Those wastes are currently exempt from licensing and, what is more, they can be applied at the rate of 250 tonnes per hectare in any 12-month period.One of the problems is that the existing statutory framework—the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, which deal with exempt wastes—are, to be frank, badly dated. The non-statutory framework consists of "The Safe Sludge Matrix" and the code of practice on the prevention of environmental pollution from agriculture activities.