Notice

Grant for remediation of a West Midlands contaminated site

Published 17 September 2019

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-aid-exemption-grant-for-remediation-of-a-west-midlands-site/grant-for-remediation-of-a-west-midlands-contaminated-site

1. Title

Grant for remediation of a West Midlands contaminated site.

2. Member state

United Kingdom.

3. Region

West Midlands.

4. Organisations permitted to award aid under this measure

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency.

Aid (Grant) may be awarded in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 (General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) 2014-2020). Specifically Article 45 (Investment aid for remediation of contaminated sites).

The Environment Agency has relevant powers to take action under:

  • the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which gives powers to act immediately to remove waste deposited unlawfully or reduce the consequences of its deposit
  • Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016) - under regulation 57 (1): Power to remove risk of serious pollution, and regulation 57(2): To remedy the effects of pollution if an offence under the regulations causes pollution

Defra has powers to award grants for environmental purposes under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERCA 2006) and is able to delegate its functions to do so to the Environment Agency under the Environment Act 1995.

The Water Resources Act 1991 (WRA 1991) under section 161 gives the Environment Agency powers to undertake measures where it appears that one of the following is, or has been present in, or is likely to enter any controlled waters:

  • poisonous, noxious or polluting matter
  • any waste matter

The NERCA 2006 Section 98 allows the giving of financial assistance in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred in any matter related to the reduction and elimination of pollution caused by waste, including in respect of abandoned waste sites.

6. Duration

November 2019 to June 2020.

7. Form of aid

The award will take the form of a grant.

8. Funding

The grant provided comes from state funds.

9. Budget

A maximum of £2,000,000.

10. Primacy

In the event that any part of this scheme is inconsistent with GBER 2014-2020, the provisions of GBER 2014-2020 will prevail.

11. General conditions of GBER

The grant must meet all requirements of the GBER 2014-2020, including those under all of the following:

  • Article 1: Scope
  • Article 6: Incentive effect
  • Article 8: Cumulation (see note)
  • Article 9: Publication and information
  • Article 11: Reporting
  • Article 12: Monitoring

Note: The grant could only be cumulated with other awards if these related to different eligible costs. However, there is no other state funding being provided for remediation of this site.

12. Specific conditions of Article 45 GBER

The site (close to residential properties and with damage directly caused by a polluter) was selected for remediation due to the hazardous substances present and their significant risk to both human health and the environment. These consist of:

  • fire-smoke: 18,000 tonnes of stored waste presents a self-combustion risk, which increases the longer it remains on site - this could lead to a serious fire lasting several weeks and significantly impacting local people (including through noxious gases causing numerous respiratory symptoms and irritants affecting air passages, skin and eyes)

  • fire-water (run-off): this is likely to result in significant pollution of the river Trent

  • flood risk: river channels becoming blocked by fire debris or collapsed buildings

  • groundwater pollution: in terms of the protection of controlled waters, we would consider the site setting as vulnerable and sensitive

  • non-fire risks: the risk of pests whilst the waste remains on site

The state investment will lead to the repair of the environmental damage. This includes to repair damage to the quality of the soil, surface water or groundwater, and to mitigate the human health threats.

The grant will be made in line with the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’; where, if the legal or physical person liable for the environmental damage, under the applicable law, is not identified or cannot be made to bear all the costs, then a separate entity responsible for the remediation or decontamination work may receive state aid.

The eligible costs for funding will be the costs incurred for the remediation work, less the increase in value of the land. Valuations of the increase in value of the land resulting from remediation will be carried out by an independent expert.

All expenditure incurred by an undertaking in remediating its site, whether or not such expenditure can be shown as a fixed asset on its balance sheet, may be considered as eligible investment in the case of the remediation of contaminated sites.

The aid intensity of the grant is forecast to be 65% of the eligible costs. This is considerably less than the 100% aid intensity allowed for a grant to the small-to-medium enterprise (SME) remediating the site.

Notification: this grant is considerably less than the €20 million per undertaking per investment project allowed. Therefore notification will not be necessary.

13. Contact

If you have any questions about this grant, email Enquiries_Westmids@environment-agency.gov.uk

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