What is Environmental Permit Pre-application Advice?
Pre-application advice is guidance that is designed to assist with the Environmental Permit application process. It provides advice to an operator that is tailored to their specific activity and site, to help the operator understand if any permissions (such as permits, licenses or authorisations) are required from the Environment Agency (EA) before an activity can be carried out in a legally-compliant manner. If yes, the process highlights what components are required as part of the application. The EA identifies 3 regimes that fall under the regulatory industry category which helps operators decide which regime(s) the proposed operations fall in to:
- Installations – Activities relating to a wide range of industrial processes, manufacturing or other businesses that produce potentially harmful substances. For example, activities pertaining to hazardous waste treatment exceeding 10 tonnes per day, non-hazardous waste treatment exceeding 50 tonnes per day for disposal or 75 tonnes per day for recovery.
- Waste – Activities involving the handling of waste material, either by storage and/or treatment above limits set within exemptions. Facilities that fall under the waste category include inert waste treatment, household, commercial and industrial (HCI) transfer stations, and open windrow composting up to 75 tonnes per day.
- Water Quality – Stand-alone water discharge activities resulting in the release of polluting liquids to surface waters (e.g. rivers, streams), or stand-alone groundwater activities releasing polluting liquids directly or indirectly to water underground.
We also support environmental permit pre-application support for food manufacturing and intensive farming.