Disposing of trees and plants affected by disease or pests: RPS 71
Updated 21 July 2021
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disposal-of-trees-and-plants-infected-with-specified-plant-diseases/disposing-of-trees-and-plants-infected-with-disease-rps-71
If you comply with the conditions in this regulatory position statement (RPS) you can:
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burn trees and plants affected by disease or pests in the open under a Plant Health Notice
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exceed the burning and storage limits in Waste exemption: D7 burning waste in the open
Conditions you must comply with
You must:
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have a Plant Health Notice from the Food and Environment Research Agency or the Forestry Commission (or both) that requires you to eradicate disease and pests – you must comply with the requirements in that notice
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register a D7 waste exemption with the Environment Agency to burn plant tissue and untreated wood waste in the open
You must comply with all the conditions in waste exemption D7 except that in order to comply with the Plant Health Notice, you can:
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burn more than 10 tonnes of waste in any 24 hour period
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store more than 20 tonnes of waste at any one time
You must make sure the way you dispose of trees and plants affected by disease or pests does not endanger human health or the environment. You must not:
- cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
- cause a nuisance through noise or odours
- adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest
Enforcement
An RPS means that the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you 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, and is not likely to, cause environmental pollution or harm human health
When to check back
This RPS will be reviewed by August 2024. You will need to check back then to see if it still applies.
Contact
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.