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/labelling/labelling_en.htm.

Source: Energy © European Union, 2014. For more information, see the EUROPA website.

Investigate any recent purchases of products or equipment in your workplace and see if you can find an energy rating label either with the product or retained elsewhere.

If there is not already a system for recording the energy rating of equipment that is in use in your workplace, consider instigating and developing one. Publicise your findings and share them with managers or those with additional environmental responsibilities.

Maintaining secure water supplies, high standards of drinking water and effective sewerage services

Under its policy of maintaining secure water supplies, high standards of drinking water and effective sewerage services, the government intends to improve London’s sewage system by creating a new sewer, known as the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The project is still at the planning consultation stage, and if approved, construction is due to commence in 2015.

The government is also increasing awareness of SUDS (sustainable urban drainage systems) in new developments and encouraging natural drainage methods such as porous ground finishes or designing swales to carry flash floodwater in strategic areas.

The government monitors and ensures the safety of drinking water provided by water companies through the Drinking Water Inspectorate. It also aims to provide education on more efficient use of drinking water in the home for non-potable uses. WRAP provides information and guidance on more efficient water use for homes and businesses.

Key termsSUDS or SDS – sustainable urban drainage system or sustainable drainage system is any type of rainwater and surface water management system that drains surface water in an environmentally sustainable way, usually releasing it into the ground in a controlled way, and avoiding piping it to treatment unnecessarily.

Swale – a natural or artificial channel in the landscape, designed to channel water in periods of heavy rainfall.

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The Climate Change Act 2008 has committed the UK government to reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 per cent (of the emissions in 1990) by 2050. To aid this, the government has set out the Carbon Plan, which sets a declining carbon emission target for each of the next four-year Carbon Budget periods. The UK is also part of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) where emission allowances may be ‘traded’ from operators who have made savings beyond their allowance, to operators who would like to use what is left of this allowance.

Operators who are responsible for emissions of greenhouse gases have an obligation to monitor and report quantities of emissions from 2013. The government publication, Environmental Reporting Guidelines, provides detailed advice on which businesses need to do this and how it may be carried out.

The government’s green deal also provides financial aid to householders seeking to reduce their carbon footprint by upgrading the energy efficiency of their home. The feed-in tariff for micro-renewable energy generators also acts as an incentive for small-scale households to reduce their carbon emissions.

ActivityDownload The Carbon Plan: Delivering our Low Carbon Future, from: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-carbon-plan-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions--2.

Read the section on industry and consider the points below. • How much carbon was emitted by the UK industrial sector in 2009 and what proportion of this

was from generating heat for industrial processes? • What is the target percentage reduction for carbon emissions by 2050? • Are there opportunities in your workplace for conventional energy efficiency, process or

thermal efficiency, or material efficiency? • Could your workplace or operator switch fuels to make energy savings, or could they use

carbon capture to counteract emissions?

Read the section on waste and resource efficiency and consider the points below. • Does your company optimise the opportunity for energy reclamation from waste products? • How much waste results from your operations and what proportion of this goes to landfill?

Improving surface freshwater quality

The EU Water Framework Directive 2000 sets out legislation on natural watercourse and river basin management on geographical as opposed to political boundaries. The directive aims to protect the quality of surface freshwater (including lakes, streams and rivers), groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems, estuaries and coastal waters.

The Environment Agency (EA), DEFRA and water companies will monitor and analyse the condition of the major river basins in England, prevent further deterioration of aquatic ecosystems, reduce pollution into water, including groundwater, and continue to promote the sustainable use of water.

The EA has published detailed river management plans for each river catchment area in England. This helps to promote a localised approach to water and ecology management as the catchment areas are relatively small.

Key termsGreen deal – a UK government-sponsored system of providing loans to householders to install energy-saving measures such as loft insulation or double glazing.

Feed-in tariff – payment for the generation of electricity through micro-renewable means. Payment is made to households when excess electricity is generated and ‘exported’ by the generator to the national grid.

River basin – the geographical area being drained by any one river and its tributaries.

Catchment area – an area of land, similar to a river basin, where rainfall and groundwater drain into any one river or its tributaries.

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Reducing and managing waste

The management of waste, both household and industrial, is one of the biggest environmental issues and one that is particularly applicable in manufacturing and construction. Both industries produce a lot of waste material and careful management and reduction of waste will lead to economic savings, as well as environmental benefits.

WRAP provides advice to businesses and households on reducing waste, including businesses in the construction industry. Waste materials arising from construction must be segregated while still on site so that recyclable or reclaimable materials may be processed separately from organic or controlled waste products. It is recommended that construction projects have a site waste management plan (SWMP), which monitors and records the waste arising from the project. Further discussion of techniques to reduce waste is covered in Topic guides 18.2 and 18.3.

Improving the energy efficiency of buildings and using planning to protect the environment

It is estimated that buildings are responsible for about 40 per cent of all UK carbon emissions (source: www.gov.uk). Energy inefficiency, poor waste management or poor resource use during the construction of buildings further damages the environment.

To improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, the government has: • empowered local planning authorities to ensure sustainability and energy

efficiency of new dwellings • required all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016 • introduced the green deal to help homeowners upgrade the energy efficiency

of their homes • improved energy performance certificates • introduced the Code for Sustainable Homes, which provides a national

standard for the design and construction of sustainable new homes.

Portfolio activity (1.1, 1.2)1 Research and note the most important pieces of legislation and regulatory information

applicable to the activities you undertake in your workplace. This may be linked to some of the assessment activities you undertook for Unit 1 and there may be an opportunity for assessment of multiple learning outcomes.

2 Examine your work activities and determine which of the policies discussed in this topic guide you are implementing, either as part of your general working activity, or as a company-recommended procedure.

3 Look for opportunities to use more of the policies discussed. Present your findings in report format with recommendations for the implementation of further environmental policies.

Key termsControlled waste – waste as defined in the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 can be household, industrial or commercial waste and requires a waste management licence for removal or treatment.

Zero carbon – manufactured or built with zero net carbon emissions attributable to it.

Energy performance certificate – a statement detailing the energy and carbon emissions performance of a home or building.

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ChecklistAt the end of this topic guide you should be familiar with:

the legal requirements within your area of responsibility

industrial and governmental policies within your area of responsibility.

Further reading and resourceswww.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-including-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance

AcknowledgementsThe publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs:

DK Images: Rose Horridge (3); Imagemore Co., Ltd: (5); Shutterstock.com: Silverblack (1)

All other images © Pearson Education

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

Gov.uk for the inclusion of the website link www.gov.uk/packaging-waste-producer-supplier-responsibilities. © Crown copyright; The European Commission for the inclusion of the website links; http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri-CELEX:52000DC0001, EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1995-2014; http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reference/, European Union Joint Research Centre © 2008 EC JRC IPTS; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/lcc.htm, Environment © European Union, 2014; http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/labelling/labelling_en.htm, Energy © European Union, 2014. Reproduced with permission. For more information, see the EUROPA website; and Gov.uk for an extract from ‘New green revolution needed to cut carbon emissions from existing buildings’, www.gov.uk/government/news/new-green-revolution-needed-to-cut-carbon-emissions-from-existing-buildings, © Crown copyright.

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders and we apologise in advance for any unintentional omissions. We would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent edition of this publication.

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Topic guide 18.1 Legal requirements and environmental policies · 3 Unit 18 Manage the environmental impact of or activities 18.1 Legal requirements and environmental policies Noise