Updated: Added the posters for 2018 to 2019.
Posters to remind anglers to buy a fishing licence.
The Environment Agency welcomes support from fisheries and angling shops. Please print out and display these posters to remind your customers to fish legally.
It’s easy to buy a fishing licence online. You can also check the rules about freshwater fishing.
Updated: Link to PLANET replaced with one to MANNER NPK software.
You must follow these rules if you store silage, slurry or agricultural fuel oil.
You need to know the general rules that apply if you store any of the 3 substances, as well as specific rules for storing and handling each one.
If your farm is in a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) there are extra rules for storing organic manures. You can check if your farm is in an NVZ.
You’re responsible for making sure you meet the rules if you control, manage or look after a farm or an installation on a property, eg as a:
You can be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000 in a magistrates’ court, or get an unlimited fine in the Crown Court, if you don’t follow the rules and take care to avoid causing pollution.
A new or substantially changed store must:
Although your store itself must be at least 10 metres clear of inland or coastal waters, drains and sealed pipes can be within 10 metres of these features if the Environment Agency agrees an exception. Ask for an exception when you tell the Environment Agency about your project.
‘Substantial changes’ usually means structural alterations, rather than minor repairs. Check with the Environment Agency if you’re unsure.
If your installation was built before March 1991, or a contract for construction was entered into before March 1991 and completed before September 1991, it’s exempt from the rules for new stores. However, if you make substantial changes – for example structural changes, increasing capacity or relocating – your store is no longer exempt.
The Environment Agency can also serve a notice at any time requiring you to bring storage up to the current standards if it believes there’s a significant risk of pollution.
It’s up to you to decide what planning and work is needed but you must:
Once your storage is built you must carry out maintenance to make sure there’s no risk of pollution.
You must notify the Environment Agency at least 14 days before you build new storage for silage, slurry or agricultural fuel oil, or make substantial changes to an existing store.
You must also tell the Environment Agency if you intend to make or store field silage or non-baled bags – there are specific rules and a form.
Call or write to your local Environment Agency office.
Tell them:
You’ll need to supply the following when you contact the Environment Agency so they can assess your proposal:
You’ll usually get a written assessment of your proposal that says whether it’s been approved or not. The Environment Agency may contact you, rather than giving you a written assessment, to give you guidance on changes you need to make to your installation before it can be approved.
There are specific rules for making and storing silage.
The rules do not apply to silage you store temporarily in a container or trailer for transportation.
You must not make or store any silage, or unwrap baled silage, within 10 metres of inland or coastal waters.
In addition you must not store field silage within 50 metres of a ‘protected water supply source’. This is any place where water is abstracted (taken) for any of the following purposes:
Ask the Environment Agency about protected water sources or use the ‘What’s in my backyard?’ map to check your local area.
All parts of a silo must be resistant to attack. Your silo must have:
The base must comply with:
If your silo has walls, they must withstand wall loadings set in British Standard 5502-22:2003+A1:2013..
Ask your manufacturer, or check the manual that came with your equipment, to find out if it meets these British Standards.
Your silo must have an effluent collection system.
If all parts of an effluent tank are above ground, the tank must be constructed to resist attack from silage effluent for at least 20 years with maintenance. If any part is below ground, it should be impermeable for at least 20 years without maintenance. You’ll be asked to prove your tank is suitable, for example with a manufacturer’s guarantee.
You can store silage effluent and slurry together if your tank has enough capacity and is built to withstand both types of effluent. However, mixing slurry can give off gases that are lethal to humans and livestock, and you must never put silage effluent into an under-floor slurry store.
The minimum capacity rules for effluent tanks should give you at least 2 days’ storage at peak flow. However, it’s up to you to ensure you’ve enough capacity to avoid the risk of pollution.
| Silo capacity | Minimum effluent tank capacity |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 cubic metres | 20 litres for each cubic metre |
| Over 1,500 cubic metres | 30 cubic metres, plus 6.7 litres for each cubic metre of silo capacity over 1,500 cubic metres |
Baled silage must be sealed in an impermeable membrane or bagged. It doesn’t need a specially constructed base, but you must make sure any silage stored directly on the ground cannot leak into a water source.
Baled silage must be kept at least 10 metres clear of inland or coastal waters.
For silage to be stored as ‘field silage’ there must be no construction works, for example walls or earth banks, and topsoil must not be disturbed.
If you make field silage or non-baled bags, you must:
Use form WQE4 to tell the Environment Agency if you intend to make or store field silage. Give at least 14 days’ notice.
