Disposing of waste from clearing blocked sewers: RPS 7
Updated 18 July 2022
Applies to England
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This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to get an environmental permit when you dispose of waste from clearing blocked sewers back into the same sewer network.
However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if do not comply with these legal requirements provided:
- your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
- you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS
- your activity does not cause (and is not likely to cause) pollution of the environment or harm to human health
When this RPS applies
This RPS applies to using tankers to empty a blocked sewer and you subsequently dispose of the waste from the sewer back into the same sewer network.
Conditions you must comply with
You must only discharge sewage back into the same sewer network you took it from.
When you must check back
The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 30 June 2025. You will need to check back then to see if it still applies or if you need to apply for an environmental permit.
The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this enforcement position before it expires if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.
If you cannot comply with this RPS
If you operate under this RPS but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must tell the Environment Agency immediately.
Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.