Defra to review sludge spreading on land as part of revised EIP

(by Karma Loveday)

Defra is to review the rules governing the spreading of sewage sludge on land, to reduce health and environmental risks from PFAS.

That was part of a strengthened Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) published last week by the Government.

A key feature of the new five-year environmental roadmap is the first-time publication of delivery plans for the statutory targets set under the Environment Act. These provide visibility and will help progress to be tracked. In some cases, there are new interim targets too, such as for habitat creation, air quality and invasive non-native species.

The commitments regarding water are summarised below, and each is accompanied in the plan by a series of actions that will be taken to meet each commitment. 

Funding announcements related to the EIP were:

• £500m for landscape recovery projects, bringing together farmers and land managers to restore nature at scale, creating wildlife-rich environments, reducing flood risk and improving water quality while unlocking economic opportunities through green jobs and nature-based solutions that support rural prosperity.  

• £85m to improve and restore peatlands, reducing flooding in communities, improving water quality and supporting public health through cleaner air and enhanced access to green spaces for physical and mental wellbeing.

The EIP revision was undertaken following a progress report by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which found Government was largely off track to meet its environmental targets and obligations. Chair Dame Glenys Stacey said much of the independent advice the OEP provided for the review of the EIP has been taken on board.

She said: “On initial view, the new EIP has strengths in coherent and specific commitments. Delivering all that is planned here would improve the chances of government achieving its environmental ambitions. 

“There are places, however, where we think the revised EIP could have been stronger still. Some of the commitments seem vague and there are some gaps in the plans to monitor progress. We will also be examining the extent to which the revised EIP stands in the place of a dedicated chemicals strategy. We note amendments to interim targets and, while we understand the reasoning behind these changes, will look at them in more detail, to gauge how they ensure progress towards legally-binding targets.” 

Water commitments in the revised EIP:

Enabling nature to flourish in healthy water catchments: 

• Support catchment partnerships as a framework for coordinating action between the public, private and third sectors.

• Require standardised sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in all new developments with drainage impacts, and ensure sustainable maintenance arrangements are in place by 2029.

• Reduce phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater by 55% by December 2030 against a 2020 baseline (Environment Act interim target). 

• Reduce total nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment pollution from agriculture to the water environment: 

  • by at least 12% by December 2030, compared to 2018 levels, and 

  • by at least 18% in catchments containing protected sites in unfavourable condition due to nutrient pollution by December 2030 (Environment Act interim targets). 

• Construct eight mine water treatment schemes and 20 diffuse interventions to control inputs of target substances to rivers, and complete 55 catchment studies by December 2030 (Environment Act interim target).

• Restore chalk streams to better ecological health, ensuring protections and investment towards these habitats.

• Drive further investment to improve the water environment.

Ensuring a sustainable supply of water to homes, public buildings and businesses: 

• Reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of population from a 2019 to 2020 baseline: 

  • by 9% by 31 March 2027 and 

  • by 14% by 31 March 2032 (Environment Act interim targets).

• Reduce household water use to 122 litres per person per day by 2038 from a 2019 to 2020 baseline.

• Reduce non-household water use by 9% by 2038.

• Reduce leakage from a 2017 to 2018 baseline: 

  • by 20% by 31 March 2027, and 

  • by 30% by 31 March 2032 (Environment Act interim targets).

• Ensure water companies deliver their Water Resources Management Plans, to eliminate the supply gap that is forecast to reach 5bn litres a day by 2050.

• Modernise the abstraction licensing system, including moving it into the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

• Support the agricultural sector in ensuring collaborative sustainable water use, through enabling an increase in the number of Water Abstractor Groups from seven to 14 by 2030.

Delivering clean rivers, lakes and seas for people to enjoy: 

• Reduce the impact of storm overflows on the environment and human health by reducing spill numbers and prioritising sensitive sites, in line with the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan. 

• Review the regulatory framework for sewage sludge spreading to agricultural land to ensure it effectively manages the risks to the environment and health. 

• Better understand the health impacts associated with polluted waters. 

Water targets in the Environment Act:

• Halve the length of rivers polluted by harmful metals from abandoned metal mines by 2038, against a baseline of 1,491km. 

• Reduce total nitrogen, total phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture into the water environment by at least 40% by 2038, compared to a 2018 baseline.   

• Reduce phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater by 80% by 2038 against a 2020 baseline.   

• Reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of population by 20% by 2038 from a 2019 to 2020 baseline.