Storm Overflows And The New Legislative Pressures

• Published date: 06 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Corporate and Company Law, Environmental Law, Water
• Law Firm: Weightmans
• Author: Mr Nick Barker

Investigating the changes, as well as the imperative of ensuring regulatory compliance in the short term and steps water companies can take to do so.

Over recent weeks water companies have faced further scrutiny in the press after excess sewage and rainwater caused by flooding continued to be discharged into seas around Britain. This adds to a sustained period over which discharges into waters have come under review.

The issue of storm overflows is not a new one; its current status reflecting the complexity of the problem. They are the result of a Victorian sewer infrastructure, operating as safety valves built into the combined sewer system. They discharge excess sewage and rainwater to rivers, lakes, or the sea when the sewer system is under strain, protecting properties from flooding and preventing sewage backing up into streets and homes.

Like many, water companies have long regarded the situation as unacceptable, but lacked the necessary statutory and regulatory framework to act. This has changed with the passing of the Environment Act 2021 and the publication of the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (the Plan), marking a watershed in the industry's approach to the issue.

The Environment Act sets out a requirement for sewerage undertakers to secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of storm overflow discharges, while the Plan provides clear and unambiguous requirements for what is needed.

We explain the changes, as well as the imperative of ensuring regulatory compliance in the short term and steps water companies can take to do so.

Regulatory Shift

The Environment Act contained several key provisions relating to storm overflows, including the requirement for the Government to prepare a plan for reducing discharges (both frequency and volume) from the storm overflows of English sewerage undertakers and reducing the adverse impacts (both on the environment and public health) of those discharges. This requirement has been met in the form of the Plan, meeting the Environment Act's 1 September deadline.

Actions for water companies

The Plan sets out ambitious targets requiring water companies to participate in a mandatory '56 billion investment project to fix the long-standing issue of storm overflow discharges. Two clear targets are:

• By 2035, water companies must have improved all overflows discharging into or near all designated bathing water, and improved 75% of those discharging to high priority sites
• By 2050, no storm overflows...