NFTPG Tackling Flytipping - Fin

1 Tackling Fly-tippingA guide for landowners and land managers The National Fly-tipping Prevention Group( NFTPG ) brings together organisations with acommon aim: to come up with solutions to theproblem of fly-tipping. Chaired by theEnvironment Agency, its membership includesregulatory bodies, Government departments,and organisations with a wide membership oflandowners and land managers. More information about the group and itsmembers can be found at :The information contained in this documentcan only serve as a guide to the relevant lawsand guidance relating to landowners andoccupiers rights and responsibilities relatingto fly-tipping. It does not constitute legaladvice. It may not be comprehensive and itmay be misleading if relied upon as acomplete explanation of the legal issuesinvolved. Full legislation is available If you wish to take adviceor pursue a case, you must seek independentlegal advice.

2 Guidance applies to England and WalesPublished April 2006P3 WHAT IS FLY-TIPPING?This guide contains advice and information for anyone responsible for dealing with fly-tipped waste onland that they own, occupy or manage. It will also be useful to any individuals, groups or organisationsthat may be affected by fly-tipping. This guidance applies to England and Wales. Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste and isa kinds of waste are fly-tipped, the mostcommon being household waste. Other wastesthat are fly-tipped include appliances like fridgesand washing machines, waste from building anddemolition work, animal carcasses, vehicle partsand tyres. Hazardous wastes such as oil,asbestos sheeting and chemicals are alsodumped illegally. The types of land mostcommonly affected by fly-tipping include landnear to public waste tips, roadsides and privateland, particularly on the outskirts of urban areas,in back alleys and on derelict impacts of fly-tippingFly-tipping: is a criminal activity that can cause serious pollution of the environment, can be a risk to human health and can harm wildlife and farm animals; spoils our local neighbourhoods and quality of life; costs an estimated 100m in total to clean up; costs local authorities alone 44m each year to clear up; is seen as a major problem by over three-quarters of landowners1; and affects67% of farmers; undermines legitimate waste management companies who are undercut by illegal is fly-tipping?

3 1 ENCAMS Fly-tipping Survey 2003 IS GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THE PROBLEM? What is governmentdoing about theproblem? Fly-tipping and the lawWhat is the legislation regarding fly-tipping?Fly-tipping of waste is illegal and constitutes aserious offence for which a person can beprosecuted. There are several pieces oflegislation relating to fly-tipping in addition to theCNEA 2005. In England and Wales the mainlegislation is the Environmental Protection Act(EPA) 1990, , 34 and 59. The Control ofPollution (Amendment) Act 1989 sets out theneed for waste carriers to register with theEnvironment Agency and gives the Agency andauthorised officers of a Waste CollectionAuthority power to seize vehicles used for illegalwaste-related Protection Act 1990(Part II) is illegal for any person to deposit controlledwaste, knowingly cause or knowingly permitcontrolled waste to be deposited in or on anyland unless a waste management licence is in force and the deposit is in accordance with the waste is any household, commercial orindustrial waste.

4 Section 33 also makes it anoffence if a person has treated, kept or disposedof controlled waste in or on land that does nothave a waste management licence, or that is notin accordance with a licence. It is a defence toprove that all reasonable measures were taken toavoid the commission of the offence or that theact was necessitated by an emergency in order toavoid a danger to the public. It is not a validdefence to claim to be acting under anemployer s Government has introduced a range ofmeasures aimed at Tackling fly-tipping, includingthe Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act2005 (CNEA) which gives regulators more powersto tackle fly-tipping and the courts the ability toimpose tougher penalties. Fly-tipping is a criminal offence. The CNEA increased the penalties for dumping waste inEngland and Wales fly-tippers can now be finedup to 50,000 in Magistrates Courts and faceunlimited fines in higher courts, as well ascommunity punishment orders or prisonsentences of up to five convicted of fly-tipping offences can nowbe made to pay the costs of enforcement andinvestigation, as well as the clean-up Government is also keen to build a picture ofthe scale and cost of fly-tipping.

5 It has fundedFlycapture, a system that local authorities and theEnvironment Agency use to record fly-tippingincidents. Flycapture is managed by theEnvironment Agency, and the data it provides isallowing government and the authorities to betterunderstand the problem, identify trends andmeasure the success of policies. You can see themost recent Flycapture information on thewebsite for the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), AND THE LAWW here a person is convicted under , thecourt may make an order requiring the offender to pay for the costs associated with theenforcement and investigation of the case, theseizure of any vehicles that were involved in theoffence and costs for the removal of the illegallydeposited waste. The court may also make anorder to deprive the offender of his rights to avehicle (and its contents) if the court is satisfiedthat the vehicle was used in or for the purpose ofthe commission of the offence.

