Clause 13
Planning Bill
11:45 am
Jim Fitzpatrick (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Poplar and Canning Town, Labour)
I shall try to come back to that. I will first deal with the points that were raised in the course of the debate on the amendment. The point that I was trying to make is that the management of such facilities will be subject to strict controls, which will apply to any projects approved by the IPC.
Government amendments Nos. 104, 141 and 142 will ensure that the IPC can consider significant alterations to a hazardous waste facility as long as it increases its capacity by the thresholds set out in clause 25. With similar amendments to other clauses in part 3, the measures will make the terminology consistent throughout the Bill.
My hon. Friend made a number of points. As set out in the planning White Paper, the Government have been consulting on proposals relating to the storage of higher activity radioactive wastes. The consultation closed in November, as he said. The Government have since published a summary of responses in which we have committed to publishing a White Paper in the first half of the year that will set out the way forward for the implementation of geological disposal, including of higher activity radioactive waste. Such facilities are not included in clause 26. If we eventually decide that radioactive waste should be dealt with by the IPC, we would have to bring forward a statutory instrument to have it included. That would be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, thus ensuring parliamentary debate and a decision from both Houses.
The Government remain committed to exploring a policy of voluntarism and partnership—my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for North Cornwall made this point—as recommended by CoRWM in the development of any such facility. The final point raised by my hon. Friend was the question of consultation with CoRWM. As he knows and as he outlined, the committee was reconstituted only in October, and we have not yet had an opportunity to consult it. However, I can assure him that we will consult the committee in due course.
My hon. Friend and several colleagues asked about the definition of hazardous waste and whether such facilities deal with nuclear waste. For the purposes of statutory regulation, the Secretary of State has the power to make regulations that specify the substances that are to be subject to controls. That provision is currently made by the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 1992 S.I. 656, as amended by the Planning (Control of Major-Accident Hazards) Regulations 1999 S.I. 981. Hazardous waste can arise from a wide range of materials, from chemical residues from industrial processes to everyday items such as televisions and car batteries. I assure the Committee that the types of facilities we are discussing do not deal with radioactive waste. Radioactive waste, as defined in section 18(4) of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960, is excluded from the controls exercised in relation to hazardous substances under the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act 1990, and transposed into the development consent regime that will be operated by the commission. That is because such waste is controlled under other legislation.