Thames Water Utilities Ltd, R (on the application of) v Bromley Magistrates Court. Country/Territory United Kingdom Type of court Others Date Jul 14, 2008 Source UNEP, InforMEA Court name High Court of Justice Seat of court London Judge Carnwath Reference number [2008] EWHC 1763 (Admin) Language English Subject Water, Legal questions, Waste & hazardous substances Keyword Effluent waste water/discharge Abstract The short point in this case is whether escapes of waste water from a public sewerage system are "Directive waste" within the scope of the Waste Framework Directive, and thus subject to the enforcement authority of the Environment Agency ("the Agency") under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 "EPA". Thames Water Utilities Limited "TWUL" had been prosecuted by the Agency in the Havering Magistrates' Court, for alleged offences under section 33 of the EPA, arising out of deposits of untreated sewage on land in the area of Elmers End, Kent, in February to April 2003, allowing sewage to leak on land from faulty pipes. Thames argued that the sewage was not “controlled waste” and the matter was subject to a reference to the ECJ. The ECJ found that waste water which escaped from a sewerage network constituted “waste” within the meaning of the Waste Framework Directive and that the relevant EC legislation did not exclude such waters from the scope of that Directive through being covered by “other legislation” pursuant to art.2(1)(b) . To be regarded as “other legislation”, the rules in question had to not merely relate to a particular substance, but to contain precise provisions organising its management as waste within the meaning of art.1(d) and to ensure a level of protection which was at least equivalent to that resulting from the Directive. The question of whether national legislation contained precise provisions organising the management of the waste and ensuring such a level of protection was left a matter for the national courts. The Divisional Court held that within the Water Industry Act 1991 and Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 1994 dealt with the handling and treatment of waste water within the system, including requirements designed to prevent escape. They did not contain provisions for management after it had escaped. There were no “precise provisions” governing the management of waste which escaped unintentionally from the sewerage system. Accordingly they were not “covered by other legislation” in the sense explained by the ECJ. Full text COU-156447.pdf