Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters National Dataset User Guide

Transcription

1 Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters National Dataset User Guide Version st January 2009

2 Contents 1.0 Record of amendment Introduction Description of the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Dataset Effluent types Related data sources Public Register and non Public Register Data Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Public Register data Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Non Public Register data National Security issues Legislation relevant to Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Data structure Entity relationship diagram Data quality Data standards Locational data standards Reporting errors Validation rules and completeness checks Validation checks specific to the Discharge Consent data Known quality issues Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Useful information when using the data What is not included in the data Recommendations on how to use or analyse the data Date field definitions Historical permits Unique keys Changes in the data Change dataset name Glossary Feedback form Appendix Copyright Environment Agency 1

3 1.0 Record of amendment Version number Section number Amendment description Date All Amendment of dataset name 01/01/09 Copyright Environment Agency 2

4 2.0 Introduction This document provides information to accompany the Environment Agency s Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset. It can be used to gain a better understanding of the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters data when used in conjunction with the current data release. For information relating to national datasets in general, please refer to the National Dataset Generic Text document. Details of our distribution policy can be found in the National Dataset Generic Text document, along with contact details for the Data Management team. Information about our web site can also be found in the National Dataset Generic document. The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters web site is located at : The site includes general information about consenting and links to other web pages of interest. 2.1 Description of the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Dataset It is an offence to discharge sewage, trade effluent, poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to Controlled Waters unless in agreement with a consent from the Environment Agency in accordance with the Water Resources Act 1991 (as amended by the Environment Act 1995). An exception is water from a mine that was abandoned before 31 December Any mine abandoned after this date is not covered by this exception. Controlled waters include virtually all freshwaters, ground waters, tidal and coastal waters to a distance of three nautical miles out to sea. Exceptions include small ponds and reservoirs that do not supply water to other watercourses. Public water supply reservoirs are controlled waters. There are over 100,000 Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters for effluent discharges from a wide range of public, private and industrial sectors, discharging into freshwater, estuarine, coastal waters and groundwater in England and Wales. A portion of these are "significant" continuous discharges and require monitoring or inspecting.. The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset contains information on authorised discharges of effluents to the controlled waters. These data have been extracted from the national WIMS (Water Information Management System) database. Data stored on WIMS is entered from applications made by members of the public, companies and other bodies seeking to obtain authorisation. Applications for consent are assessed and granted or refused based on this assessment. Only when an application is granted will it appear on in the Discharge Consent dataset. WIMS is a live system and it is continuously updated, as such, the dataset represents all the permit data on the system at the time of the extraction. The dataset is updated quarterly for release to external sources. Copyright Environment Agency 3

5 The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters national dataset is extracted from WIMS in an automated process, using SQL code.. It contains historical information as well as new or amended records. Three tables have been supplied: 1) The Full Permit table (TBLFULLPERMITDATA2) shows all Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters, including those which authorise the release of Red List substances (see the Red List user guide for more information on these consents). This table also includes information on revoked consents. 2) The current discharge consent table (TBL_CURRENT_LICENCES_ONLY) shows all consent that are currently active or effective. 3) Areas table (TBL_AREAS) provides information on the Environment Agency organisational areas associated with permits Effluent types In the dataset there are eight main types of effluents which may be discharged under the conditions of a consent: Agriculture Freshwater Groundwater Miscellaneous Saline water Sewage discharges Trade discharges Waste sites 2.2 Related data sources Details of Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters which permit the release of Red List substances are contained within the WIMS database. For further information on Red List substances please consult the Discharges of Consented Red List Substances National Dataset User Guide. The Bathing Waters Quality at Designated Beaches dataset provides information about the standard of bathing waters around England and Wales. This is collated from monitoring data stored in WIMS. Copyright Environment Agency 4

