Regulation 61 Notice
Paul Downing
The Environment Agency have started issuing a Regulation 61 notice to all holders of food and drink environmental permits. Installations regulated under s6.8 of the EP regs.
The notice is in response to new BAT/BREF guidance for the food and drink sector. The Environment Agency will be reviewing your environmental permit. The thrust of the review is compliance to the new BAT (Best Available Technology) requirements in the sector guidance.
As part of the review you will need to ensure that you are meeting BAT. This includes air emissions, drainage, energy efficiency, surfacing, EMS – environmental management systems amongst others.
If you are currently complying with BAT then good. However, if you are still employing outdated techniques and technology then you will therefore need to propose an upgrade timetable. You may justify why you cannot meet BAT. You might also, propose an alternative compliance technique as part of the required response to the EA notice.
Paul Downing & Associates Ltd have helped several food and drink companies with their Regulation 61 notice response. We have audit sites and also provided a comprehensive improvement programme. This can be used therefore as a full response to the Environment Agency that can be submitted.
If you would like help responding to the notice from your food and drink regulated site. Please call us for an initial informal discussion.