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Guidance

Disposing of waste from clearing blocked sewers: RPS 7

Updated 7 May 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disposing-of-waste-from-clearing-blocked-sewers-rps-7/disposing-of-waste-from-clearing-blocked-sewers-rps-7

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to:

  • have an environmental permit where one is required
  • register an activity as exempt where you are required to do so

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with these legal requirements provided that:

  • your activity meet the description set out in this RPS

  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

In addition your activity must not cause (or be 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

  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Activity this RPS applies to

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.

Things to note

This RPS relates to activities that the Environment Agency considers are potentially suitable to be an exemption under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 30 June 2029.

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this regulatory position before the review date if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

You will need to check back from time to time, including at and before the review date, to see if this RPS still applies.

This RPS remains in force until it is removed from GOV.UK or is otherwise identified as having been withdrawn.

You can subscribe to email updates about this RPS. These will tell you if the RPS has changed and when it has been withdrawn. Use the ‘Get emails about this page’ feature on the RPS publication page.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must:

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS, email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk with RPS 7 in the subject.

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