Extension to the Environmental Permitting Regime (England and Wales)

On 6th April 2010 the new Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 are expected to come into force (the “EP Regulations”). The EP Regulations will extend environmental permitting to cover 1) discharges to water, 2) groundwater authorisations and 3) management of radioactive substances. The regulatory regimes previously governing these matters will be repealed.

This is part of the Government’s second phase of the introduction of a single permitting system in respect of environment matters (EPP2). The idea behind the single permitting system is to reduce the administrative burden of regulation without comprising environmental standards. It does so by bringing together previously separate, but largely comparable, regulatory regimes for different environment matters. The first phase (EPP1) was introduced in 2007 (in force in 2008) and brought together the regulatory regimes for Pollution Prevention and Control and Waste Management Licensing. The regime was later further extended by the inclusion of the Mining Waste Directive and the permitting parts of the Batteries Directive. These previous amending regulations will also be combined into the single EP regime under the new EP Regulations.

The EP Regulations will affect all businesses that 1) discharge to rivers, lakes, coastal waters etc, 2) discharge substances to groundwater and/or 3) use or dispose of radioactive substances or wastes. Authorisations relating to these matters previously granted under other regulatory regimes will automatically become environmental permits on 6 April 2010, and will become governed by the EP Regulations.

To view the draft EP Regulations and explanatory note please click here