The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

[F1 Low-environmental-risk burials at new cemeteries or new extensions of cemeteries: England E+W

7.— (1) For the purpose of paragraph 8(a)(i) of Schedule 2, the description is any burial of human remains, other than a burial of human ashes from crematoria, within a new cemetery or new extension of a cemetery.

(2) In sub-paragraph (1), “new cemetery or new extension of a cemetery” means a development which, by virtue of section 57 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, required planning permission authorising a change of use of land to permit burials which was granted on or after 2nd October 2023.

(3) For the purpose of paragraph 8(a)(ii) of Schedule 2, the conditions in relation to a burial of that description are that the operator ensures that—

(a) any activity relating to the burial must not cause pollution of surface water or groundwater,

(b) the burial is not within 10m of any field drain, including any dry ditch,

(c) the grave has at least 1m clearance between the base of the grave and the top of the water table,

(d) the burial is not undertaken directly into groundwater,

(e) the grave is not dug in unaltered or unweathered bedrock,

(f) the grave is not dug in an area susceptible to groundwater flooding,

(g) the burial is not within 30m of any spring or watercourse,

(h) the burial is not in, or within 50m of, a protected site,

(i) the burial is not in an ancient woodland,

(j) the new cemetery or extension in question does not have more than 2500 burials per hectare, in proportion to the total area of the new cemetery or extension,

(k) no part of the new cemetery or extension in question is within a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1,

(l) no part of the new cemetery or extension in question is within 250m of any well, spring or borehole that is used to supply water for domestic drinking or food production purposes,

(m) the new cemetery or extension is located either—

(i) entirely on strata which are unproductive strata,

(ii) entirely on strata which are a secondary B aquifer or entirely on strata which are secondary undifferentiated rocks, where the number of burials is less than 100 burials per annum,

(iii) entirely on a secondary A aquifer, where the number of burials is less than 50 burials per annum,

(iv) entirely on a principal aquifer and not in a groundwater Source Protection Zone 2, where the number of burials is less than 30 burials per annum, or

(v) on any combination of strata mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (iv), subject to sub-paragraph (4), and

(n) the new cemetery or extension does not need ongoing active control measures to be in place to protect the environment.

(4) Where a new cemetery or extension is, pursuant to sub-paragraph (3)(m)(v), partly located on one of the strata mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(m)(ii), (iii) or (iv), the restriction on the numbers of burials per annum in sub-paragraph (3)(m)(ii), (iii) or (iv) (as the case may be) applies to the area of the new cemetery or extension located on that strata.

(5) In sub-paragraph (3)—

“groundwater flooding” means flooding where the water table beneath the ground rises and causes water to seep out at ground level;

“groundwater Source Protection Zone 2” means a zone—

(a)

within—

(i)

250m of a point at which water is abstracted for domestic or food production purposes from underground strata where the maximum allowable annual volume as authorised by a licence under section 24 of the Water Resources Act 1991 or allowed by virtue of section 27 of that Act (as the case may be) divided by 365 is less than 2,000 m3 per day, or

(ii)

500m of a point at which water is abstracted for domestic or food production purposes from underground strata where the maximum allowable annual volume as authorised by a licence under section 24 of the Water Resources Act 1991 divided by 365 is equal to or greater than 2,000 m3 per day, or

(b)

defined by a 400-day travel time for groundwater to reach a groundwater abstraction point that is used to supply water for domestic or food production purposes,

whichever is larger;

“principal aquifer” means geological strata which—

(a)

exhibit a high intergranular or fracture permeability, and

(b)

provide a high level of water storage and support water supply or base flow to rivers, lakes and wetlands on a strategic scale;

“secondary A aquifer” means permeable strata capable of supporting water supplies at a local rather than strategic scale;

“secondary B aquifer” means predominantly lower permeability strata including where they have, in part, the ability to store and yield limited amounts of groundwater by virtue of localised features such as fissures, thin permeable horizons or weathering;

“secondary undifferentiated rocks” means rock deposits or strata with variable permeability and storage properties which are not consistently a secondary A aquifer or secondary B aquifer;

“unproductive strata” means geological strata which—

(a)

have a low permeability that has negligible significance for water supply or river base flow, and

(b)

consist of deposits that naturally offer protection to any aquifers that may be present beneath.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 3 Pt. 3 paras. 6, (7) inserted (2.10.2023) by The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/651), regs. 1(2), 5(b)(iv)