Find out what paragraph 19 legislation says and what it means.
Paragraph 19 allows certain wastes to be used for a limited range of construction purposes.
What the legislation says
What Paragraph 19 exemption permits
Paragraph 19 permits 50,000 tonnes of the wastes specified in the table in paragraph 19 legislation to be stored for up to six months provided the wastes are suitable for the uses described in Paragraph (6) of the exemption.
It allows these specified wastes to be used for the purposes described in 19 (6), if:
- they are suitable for that use, and
- the work has planning consent where this is required.
The exemption limits the depths of waste to those which have been:
- specified in the cross sectional plan (where this is required), and
- accepted by us as part of our assessment.
Only use the amount required to complete the job - any more would be a disposal operation.
Paragraph 19 also permits 50,000 tonnes of waste road planings and roadbase which is intended for those uses described in Paragraph (6) to be stored for up to six months, even if the work is not to be carried out at the place where it is to be stored.
Paragraph (6) describes the specific uses to which the waste must be put in order to be covered by the exemption. This excludes from this exemption, any activity where the objective is land reclamation rather than construction, maintenance or improvement of work.
Questions and answers
The following section may cover questions that you still have regarding the Paragraph 19 exemption.
Q. I am a farmer and intend to improve a number of separate tracks at my farm under the terms of this exemption, am I able to do it as a single registration?
A. Yes, you can use the waste in different areas, provided they are all at one address.
Q. If the volume of road planings I intend to use to repair and maintain a track is very small, will I still need to register a Paragraph 19 exemption?
A. We want to encourage the use of road planings in this way and have reached a decision on this that may be helpful to you. We have issued a position statement to guide you.
The use of small quantities of road planings on tracks and roads under a Paragraph 19A exemption
Q. Am I required to keep records of the waste that I use?
A. Yes, if in the carrying out of this exemption you use more than 2,500 tonnes of waste, you are required to keep records of the quantity, nature, origin and if relevant, the destination and treatment of the waste used. Keep this information for at least two years. This is separate from your responsibilities under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, which requires transfer notes to be kept for all wastes entering and leaving the site.
Q. Does the limit on the amount of waste that can be stored apply to a single waste type or is it an overall limit on all wastes used?
A. The storage limit of 50,000 tonnes is an absolute limit on all waste types and all storage points covered by that registration.
Q. If a company excavates trenches in highways to lay pipes, can these excavated materials be stored in at the company's depot under this exemption, before reuse?
A. The exemption allows up to 50,000 tonnes of roadplanings and roadbase to be stored on a site for up to six months prior to the material being used for relevant work. Roadbase includes the bound and unbound aggregates used in road construction but not any soils excavated from beneath the road or generated from other highway works.
Example of an activity that is suitable for registration under a Paragraph 19 exemption
An organisation intends to use crushed concrete and brick waste to form the sub-base for the foundation of a building.
Provided all the limitations of the exemption could be met, this type of activity would be suitable for registration as a Paragraph 19 exemption.
Example of an activity that is not suitable for registration under a Paragraph 19 exemption
A construction project located on a flood plain intends to use waste to raise the level of the land prior to undertaking building works.
Paragraph 19 exemption is not intended for the use of waste in order to substantially raising the level of any land.
Who do I speak to if I want a notification form to be sent to me by post, or if I still have a query about this exemption that is not covered here?
For general enquires, or to request a notification by post, phone our National Customer Contact Centre on 0370 8506506. If they cannot help you with your query, they may pass you to someone in our area offices who will assist with more technical enquiries.
If you think that you can meet the requirements of the Paragraph 19 exemption and wish to proceed with the registration, please use the forms below:
Do not try and use these forms to notify a new site. They can now only be used to renew an existing exemption.
