In the consultation from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the government says it wishes to test whether including water companies as statutory consultees for fracking applications “will further strengthen the regulatory framework”.
Making the water companies statutory consultees in something Labour is planning to introduce and was one of 11 amendments to the Infrastructure Bill that the opposition has tabled.
Currently, water companies are not statutory consultees for shale gas planning applications.
Water UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) last year. Under the MoU, UKOOG and Water UK will work together to “identify and resolve risks” around baseline monitoring requirements as well as plans relating to site water management to assess impacts of onshore oil and gas development on the quality and quantity of local water resources.
In the consultation, the government has defended its current planning regime, saying there are already safeguards in place “to ensure that issues relating to water are addressed in a robust, joined-up way”.
The deadline for responses to the consultation is 29 January 2015.