Stronger environmental rules for fracking diluted by lords

10th February 2015


Related Topics

Related tags

  • Energy ,
  • Business & Industry ,
  • Water ,
  • Prevention & Control ,
  • Noise

Author

Stephen Ninham

Provisions to ban fracking in groundwater protection zones and designated land have been watered down by the House of Lords after a debate on the Infrastructure Bill.

The amendments were part of a clause accepted by the House of Commons at the end of January. They were introduced by the Labour party, which said it would not support hydraulic fracturing or fracking to extract unconventional gas and oil without the extra rules.

Speaking in the House of Lords yesterday, energy and climate change minister Baroness Verma said the amendments could not be included in the bill as drafted. “Amendment 21 is not viable as law and simply would not work in practice,” she claimed.

Verma said the government wanted to ensure that “the spirit” of the amendments was maintained, however. “Unlocking the shale industry is too big an opportunity to pass up. We all agree that it must be done safely and sustainably, but we cannot throw away the opportunity to create thousands of jobs and economic growth for communities across Britain,” she said.

Following the debate in the Commons, Decc published a press release saying that there would be an “outright ban” on fracking in national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and sites of special scientific interest. However, in the Lords, Verma said that a precise definition of which protected areas were included in the ban would be spelled out in secondary legislation.

The Labour clause also stated that fracking would be prohibited in groundwater protection zones one, two and three, as defined by the Environment Agency. But Verma said the government would use secondary legislation to define the groundwater source areas that would be protected from fracking operations. Definitions would be agreed by July, Verma pledged.

Analysis by Greenpeace found that very few onshore oil and gas licensing blocks would not be affected by the Labour clause.

Of the 931 blocks in England, 416 (almost 45%) would be significantly affected by the proposed regulations, meaning that at least half of their area is covered by a national park, SSSI, AONB, groundwater protection zone, or a combination of the four, the NGO found. Sixty-eight blocks overlap completely with sensitive areas, it said.

Verma also said a requirement for operators to individually notify every resident near a proposed shale gas site would be impractical to enforce and would leave every planning application open to legal challenge.

Lord Tunnicliffe, a Labour peer, criticised the government’s changes to the Labour clause and said the party’s MPs will oppose them when the bill returns to the Commons.

The Lords accepted an amendment requiring the Committee on Climate Change to report on the impact of shale gas operations on the UK’s climate change budgets to the secretary of state at least every five years.

The government also revealed that it is considering making the drilling of boreholes for monitoring water quality a permitted development. Currently, companies cannot drill boreholes for activities subject to environmental impact assessment until full planning permission has been granted, which would mean a minimum delay of 12 months before any hydraulic fracturing would be allowed.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has granted shale gas operator Cuadrilla an environmental permit for exploration work at Roseacre Wood, Lancashire. The company’s planning application for the site was recommended for refusal by planners at Lancashire County Council on the grounds of noise and traffic.

Councillors delayed a decision on whether or not to grant permission after Cuadrilla submitted extra information on these issues. The council confirmed last week that a decision will not take place until after 30 April, to allow time for a new public consultation.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Two-thirds of UK shoppers confused by product sustainability credentials

Products that have a more positive environmental and social impact are favoured by two-thirds of UK shoppers, although the same number struggle to identify them due to confusing product labelling.

15th August 2024

Read more

Almost two-thirds of net-zero goals set by large UK firms will be achieved by the purchase of carbon credits, new research by insurance broker Gallagher has uncovered.

15th August 2024

Read more

From basketball player to leadership guru, John Amaechi’s career has reached many peaks. He tells Huw Morris why sustainability professionals are heroic

2nd August 2024

Read more

Catherine Early looks at what is being done to support coffee farmers facing the challenges of a changing climate

2nd August 2024

Read more

With the agri-food sector a major driver of biodiversity decline on land, Katherine Lister examines how to protect natural capital

2nd August 2024

Read more

The global economy is facing $197bn (£153bn) of economic damage by 2030 and up to $434bn by 2050 if plastic waste continues to flow into oceans at its current rate.

31st July 2024

Read more

The UK government has launched Skills England to identify and address skills shortages across the country over the next decade.

31st July 2024

Read more

Mandatory housebuilding targets have been unveiled to deliver 1.5 million new homes across England over the next five years in a major overhaul of the planning system.

31st July 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close