Clause 90 - Trade effluent consents
Water Bill [Lords]
10:22 am
Mr Elliot Morley (Minister of State (Environment and Agri-Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Scunthorpe, Labour)
Whatever happens to trade effluent, it must be licensed. Anything that passes from a trade or industry into the sewers is classed as trade effluent and must be licensed. Whether an effluent can enter the sewers very much depends on what the substances are. The powers will enable the Secretary of State to narrow or widen those two expressions and to make it clear, where the discharge is from particular processes, substances or types of activity to the public sewer, that it is subject to the trade effluent discharge consenting regime. The clause makes it clear that there are strict controls on what can go into public sewers and gives the Secretary of State the power—if she chooses—to restrict the definition of what that is. The clause is intended to result in better regulation of the trade effluent discharge process.