6 3.0 Public Register and non Public Register Data For a general description of what constitutes public register data please refer to the National Dataset Generic Text document. 3.1 Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Public Register data The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset is derived from the National Water Quality and Pollution Control Public Register. This register is maintained under section 190 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and prescribed by SI No.2971 The Control of Pollution (Applications, Appeals and Registers) Regulations 1996 (since 31 December 1996), and previously SINo.1160 The Control of Pollution (Registers) Regulations 1989 (since 1September 1989). Data within the supplied dataset are all part of the public register with exception of company name details and Issued_date (see below). 3.2 Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters Non Public Register data The Company name is not covered under the public register of this dataset. This field identifies the company or individual who holds the consent to discharge. One permit can be held by more than one individual or company. The Issued_date field identifies either the date the consent was signed (i.e. when it became public register) or when the record was entered into the WIMS system. This may differ from the Effective Date which is the date on which the consent comes into force. In some situations a consent is issued with an Effective Date which is in the future. 3.3 National Security issues A discussion of national security issues can be found in the National Dataset Generic Text Document, however there are no national security issues relating specifically to the Consented Discharges to Controlled Wasters dataset. 3.4 Legislation relevant to Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters The Environment Agency has responsibilities for the issue of consents to discharge to controlled waters under the Water Resources Act (WRA) 1991 (Section 84 (1)). This came into effect in 1991 and replaced the corresponding sections of the Water Act All new discharges of sewage or trade effluent to controlled waters require the consent of the Environment Agency. The Agency may impose any reasonable conditions to achieve water quality objectives. Where it is considered that an unacceptable deterioration in water quality of the receiving water is likely to occur due to the content of the discharge, consent can be refused. Refusals, consent conditions or the failure to determine an application (deemed refusal) are subject to the right of appeal to the Secretary of State for the Environment. Copyright Environment Agency 5

7 The WRA sets out the responsibilities of the Environment Agency in relation to water pollution, and regulates discharges to controlled waters. This is distinct from discharge of any effluent from trade premises into a sewer. Copyright Environment Agency 6

8 4.0 Data structure The detailed data structure of the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset is given in the associated Field Attribute document. 4.1 Entity relationship diagram The database consists of three tables. Their relationships are shown below. Copyright Environment Agency 7

9 5.0 Data quality 5.1 Data standards For data standards applicable to a number of national datasets please consult the Generic Text document. Any standards specific to the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters data are detailed below Locational data standards The precision of the national grid references (NGRs) is 1m for NGRs composed of 12 digits (2 letters and 10 numbers); 10m for NGRs composed of 10 digits (2 letters and 8 numbers); 100m for NGRs of 8 digits (2 letters and 6 numbers). For this dataset the NGR should be recorded as 2 valid letters and 10 numbers. 5.2 Reporting errors Methods of reporting errors are included in the generic text document. A feedback form can be found at the end of this user guide. 5.3 Validation rules and completeness checks Every effort is made to minimise data errors occurring in the Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters data release. For background information on the data validation process and general completeness checks that we carry out, please refer to the national dataset generic document. 5.4 Validation checks specific to the Discharge Consent data We perform checks on a quarterly basis on the discharge consent data held within WIMS. These checks aim to assess the completeness and correctness of several key areas. These include: locational information (effluent outlet and site NGR, discharge site name and receiving water name); dates (effective dates and revocation dates); and descriptive information (receiving water environment type, company name, discharge site type). The checks identify records that fail specific compliance rules and criteria. Any failing records are reported to the relevant Agency staff for correction. 5.5 Known quality issues Fields named: EFFLUENT_GRID_REF and OUTLET_GRID_REF. Refer to grid references of effluents and outlets. They contain a number of default codes as follows: "** ", "** ", "** ", "** ", "** ". Fields named ADD_OF_DISCHARGE_SITE_PCODE Refers to discharge site postcode. This field is not fully populated and also contains some data of an invalid format. Copyright Environment Agency 8

10 6.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Q1. Why do records have null, XXX or unknown address fields? A1. This is due to the conversion of WIMS to Y2K compliance and the fact that some very old consents documents do not contain this information. To allow all data to be migrated across, where address data was missing or incorrect, unknown, space or was entered. As WIMS is meant to reflect the legal documents some regions entered XXX to indicate null.. Q2. Why do some fields (i.e. address, site name) appear truncated? A2. The fields are not truncated during extraction, it is how they are stored in WIMS. The truncation occurs during the input of the data. The address fields in WIMS are only 32 characters long but the user interface provides space for up to 40 characters. There are no plans to correct these records currently. Q3. Why does the issue data fall after the revocation date? A3. In many regions the field 'Issued' in WIMS is a time stamp automatically generated by the system at the time the record is entered. When WIMS was introduced there were issues with the updates to the system and many records were stock piled for later input into WIMS. The accurate licence dates are the field s 'effective_date' and 'revoked_date'. Q4. Issue and effective date fields have null fields, truncated fields, or default values e.g Or 1901 Why is this? A4. The effective date fields are not mandatory in WIMS. The issue date field may be a time stamp for when the record was manually entered into the system. Mass imports of records do not contain this value as the function was disabled to increase speed. Many regions have chosen 1900 or 1901 as dump values to indicate that they do not know the original value. Q5. What is the earliest issue date? A5. Excluding the default values 1900 and 1901, the earliest issue date is 24/07/1902. Q6. Why do some records contain default grid references? A6. Due to the Y2K Compliant system being integrated with more stringent rules many of the NGR data would not be entered in the system. A default NGR was generated so that the data could be migrated and they would be easily identifiable at a later date. Known default values are "** , , and Additionally, some historic consent documents do not include NGR details. These therefore did not have values in WIMS prior to the Y2K update and a default code was added so that they could be included in the new system. The NGR for these sites may never be corrected. For those that can be corrected, this will be undertaken by the overarching data quality programme. In Wales there are approximately 4000 records of this type. Copyright Environment Agency 9

