<p><span>Water and sewerage companies in England will be duty bound to upgrade wastewater treatment works “to the highest technically achievable limits” by 2030, with a mitigation scheme also announced to tackle the challenge of nutrient pollution, which has put the delivery of more than 100,000 new homes on hold.</span></p> <p><span>In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) issued yesterday (July 20), environment secretary George Eustice wrote that an amendment would be tabled to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to reflect the required treatment works upgrade, which he said would apply to areas under nutrient neutrality stipulations.</span></p> <p><span>“Water companies will be required to undertake these upgrades in a way that tackles the dominant nutrient(s) causing pollution at a protected site,” Eustice stated. </span></p> <p><span>Eustice also announced a Nutrient Mitigation Scheme under Natural England which will frontload investment in mitigation projects - including wetland and woodland creation - to counteract the nutrient issue. Natural England will work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), with the government departments providing funding to pump prime the scheme.</span></p> <p><span>Under the mitigation scheme, the environment secretary explained, developers would purchase “nutrient credits” to discharge …