Send the completed form to your local Environment Office.
There are specific rules when you make and store slurry, including in earth-banked stores.
Run-off from solid manure stores, woodchip, or straw-bedded corrals or stand-off pads counts as slurry. You must collect and store it either separately or in your main slurry store.
The rules do not apply to slurry you store temporarily in a container or trailer for transportation.
You must not site slurry storage tanks, effluent tanks, channels or reception pits within 10 metres of inland or coastal waters without written agreement from the Environment Agency.
Slurry tanks, reception pits, pipes and channels must be impermeable and meet the anti-corrosion standards set in British Standard 5502-50:1993+A2:2010. They should last for at least 20 years with maintenance.
The base and walls of your slurry tank and any reception pit must withstand the wall loadings set in the standard.
You’re responsible for making sure your storage and maintenance complies with the rules – get professional advice if you need it.
When calculating the required capacity of your steel or concrete store, you’ll need to include a minimum of 300 millimetres of freeboard. For earth-banked stores you’ll need a minimum of 750 millimetres, and you must maintain this freeboard during use. Freeboard is the vertical distance between the crest of your tank or lagoon and the slurry surface.
You’ll normally need capacity for at least 4 months’ slurry storage. What this means for you will depend on how much slurry you use, the size of your tanks and expected rainfall.
Use MANNER NPK to work out your average winter rainfall (November to February). Add an extra 25% to your calculation to take account of wetter than average winters.
If you’re in an area with above average rainfall, you’ll need more capacity. Speak to the Environment Agency or a consultant if you’re unsure how much you’ll need.
If you operate with less than 4 months’ capacity, the Environment Agency may refuse your proposal or ask you to prove that it’s sufficient and to explain the steps you’ve taken to protect the environment.
Any temporary storage facilities you have – such as a reception pit – must be large enough to store a minimum of 2 days’ combined slurry production and likely rainfall.
If your slurry tank, effluent tank or reception pit is fitted with a drainage pipe, it must have 2 valves separated by a least 1 metre. Each valve must be able to shut off the flow of slurry and be locked when not in use.
The exception to this rule is if your slurry storage tank drains through the pipe into another tank at the same level, or of equal or greater capacity.
An earth-banked store must have impermeable soil to a thickness of at least 1 metre. You may need laboratory analysis and confirmation from a civil engineer to be sure your soil is suitable. Alternatively you can import impermeable soil or use a synthetic liner.
The permeability of your compacted soil must be less than 1 x 10-9 metres per second (0.000001 mm per second).
Testing should be to BS 1377-6:1990 or to BS EN 1997-2:2007.
The base of a weeping-wall store must extend beyond its walls and include perimeter drains to catch escaped slurry and drain into an effluent tank.
Your irrigation system must not deposit slurry within 10 metres of inland freshwater or 50 metres of any water supply. You must assess the risk of direct run-off from land you intend to irrigate, and identify unsuitable areas.
You must follow these rules if you both:
Other rules may apply if you store fuel oil:
Wherever fuel oil is stored on your land you’re responsible for taking precautions to prevent and contain spillages – for example by fitting an alarm to alert you to overfilling.
You can store fuel oil in one location or spread across your farm. It must be stored in a tank or drum that meets ISO 9000. (Check the manual that came with your tank or drum, or ask the manufacturer.)
No part of your installation can be within 10 metres of inland or coastal waters – including yard drains, dry ditches and land drains.
If tanks are underground, they must also follow the Defra Groundwater Protection Code.
A tank or drum must be surrounded by a secondary containment structure or ‘bund’.
The bund must:
If you buy a combined storage tank and bund system you must make sure it will meet the regulations when in use.
You must dispose of any waste fuel oil or mix of oil and water that collects in the bund without causing pollution.
The required capacity of a bund depends on your type of storage.
| Type of storage | Minimum capacity of bund |
|---|---|
| Single tank | 110% capacity of the tank |
| Multiple tanks | 110% of the capacity of the largest tank or 25% of the total volume that could be stored in all tanks in the area – whichever is greater |
| Other storage – eg drum | At least 25% of the total volume that could be stored at any time |
The Environment Agency can ‘serve a notice’ to stop you using an unsuitable silage, slurry or agricultural fuel oil store until it’s improved or relocated. They’ll do this if they think there’s a significant risk of pollution – for example if you’ve not allowed enough capacity to store slurry.
