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Water regulations escape the European Union chop but remain subject to reform

by Karma Loveday

The government has published a list of exactly which pieces of retained direct EU legislation and subordinate legislation are earmarked for sunsetting under the Retained EU Law Bill by the end of 2023.

This confirmed that both the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017 would not be deleted.

Nonetheless, Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville pointed out: “This does not indicate whether at some future point these two SIs will not be brought forward for deletion without any parliamentary scrutiny.”

Responding, energy security and net zero Parliamentary under secretary Lord Callanan said the water directives would “continue to be in operation” but be “subject to a reform programme” which the Defra secretary of state would need to provide more detail on.

Elsewhere in the Lords Report Stage debate, a number of peers challenged some of the legislation still on the list for sunsetting, including the Water Resources (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations which require environmental impact assessments for certain water abstraction applications for agriculture, as well as regulations relating to flooding. However, this clutch of amendments was either not moved or withdrawn.

The Liberal Democrat Baroness Ludford also called for clarity on the Government’s signal that regulators Ofwat, Ofgem and Ofcom should have a growth duty alongside their existing functions. She said: “There is quite a lot of concern about how all these regulatory intentions, which we are finding in statements and consultation documents, fit the professed commitment to maintain higher standards.”

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