Two temporary regulatory positions under the producer responsibility regime have been developed for Scotland for use during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
SEPA expects people to have business continuity arrangements in place to ensure compliance with their SEPA permit or other environmental regulatory requirements during EU Exit and COVID-19. We are clear we expect everyone we regulate to continue to comply with Scotland’s environmental laws.
Where compliance with a SEPA Permit or other regulatory requirement is not possible for an individual site(s), a type of activity or for a sector, we may temporarily take a regulatory position that any failure to comply with those requirements will not be treated as a non-compliance for compliance assessment or enforcement purposes. This will be where that non-compliance is unavoidable and solely as a direct result of the impact of EU Exit or COVID-19 and will not lead to significant environmental harm.
We are only likely to consider taking a temporary regulatory position if the person contacts us at an early stage to advise us of a non-compliance or potential non-compliance, and we are satisfied that:
If we take a temporary regulatory position we expect the person to:
SEPA expects people to have business continuity arrangements in place to ensure compliance with their SEPA permit or other environmental regulatory requirements during EU Exit and COVID-19. We are clear we expect everyone we regulate to continue to comply with Scotland’s environmental laws.
Where compliance with a SEPA Permit or other regulatory requirement is not possible for an individual site(s), a type of activity or for a sector, we may temporarily take a regulatory position that any failure to comply with those requirements will not be treated as a non-compliance for compliance assessment or enforcement purposes. This will be where that non-compliance is unavoidable and solely as a direct result of the impact of EU Exit or COVID-19 and will not lead to significant environmental harm.
Producer responsibility - packaging, WEEE and batteries (data)
We have adopted a temporary regulatory guidance and regulatory position on specific data submission requirements under the producer responsibility regimes.
We recognise the administrative and logistical challenges that COVID-19 poses to operators regulated under the producer responsibulity regulations. In particular, SEPA appreciates that some operators may not be able to provide SEPA with wholly accurate or complete data in complying with their regulatory reporting requirements.
Operators can contact SEPA using our online contact form.
Need help to manage the impact of coronavirus on your business? Visit FindBusinessSupport.gov.uk for information on government coronavirus funds.