You’ll have at least 28 days to carry out the work. You may be allowed more time, for example if you need planning permission or the weather is unsuitable.
If you disagree with the notice, you can appeal. You have 28 days from the day after the notice was served.
Appeal in writing to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs
The Planning Inspectorate
Room 4/19 Eagle Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol BS1 6PN
Send a copy to your Environment Agency office at the address on the notice.
Your letter must explain why you’re appealing. Include:
If you’re acting for a farmer on whom the notice was served, you’ll also need a statement from them confirming this.
The notice could be:
These rules are based on the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations – known as the ‘SSAFO’ regulations – and related legislation.
Livestock manure and silage storage infrastructure for agriculture
Updated: Updated tariffs for 2018 to 2019
You must have a licence if you have an existing structure or want to build a new structure on the River Thames that’s:
Structures are known as ‘accommodations’ and include:
You must get a licence whether your structure is for private, shared or commercial use.
You’ll only be given permission for public or private amenity work schemes of a non-navigational nature (eg building development) in exceptional circumstances.
You must apply to the Environment Agency for your licence and pay an annual fee.
Fees are payable from 29 September each year and are charged on a pro-rata basis depending on when you apply. For example, if you apply for your licence on 29 August you’ll just pay the fee for the period between then and 28 September of that year. You’ll then have to pay the next year’s fee in full.
You can’t transfer a licence to someone else. You must get a licence yourself if you buy or move into a property with a structure.
You’ll be sent a licence plate when your licence is granted. You must display this on the structure.
You must tell the Environment Agency if you already have a structure that hasn’t been licensed before and you want to keep it.
Your structure may be removed and you could be charged for its removal if you don’t get a licence.
Download and fill in the retain accommodation form and send it to the address on the form.
You must tell the Environment Agency if you’re the new owner of an existing structure that needs a licence.
Download and fill in the change of circumstances form and send it to the address on the form.
To build a new structure or change an existing structure you must do both of the following:
You’ll be sent an information pack telling you what to do next when you apply for consent.
Please be aware you may need planning permission. You should contact your local planning authority to check.
To get a licence your structure should only:
The Environment Agency may make an exception about how much your structure can encroach into the river if they decide that it has enough fishery and environmental benefits and that it doesn’t unacceptably impact the normal river flow and the floodplain.
Each application is assessed on an individual basis, with the local environment and individual requirements taken into account.
Your application may be refused, or you may have to make compensatory measures or provide mitigation if the Environment Agency decides that your proposed structure will have a negative impact on the local ecology or flood defences.
You’ll be sent a full list of the requirements with your application pack.
Landing stages should be decked structures that allow the water to pass underneath. They usually shouldn’t be made of concrete or otherwise form a solid construction on the riverbed.
You won’t be given a new licence for an existing solid stage if you’re the new owner.
Your structure should:
If you want to apply for a licence to extend an existing commercial mooring area in or over the main channel of the River Thames, you’ll need to show:
If you own a riverside hotel, bar or restaurant you can apply for a licence to provide fixed landing stages or pontoons for short-stay temporary mooring. The structure should only encroach into the river as much as is reasonably necessary to fulfil its purpose.
You can ask the Environment Agency for permission to have a seating area on the structure. They will appoint a private consultant to assess the commercial benefit of a seating area and then add this as an additional fee for you to pay. If you’re given permission, you must only place outdoor tables and chairs for customers on areas of spare decking approved by the Environment Agency. Areas that you can use will be shown on the licence plan and on the deck itself. The landing area must not be furnished with tables, chairs or other garden furniture. Associated walkways should be kept clear.
You must get a private licence if the structure is for your own private use.
You need to pay an administration fee of £50 to get your licence, plus an annual fee.
Annual licence fees for structures are calculated by the square metre (maximum length of the structure multiplied by its width). This is known as its overall projection into the river.
| Type of structure | Environment Agency/Crown river bed rent (2018 to 2019) | Non Environment Agency/Crown river bed rent (2018 to 2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Staging, steps, gangway, ladder, catwalk, framework, pontoon, slipway, boathouse, or other licensed enclosure that’s no more than 5 square metres | £96.10 | £64.80 |
| – cost of each extra square metre | £19.22 | £12.96 |
| Footbridge (each) | £96.10 | £64.80 |
| Boom/rubbing pile against bank (single or pair) | £96.10 | £64.80 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 6 metres apart | £96.10 | £64.80 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 10 metres apart | £116.83 | £78.46 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 15 metres apart | £135.69 | £91.38 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 20 metres apart | £156.13 | £103.46 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 25 metres apart | £175.62 | £116.67 |
| Offshore mooring piles or buoys (single or pair) up to 30 metres apart | £194.60 | £129.92 |
You must to get a corporate licence if the structure is for anything other than your own private use, for example, you’re a:
You need to pay an annual fee for each structure. There’s also a £50 administration fee to get your licence.
