Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Commencement: 2nd October 2023
Amends: The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 replace the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 and were written to consolidate the high number of amendments made to the previous Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. The duties remain largely the same.
These Regulations cover:
- When an environmental permit is needed, or when an exemption needs to be registered;
- How to apply for, appeal against, vary, transfer and surrender a permit; and
- How these Regulations are enforced.
There are many different types of facility or activity which require a permit, including ‘installations’, waste operations, certain types of mobile plant, surface water and ground water activities, flood risk activities, solvent emission activities, and radioactive substances activities.
Applications for environmental permits may be granted by the regulator (Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales) to allow a person to operate a regulated facility.
N.B. Any existing enforcement notices, applications for a permit, applications to transfer a permit, etc. made under the 2010 Environmental Permitting Regulations continue to have effect but are now treated as having been made under these Regulations.
Various duties apply.
Changes are made to optimise the regulatory tools available for managing and protecting groundwater in England, with the aim of improving groundwater quality, reducing unnecessary business costs and to help ensure resources are used effectively. The changes come into force on 2nd October 2023.
Permits
A permit may now be granted in England for:
- any groundwater activity intended to remediate* the effects of pollution in groundwater; and
- the injection of substances into groundwater to increase the flow of fluids or gas to a well or borehole for extraction.
*Remediate means taking action to prevent or mitigate the effects of pollution and any action to restore the area to its former state.
Surrendering of an environmental permit
In England, the operator of an environmental permit may now notify the Environment Agency of their intention to surrender a permit for a stand-alone water discharge or groundwater activity that:
- is used for hydrocarbon exploration or extraction; or
- intersects a hydrocarbon formation.
N.B. This does not apply to activity in a well or borehole.
Sewage
Small discharges of sewage effluent
Operators of sewage treatment plants and septic tanks must comply with ‘General binding rules for small sewage discharges (SSDs)’ by 2nd October 2023.
Discharges from sewage treatment plants and septic tanks must not pollute groundwater in a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1*.
*Groundwater Source Protection Zone 1 is any area:
- within 50 metres of a water abstraction point; or
- in any area where groundwater may reach an abstraction point within 50 days.
Sewage offences
The offences for sewage undertakers are updated. Schedule 21 and Schedule 22 are amended accordingly.
Open-loop ground source heating and cooling systems
Wastewater from open-loop ground systems must not be discharged in Wales:
- within 50 metres of a water abstraction point; or
- in any area where groundwater may reach an abstraction point within 50 days.
In England, wastewater from open-loop ground systems must not be discharged within a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1.
Closed-loop ground source heating and cooling systems*
The following requirements only apply to operators in England.
Operators of a closed-loop ground source heating and cooling system* must prevent pollution of surface water or groundwater.
Closed-loop ground source systems must:
- not mobilise contaminants in soil;
- be decommissioned when they are no longer required; and
- comply with the British Standards and Ground Source Heat Pump Association standards listed in Part 3 of Schedule 3.
Closed-loop ground source systems must not be located:
- within a groundwater Source Protection Zone 1;
- within 50 metres of a well, spring or borehole;
- within a specified distance of a protected site or ancient woodland; or
- adjacent to a septic tank.
Low-risk burials
Schedule 3 adds requirements for low-risk burials in new cemeteries and extensions of cemeteries.
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