The Environment Permitting Standards In England & Wales: An In-Depth Guide  

Environmental permitting in England is a framework designed to regulate activities that have the potential to harm the environment or human health. In England, the Environment Agency is the primary regulator for most large industrial activities and those which pose a larger risk to the environment, while local authorities regulate lower risk activities known as Part A(2) and Part B installations. The system aims to prevent pollution, protect air, land and water quality, and ensure safe handling of waste and hazardous substances.  

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 is the legislative statutory instrument governing industrial and waste activities which have the potential to cause harm to human health or the environment. A permit is a document issued by a regulating authority to an operator allowing them to undertake specific controlled activities at a specific location. The operator must, after the grant of the permit, ensure that the activities are undertaken to comply with the conditions of the granted permit.  

 ​​​​Key regulated industries: 

1) Waste Management  

Waste storage (including temporary storage pending treatment or disposal). 

Waste treatment activities, such as: 

  • Mechanical sorting 
  • Crushing and screening 
  • Composting 
  • Anaerobic digestion 
  • Physical, chemical or biological treatment of waste. 

Waste recovery operations, where waste is used to replace other materials or is otherwise recovered for beneficial use. 

Waste disposal operations, including: 

  • Landfilling 
  • Incineration without energy recovery 
  • Permanent deposit of waste to land. 

 

2) Landspreading  

For landspreading, the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) regulate the spreading of waste to land where waste is used as a recovery operation rather than a disposal activity. This falls within the waste operations regime and typically requires an environmental permit. 

 

Landspreading involves applying waste materials to land for: 

  • Agricultural benefit 
  • Ecological improvement 
  • Land reclamation 
  • Land restoration 
  • Land improvement 

 

Common materials include: 

  • Sewage sludge 
  • Paper sludge 
  • Composts 
  • Digestates 
  • Soils and aggregates 

 

3) Intensive Agriculture  

An environmental permit is required where livestock are reared intensively above the following thresholds: 

  • More than 40,000 poultry places (broilers, laying hens, turkeys, ducks, etc.). 
  • More than 2,000 production pigs (over 30 kg). 
  • More than 750 sow places. 

 

4) Combustion Plant 

Medium Combustion Plant: these are combustion plants with a rated thermal input of 1 MWth up to but not including 50 MWth, burning any fuel. Examples include: 

  • Boilers 
  • Gas turbines 
  • Diesel and gas engines 
  • Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units 

A specified generator is a combustion plant used to generate electricity, typically up to 50 MWth. This includes: 

  • Standby generators 
  • Peaking plants 
  • Capacity Market generators 
  • Balancing service generators 

 

Large Combustion Plants (LCPs) are combustion plant with a total rated thermal input of 50 MWth or greater falls under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) regime. Examples include large power stations and major industrial boilers. 

 

Incineration and Co-incineration Plant which are combustion plant used to burn waste, examples include: 

  • Energy-from-waste facilities 
  • Clinical waste incinerators 
  • Cement kilns burning waste-derived fuels 

5) Manufacturing 

Metal Production and Processing including: 

  • Iron and steel manufacture. 
  • Foundries. 
  • Non-ferrous metal production. 
  • Metal melting and casting. 
  • Surface treatment of metals and plastics using electrolytic or chemical processes. 

Mineral Industries including: 

  • Cement manufacture. 
  • Lime production. 
  • Glass manufacture. 
  • Glass fibre production. 
  • Ceramics manufacture. 
  • Asphalt and mineral processing operations. 
  • Activities involving asbestos. 

Chemical Industries including: 

  • Manufacture of organic chemicals. 
  • Manufacture of inorganic chemicals. 
  • Fertiliser production. 
  • Pharmaceutical manufacture. 
  • Production of biocides and plant protection products. 
  • Manufacture of explosives. 
  • Large-scale ammonia-related processes. 
  • Bulk chemical storage activities. 

 

Other Industrial Activities including: 

  • Pulp, paper and board manufacture. 
  • Textile treatment and dyeing. 
  • Tanning of hides and skins. 
  • Food and drink manufacturing above specified thresholds. 
  • Slaughterhouses. 
  • Animal by-product processing. 
  • Wood-based panel manufacture. 
  • Timber treatment using chemicals. 

  

Who issues permits?  

  • The Environment Agency (EA), and NRW are the regulatory bodies, for most medium to large, high-risk activities, especially those with significant potential environmental impact.  
  • Local authorities regulate smaller, often domestic-scale sites or activities that pose a lower risk but still require permit coverage (e.g., certain waste carriers, small waste facilities, certain manufacturing processes).  

Application process  

  • Screening: Determine whether a site requires a permit based on activities and potential environmental risk. And what permit type is applicable to the activities and site location, also.  
  • Pre-Application Engagement: Pre-application engagement with the environmental permitting process involves early discussions with a regulator, to identify correct permit types, required risk assessments, application forms and potential site constraints.  
  • Technical assessment: Submit plans, risk assessments, pollution control measures and BAT compliance evidence.  
  • Validation: the Regulatory reviews the application pack and determines whether it is suitable to progress through to determination. 
  • Determination: The Regulator assesses risks, proposes conditions and issues or refuses a permit.  
  • Compliance and enforcement: Regulated entities must monitor emissions, keep records, and report them to the regulator. Inspections may occur and non-compliance can lead to enforcement actions.  

Key concepts for compliance  

  • Best Available Techniques (BAT): The standard for emission control and operational practices. Permits reference BAT conclusions to set compliance limits.  
  • ​​​​​Environmental Risk Assessments: Evaluate potential impacts on air, water, soil and biodiversity; inform permit conditions.  
  • Monitoring and Reporting: Regular sampling, continuous monitoring where required and periodic reporting to regulators.  
  • Appropriate Measures: identifies the technical plant/equipment and management procedures to be deployed in order to comply with regulatory standards. 

Recent trends and reforms  

  • Digital Waste Tracking: This is a UK-wide initiative. It replaces outdated paper processes to increase transparency, improve circular economy data and combat illegal waste ​​​​crime.  
  • Integrated Management Systems: the regulator is increasingly seeking for systems and procedures to be integrated and aligned so that there are no contradictory commitments or operational limits across separate documentation. 
  • Validation: the emphasis on the quality and completeness of a permit application during the validation phase has increased in scrutiny over recent years, seeing permit application rejected if not up to standard. 

 

Practical steps for businesses  

  • Map activities: Identify which processes on the site require permits (emissions to air, water discharges, waste handling, etc.).  
  • Conduct risk assessments: Evaluate potential environmental impacts and demonstrate BAT compliance.  
  • Prepare robust documentation: Emission inventories, monitoring plans, maintenance schedules, spill response plans and training records.  
  • Engage regulators early: Seek pre-application advice to clarify requirements and reduce the risk of non-compliance.  
  • Establish a compliance management system: Regular internal audits, defect management and corrective actions to maintain permit conditions.  

  

Seeking Consultancy  

Our service offering from project design to on-ground operational support ensures that a permit application ticks-the-box to obtain consent and is both operationally practical and commercially maximises the development potential.  

Our technical expertise across a wide range of regulated industries and process technologies, enables us to advise our clients on how to apply for a consent that will provide best value for money.

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