Regulatory Statement 126: Definition of premises for the hazardous waste regulations

This Regulatory Statement (RS) is valid until 30 April 2028 by which time it will be reviewed. You should check back at that time to ensure the Regulatory Statement is still valid.

NRW can withdraw or amend this RS before the review date if we consider it necessary. This includes where the activities that this RS relates to have not changed.

Regulatory statement

This RS applies to the need to register premises and for waste to be consigned in accordance with the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations. 

We will not pursue the need for:

• A premises registration for certain locations listed below (under specified circumstances)
• A consignment note for the removal of hazardous waste from these locations. (under specified circumstances)
• A consignee return (other than for self-disposal) from the ‘collection point’ to which this waste is first taken (we will treat this place as the place of production for the purposes of the Regulations).

Where hazardous waste is being moved from the following locations and under specified circumstances to a collection point.

• Highways maintenance:
  - Places where highways authorities carry out routine maintenance of the highway (e.g. gully cleaning)
  - Excludes planned construction/demolition or non-maintenance works
  
  
• Highway spillage:
  - Applies to highway spill clean-up
  - Excludes spillages on non-highway premises
  
  
• Railway track:
  - Applies to maintenance works; depot or access point becomes collection point
  - Excludes capital works and stations/depots
  
  
• Waterways:
  - Applies to maintenance/pollution control on rivers/canals
  - Excludes capital construction/demolition
  
  
• Forests and countryside:
  - Defined forest treated as single premises, internal movement exempt
  - Excludes land part of other premises (e.g. farms)
  
  
• Utility infrastructure:
  - Applies to lamp posts, telegraph poles, phone boxes, pylons, pipelines, cables
  - Excludes substations/pumping stations
  
  
• Roadside vehicle maintenance:
  - Applies to vehicles maintained by roadside breakdown services
  
  
• Ambulances and mobile healthcare providers:
  - Applies to waste produced by mobile healthcare and returned to base or hospital
  - Excludes ambulance stations and medical premises
  
  

Conditions you must comply with

This regulatory statement applies only to the regulations and to the specific circumstances listed above. It may not be applied to other situations.

Premises Notification, Consignment Notes, and Consignee Return requirements apply from the ‘Collection Point’.

Enforcement

This RS does not change your legal requirement to comply with all other requirements of the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005.

An RS means that Natural Resources Wales will not normally take enforcement action against you provided:

• your activity meets the description set out in this RS.
• you comply with the conditions set out in this RS.
• your activity does not, and is not likely to, cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and must not cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals, cause a nuisance through noise or odours and adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest.

If you operate under this RS but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must stop the activity.