Groundwater Regulations 1998

From April 1999, it became a criminal offence to dispose of listed substances (such as sheep dip, pesticides, ammonia and heavy metals) onto or into land without the prior authorisation of the Environment Agency. Authorisation will only be granted where there is no threat to groundwater.

There is an application fee of £84 for disposals of less than 30 cubic metres and for larger disposals the fee increases to £589. An annual charge is also to be levied to cover the monitoring of groundwater and the inspection of disposal sites. Authorisations will be reviewed every four years.

The Agency has been keen to forewarn those sectors of industry which are most likely to be affected by the regulations. Over the last few months, there have been extensive consultations with National Associations and 65,000 farmers and growers have been directly contacted by the Agency.