Update to the Environmental Bodies Guidance Manual

These amendments are summarised below by consultation topic:

Contributing Third Parties (CTPs) Consultation:

• Best practice guidance on how EBs should monitor compliance with any restriction on CTPs.

Retention of Landfill Community Fund monies consultation

• Guidance surrounding good practice when holding reserves for the purposes of winding-up; and
• Directing EBs to guidance on investment practices elsewhere and make them aware that they need to adopt practices that are appropriate for their organisation.

EB Running Costs Consultation

The EB Guidance Manual has been amended to state that EB running costs are allowable if they are reasonable and relevant to the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF);

• Outlining that running costs in excess of 10% of LCF expenditure per annum will be monitored by the Compliance Team and may result in a review;
• As the term ‘reasonable and relevant’ is subjective, the EB Guidance Manual gives illustrative examples of such costs; and
• Project management costs are re-named within the EB Guidance Manual as ‘additional associated costs’ being the costs that do not lead to direct physical works.

Object D Guidance Consultation

The Regulations are interpreted as the ‘protection of the environment’ being a condition precedent;

• ENTRUST interprets the environment to include the natural, built and social environment for the purposes of the LCF; and
• Providing additional clarity on the areas highlighted by EBs which include:

Common examples of amenities;The implications of the requirement that all amenities should be run on a not-for-profit basis;

• Further information on the requirement that access to parks and amenities should not be limited to a Specific User Group;
• Further clarity on what constitutes a landfill site; and
• Examples of proportional registration, project management costs and additional associated costs.