April has a seen a record number of SHE legislation with over 550+ legislation items reviewed by the MY Compliance Management team and 30+ new items added to our legal database.

These include a number of Brexit legislation which is still being published despite the initial deadline of 29th March being passed as well as multitude of environmental legislation around air quality, forestry, wildlife protection, plant health and carbon accounting.

Some of the key pieces this month are:

The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2019

These Regulations transpose the emergency preparedness and response elements of the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive (2013/59/Euratom) (the “Directive”) in relation to premises in which work with ionising radiation takes place by revoking and replacing the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR). 

The Data Protection (Charges and Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2019

The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 (“the Funding Regulations”) set out a requirement for data controllers (individuals and organisations that handle people’s personal data) to provide information, and pay a charge, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). 

This instrument amends the Funding Regulations by introducing a new exemption for the processing of personal data by: 

- members of the House of Lords; 
- elected representatives, as defined in paragraph 23(3) of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018 (“the DPA 2018”) in connection with the discharge of their respective functions
- relevant processing undertaken by candidates (prospective and validly nominated) seeking to become elected representatives.

The Humane Trapping Standards Regulations 

These Regulations implement requirements contained in the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards between the European Community, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Russian Federation (“the Agreement”). 

The Air Quality (Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles Database) (England and Wales) Regulations 2019

These Regulations require licensing authorities in England and Wales to supply certain information (vehicle registration marks and licensing information such as dates of granting vehicle licence etc.) relating to taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) that have been licensed to operate in their area. 

The Regulations enable the Secretary of State to create a database to host that information and for it to be shared for the purposes of enforcing local air quality measures, and in particular locally introduced Clean Air Zones that will apply charges in respect of taxis or PHVs. 

The database is necessary because it will ensure that taxis and PHVs can be differentiated from other vehicles when entering a Clean Air Zone.