6 Householders do not need licences for theirwaste. However, from May 2006 the WasteManagement (England and Wales) Regulations2006 will amend (2) to prohibit the disposaletc. of such waste by private individuals, withinthe curtilage of their property, in a manner likelyto cause pollution of the environment or harm tohuman Protection Act 1990(Part II) have certain responsibilities to ensurethat waste materials from commercial activitiesare disposed of with due regard to the Waste Holder (any person who imports,produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes ofcontrolled waste or, as a broker, has control ofsuch waste) has a Duty of Care with regard tothat waste and it is an offence if they fail to takeall reasonable measures to: prevent another person from committing an offence under of the EPA 1990; prevent the escape of the waste from his or another person s control; and to transfer the waste to an authorised person or to any person for authorised transport purposes and to provide that person with a written description of the waste.

7 An authorised officer can issue a Fixed PenaltyNotice to any person who has failed to complywith the requirement to furnish documentation asspecified under (5). The amount of the fixedpenalty is set at also have a Duty of Care to checkthat anyone they commission to take away anddispose of their domestic waste is are not required to supplydocumentation such as a waste transfer note butthey could face a maximum fine of 5,000 if theyfail to take reasonable measures to ensure theirdomestic waste is handled by an authorisedwaste carrier. It will be for the courts to decidewhat these reasonable measures will compriseon a case-by-case Protection Act 1990(Part II) provides powers for local authorities and theEnvironment Agency to require occupiers andlandowners to remove waste they knowinglycaused or permitted to be deposited illegally. If the landowner or occupier does not remove thewaste, the authorities can enter the land, cleanup the waste, and recharge the costs for doingso.

8 They can also enter the land to clear waste ifthere is no occupier; if the occupier neitherknowingly caused nor permitted the deposit ofthe waste; or in order to prevent pollution. Control of Pollution (Amendment Act)1989 , 2 & 5It is an offence under of the 1989 Act foranyone who is not a registered carrier ofcontrolled waste to transport any waste in thecourse of business or with a view to making a profit. P6 FLY-TIPPING AND THE LAWS ection 2 specifies requirements for theregistration of carriers of waste, as well asregulations for vehicles used for thetransportation of waste to comply with certain conditions. Section 5 of the 1989 Act gives powers to WasteRegulation Authorities such as waste collectionauthorities, the police and other enforcementauthorities to stop and search any vehiclebelieved to be used for the transportation ofcontrolled waste without being registered. Only a constable in uniform can stop a vehicle ona road.

9 It is an offence to fail to assist or toobstruct an authorised officer or a it appears to an authorised officer that aperson has failed to produce authority fortransporting controlled waste, the officer mayissue a Fixed Penalty Notice. The penalty fine forthis offence is 300. Appendix 2 of the Fly-tipping Protocol(see page 7) contains a summary of the dutiesand powers of the Environment Agency and localauthorities in relation to fly-tipping. In effect, itprovides a useful summary of the relevantlegislation. This can be found at: TO DO IF YOU COME ACROSS FLY-TIPPINGWhat to do if you comeacross fly-tippingBefore you take action, make sure it s safe todo extremely careful. Some wastes can behazardous. Do not open bags or drums. Piles ofsoil may be contaminated or may be hidingdangerous that fly-tippers are doing somethingillegal they are unlikely to welcome peopleobserving them or taking notes or detailsIf you find or witness fly-tipping, wherever it is,record as many details about the incident and thewaste as you can.

10 This will help the authoritiestake action against fly-tippers and stop them fly-tipping in the future. If the waste is on yourland and a prosecution is made successfully youmay get your money back to cover the costs ofclearing the form at the back of this guide to helpyou. This sets out the information the authoritieswill find useful when you contact possible take photographs of the to contact (England and Wales)Under of the EPA 1990, certain bodiesincluding local authorities, crown authorities,designated statutory undertakers and governingbodies of designated educational institutions,have a duty to keep land under their directcontrol clear of litter and refuse, and highwaysclean of litter, refuse and detritus. Local authorities and other duty bodies thereforehave a responsibility for dealing with fly-tippingon public land. Land managers, occupiers or owners of privateproperty are responsible for clearing fly-tipping onprivate land.