11 Q7. There are records in every region where the revoked date for consents actually falls before the effective date. How is this possible? A7. Consents are entered into WIMS once the document has been signed. The effective date is usually in the future. During the period between entry onto WIMS and the consent becoming active many things can occur: a) A change in policy / environmental status may lead to a review of the permit this can lead to a change in permit conditions or to revocation of the permit. A change in permit detail may lead to a new version of the permit to be issued and the previous version will be revoked. b) The customer may wish to make a change which requires a new consent. The previous consent may then be revoked in favour of the new permit. c) Area staff are correctly entering the date of decided revocation despite the permit not being active. This is standard practice. Q8. Some features in regions (including the North West and South West) have records where the Effective Dates are years into the future. A8. Future effective dates (usually 10 years or more) are entered into WIMS usually when no details on the start of the discharge are available at the time of the licence issue. These dates stay in the system until any more details on when the discharge actually starts at a site are made available. Future effective dates are easily identifiable when amendment is needed. Copyright Environment Agency 10

12 7.0 Useful information when using the data. You should take into account the following information when analysing the data. This section also points out information that is not included in the data, as well as any limitations on interpreting the data. 7.1 What is not included in the data There are a number of permits that were revoked prior to 1999 which do not appear in the dataset. These permits did not have any sampling data associated with them and they were not migrated to the new electronic system. The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset does not contain the numerical limits, such as restrictions on volumes, that may be placed on discharges. 7.2 Recommendations on how to use or analyse the data The Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters dataset can be used to extract specific descriptive information on licence validity dates, licence holders (only company name), licensed discharge sites (addresses, NGR, region, district councils and catchment areas), type of discharges (i.e. industrial, trade, sewage, domestic etc.), water bodies that sites discharge into, effluents and outlets. The dataset is often used in conjunction with other spatially related data for the following purposes: property searches, property valuation, environmental impact studies or market research purposes Date field definitions. The issue date field is not used consistently by all areas when it is being populated. Many regions use it as a system time stamp, others use it as date of signing of the permit. Effective_date is used as the start date for the consent and revocation_date describes the cessation date.. It is recommended therefore that the effective_date and revocation_date fields are used for temporal searches Historical permits Many Dump Code NGRs are the result of historical paper consents where the NGR was not recorded. The NGR has been added as a best guess to allow it to be entered into the system. Information about historic outlet pipes etc. may no longer exist and the NGR is likely to be accurate to 1 km at most Unique keys Multiple versions of a single permit may be stored in the dataset. Therefore, a unique reference can be found by using: Copyright Environment Agency 11

13 Permit_number + permit_version + outlet_number + effluent_number + company_name. 7.3 Changes in the data Change dataset name Prior to January 2009, this dataset was known as Discharge Consents. Copyright Environment Agency 12

14 8.0 Glossary IEC NGR SQL WIAR WIMS WRA Y2K Information Enterprise Centre National Grid Reference Structured Query Language Water Industry Act Referrals Water Information Management System Water Resources Act Year 2000 (specifically relating to computer systems operating beyond 31/12/1999) Copyright Environment Agency 13

15 9.0 Feedback form We welcome feedback on our data. If you have any comments please complete the form below and return to us: Name: Phone: Organisation: Fax: National Dataset. (Please enter dataset to which your feedback relates) Comments: Feedback on contents of documentation: Feedback on data content: General feedback: Information Enterprise Centre Tel: Environment Agency Government Buildings Burghill Road Westbury on Trym Bristol, BS10 6BF Copyright Environment Agency 14

16 10.0 Appendix 1 Complete list of all amendments made to the document Version number Section number Amendment description Date All Text reviewed and formatted 01/04/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text added 20/01/ Text added 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 20/01/ Text revised 21/07/ Text revised 21/07/ Text revised 21/07/ Text revised 21/07/ Text revised 21/07/ Text added 21/07/ Sectional title changed 21/07/ Section number changed from /07/ Added text 22/04/ Added text 22/04/ Added text 22/04/ Added text 22/04/ Added text 22/04/ Added text 22/04/05 Copyright Environment Agency 15