Regulatory Decision 020: The storage and treatment of litter, straw, slurry and washwater from a notifiable animal disease outbreak

This Regulatory Decision is valid until 1 December 2024 by which time it will be reviewed.

You should check back at that time to ensure the Regulatory Decision is still valid.

NRW can withdraw or amend this regulatory decision before the review date if we consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RD relates to has not changed.

Regulatory Decision

This Regulatory Decision applies to the storage and treatment of the following waste

• litter
• straw
• slurry
• washwater

This decision does not allow disposal of waste on site or off the site of the outbreak.

The waste must be generated during cleansing and disinfection after an animal disease outbreak has been confirmed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

The requirements of The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 must be complied with unless otherwise agreed in writing by NRW.

Conditions you must comply with 

This RD only applies when an animal disease outbreak has been confirmed by the APHA.

You must:

• follow the APHA requirements when you store and treat waste from an animal disease outbreak · inform Natural Resources Wales before you treat litter, straw, slurry and washwater waste from an animal disease outbreak
• keep records for 2 years (3 years for hazardous waste) to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to NRW on request

You must dispose of your washwater, litter, straw and slurry by one of the following means:

• you can release washwater to foul sewer if you have written approval from your sewerage undertaker
• use a registered waste carrier to transport the waste to an appropriately permitted facility using waste code 02 01 06 for washwater containing litter, straw, manure and slurry or waste code 16 10 02 or 16 10 01* for washwater
• for spreading washwater to land, you must contact us

For yard storage you must:

• store waste litter, straw, slurry and washwater on an impermeable surface
• use a collection and containment system for liquid runoff that meets the requirements of the The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021

For field storage you must:

• only store waste litter and straw
• store waste litter and straw in packed heaps with an A-shaped profile

For field storage, you must not store waste litter and straw heaps:

• for more than 12 months
• within 10 metres of inland freshwaters or coastal waters
• within 50 metres of a spring, well or borehole
• where there is significant risk of pollution entering inland freshwaters or coastal waters
• in areas at risk of flooding
  
  

Enforcement

This RD does not change your legal requirement to have an environmental permit for a waste operation. When you are storing and treating litter, straw, slurry and washwater from a notifiable animal disease outbreak

However, NRW will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with the need for an environmental permit if you meet the requirements in this RD.

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