Environmental Permitting Regulations

The environmental permitting system for the first phase of the Environmental Permitting Regulations Programme (EPP1) came into force on April 6 2008. This article looks at the regulations and guidance for the new system.

What is environmental permitting?

Some activities harm the environment and human health unless they are controlled. The Environmental Permitting Programme regime requires operators to obtain permits for some facilities, the registration of exemptions for other facilities and ongoing supervision by regulators. The aim of the regime is to:

Protect the environment
Deliver permitting and compliance effectively and efficiently, providing increased clarity and minimising the administrative burden on both the regulator and the operators of facilities
Encourage regulators to promote best practice in the operation of facilities
Continue to fully implement European legislation.

The scope of the regime

The regime covers facilities previously regulated under the Pollution prevention control (PPC) regulations and waste management licensing and exemptions. The regime extends to England and Wales, also covering the adjacent sea as far as the seaward boundary of those countries.

Why change environmental permitting?

Respondents to the first EPP consultation agreed with the principle of the EPP being a platform for the future, and in the second consultation (Autumn 2006) the Government committed to develop its thinking on the possible integration of other systems into a common platform. Feedback from industry and regulators generally indicates that there are opportunities to increase efficiency in the area of permitting and compliance.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Five year strategy contains a commitment to a programme dedicated to progressively putting different regulatory streams on to a common footing, and the Hampton report (March 2005) recommended proportionality by the application of effective risk-based approaches. Also during 2005, the Better regulation task force report highlighted the fact that the procedures relating to integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) for an industrial process that might cause pollution are different to those required for waste management. However, their objective, to protect the environment, is the same.

A recent Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) guide on how to implement the European Directive effectively, gave the proposed EPP scheme as an example of good practice in implementing directives.

What will change?

A more risk-based system of permitting and compliance will not change what is regulated, or who regulates it, but will deliver:

Better protection of the environment by enabling the regulated and regulators to focus on practical environmental protection rather than paperwork
Cost savings to industry and regulators through reduction of the associated administrative burdens
Increased confidence for industry, with a clearer, cheaper and quicker system determining how and when permissions will be granted, and for the public, knowing that a simple and clear system is in place to allow more easily the prevention of the local environment being polluted.

The rest of the UK

Scotland
The Scottish Executive (SE) has recognised the need for modernising the waste management licensing and pollution prevention control (PPC) permitting systems in England and Wales, and is currently involved in similar work in Scotland. The SE will keep in close touch with the developments in England, and integrate clauses and issues as it deems necessary.

Northern Ireland
The Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (DOENI) is committed to ensuring that the waste management licensing and PPC permitting systems in Northern Ireland are operating to best practice. DOENI will follow the progress of the programme and has expressed an interest in reviewing any opportunities for improvement that may emerge over time.