For any structure with a mooring edge, you must pay for both the area of the structure and the total length of mooring edge it has.
| Type of structure | Fee (2018 to 2019) |
|---|---|
| Stage, gangway, catwalk, pontoon, boathouse or other enclosure of river space (plus the fee for any mooring edge) | £9.00 per square metre |
| – mooring edge of each structure | £8.04 per linear metre |
| Offshore mooring piles and buoys | £8.04 per linear metre of moorings run accommodated |
| Rubbing posts or miscellaneous piles | £31.16 each |
| Slipways and footbridges | £71.92 each |
There’s a minimum fee of £95.90 for each:
You’ll be charged an extra:
You get a 25% discount if your structure is for education or sport, eg for a school, youth group, or rowing club.
If you own a riverside hotel, bar or restaurant and apply for permission for a public service seating area on a structure, you’ll also have to pay for an assessment of the commercial benefit of having such a seating area. The Environment Agency will use this assessment to determine the additional fee.
There’s also a minimum total fee of £153.43 per licence (after taking into account any discounts or extra charges).
Structures used for education or sport (eg by schools, youth groups, or rowing clubs) have a reduced minimum total fee of £95.90.
Updated: There are new entries for Israel and Canada and changes to Malaysia.
Guidance and a look-up table of acceptable evidence that packaging or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) exporters can use to prove that overseas sites are operating to broadly equivalent standards to those operating in the UK.
Updated: Section on ‘Dealing with litter from businesses’ added to explain Community Protection Notices and what councils must do with existing street litter control notices.
District councils and some other authorities must keep land in their area clear of litter and refuse (including dog mess), as far as is practicable.
The councils that are litter authorities are:
Other authorities are responsible for litter on all or parts of their own land. These include:
Council litter authorities are responsible for land where all of the following apply:
This is called ‘relevant land’. Relevant land includes beaches (above the average high water mark).
Councils must also keep any highway they’re responsible for both clean and clear of litter and refuse (as far as is practicable).
Litter authorities must ‘have regard to’ the code of practice on litter and refuse which explains how different types of land should be kept clear.
This means they must consider the code, and they must follow it unless there are clear, justifiable reasons not to do so in specific circumstances.
It’s an offence to drop litter on land or into water that’s accessible to the public even if it’s private land. This applies to private land that the public can access, for example a right of way.
Offenders can be prosecuted in a magistrates’ court and fined up to £2,500.
Litter droppers can get fixed penalty notices (FPNs). If they don’t pay the FPN they can be prosecuted.
FPNs aren’t appropriate for:
Councils can issue public space protection orders (PSPOs) for problems in public spaces, including the control of dogs.
PSPOs can make it an offence if dog owners do any of the following:
Councils can issue community protection notices (CPNs) to require businesses or individuals to:
Failure to comply with a CPN is an offence.
CPNs have replaced street litter control notices (SLCNs). SLCNs also gave councils the power to require businesses to clear litter from around their premises. Councils can no longer issue SLCNs, but they must keep a public register of existing SLCNs as long as they’re in force.
Members of public must be able to do both of the following:
A litter authority can be taken to court if they don’t keep publicly accessible land that they’re responsible for clear of litter and refuse.
A litter authority can be ordered by a court to pay the complainant’s costs.
A litter authority can avoid court action if they clear the land within 5 days of being notified.
Courts can issue a litter abatement order (LAO) requiring the litter authority to clear land of litter within a certain time.
A litter authority is breaking the law if they don’t comply with an LAO and can be fined up to £2,500. They can also get further fines of up to £125 a day for each day the offence continues after conviction.
When clearing or cleaning roads, councils must do both of the following:
If they need to restrict traffic, councils must apply to the highway authority for a traffic regulation order.
If there’s an object on the road, councils (or the Highways Agency if it’s a trunk road) should either:
It’s an offence to leave anything on the road that could interrupt its use – offenders can be fined up to £1,000, if convicted.
If the owner doesn’t remove the object, councils can do one of the following:
Councils have other powers to keep land clear by: