Part 3: Waste and Resource Efficiency Section 64: Powers to make charging schemes
Section 64 makes amendments to sections 41 and 56 of the Environment Act 1995 to supplement existing charging powers available to the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ("the Agencies"). These amendments relate to charging schemes and environmental licences for producer responsibility schemes.
	Subsection (2) inserts five new paragraphs into section 41(1) of the Environment Act 1995, which creates powers to make charging schemes. Each of these powers is conferred on some or all of the Agencies. New paragraph (n) creates a power to create a charging scheme relating to producer responsibility schemes established under Schedule 4 or 5 of this Act. It allows the Agencies to require payment of charges to them as a means of recovering costs they have incurred in performing the functions conferred on them. New paragraphs (o) and (p) create the same powers as new paragraph (n) but in relation to the End of Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013, respectively. New paragraphs (q) and (r) create a power to create charging schemes to recover costs incurred by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales when performing functions in relation to section 33(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (preventing the unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal etc. of waste) or functions relating to a regulated waste operation under regulation 12(1) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. This allows fees to be charged to site operators for interventions at unpermitted waste sites or those in breach of a permit.
	Subsection (3)(a)(i) extends the interpretation of the definition of "environmental licence" in section 56(1)(j) in relation to England and Wales. Currently that environmental licence definition only includes Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) operation with a registered exemption under Schedule 2 to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The definition will be amended to include any waste operation (not only a WEEE operation) with a registered exemption under the same regulations. Defining registered waste exemptions as environmental licences allows for charges to be prescribed for them under section 41(2) of the Environment Act 1995.
	Subsection (3)(a)(ii) deletes section 56(1)(l) to (o) as it makes reference to WEEE. This is because the definition of "environmental licence" in paragraphs (l) to (o) was used as a way of creating a charging scheme, which is now done by new section 41(1)(p). The same deletions are made in relation to Scotland by subsection 3(b).
	Subsection (4) makes provision about how new section 41(1)(n) of the Environment Act 1995 has effect prior to the repeal of section 93 of that Act. This ensures that the power to create a charging scheme in new section 41(1)(n) of the Environment Act 1995 can apply to functions conferred by regulations made under section 93 of the Environment Act 1995, as well as functions conferred by regulations made under Schedule 4 or 5 to this Act, until the repeal of section 93 of the Environment Act 1995 by this Act is fully in force.