Paragraph 6 Authorisation conditions: soil concentrationsF1
SEPA must, subject to sub-paragraph (2) ensure that an authorisation for recovery of waste by application to land for the purpose of soil improvement includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that—
no waste is applied to any land for the improvement of the soil where the concentration in the soil of any of the potentially toxic elements listed in column 1 of Table 1 exceeds the limit specified in column 2 with reference to the specified pH values,
where the limit referred to in sub-paragraph (a) is not exceeded at the time of application, it must not be exceeded as a result of the application of waste,
no waste is applied to land for the improvement of soil where the average rate of addition to the land by means of the waste of any of the potentially toxic elements listed in column 1 of Table 1 exceeds the limit specified in column 3.
SEPA may grant an exemption to the limit specified in column 2 of Table 1 for cadmium so as to allow the application of enhanced treated sewage sludge to land where the following conditions are met—
the naturally-occurring levels of cadmium in the soil exceed the limit set out in column 2 of Table 1,
the land is located on an island,
the land is grassland.
In this paragraph, “grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists predominantly of grass species.
Table 1: Maximum permissible concentrations and addition rates of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTE) in soil (mg/kg dry soil)
| PTE | Maximum permissible concentration of PTE in soil (mg/kg dry solid) | Maximum permissible annual rate of PTE addition (kg//ha) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
pH 5.0 - <5.5 | pH 5.5 - <6.0 | pH 6.0 – 7.0 | pH (1) >7.0 | ||
| Copper | 80 | 100 | 135 | 200 | 7.5 |
| Nickel | 50 | 60 | 75 | 110 | 3 |
| Cadmium | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.15 |
pH 5.0 and above | |||||
| Zinc | 200 | 15 | |||
| Lead | 300 | 15 | |||
| Mercury | 1 | 0.1 |
Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
Sch. 18 inserted (1.6.2025) by The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/165), reg. 1(4)(d)(ii), sch. 9 (with reg. 1(5), sch. 23)