One Stop Shop Introduced in UK for Environmental Permits by Defra UK

The UK environmental regulations have been simplified for the first time in years, in a recent move which has been largely unreported in the technical press.

In a move likely to be welcomed by industry, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations (EP) were brought into effect on the 6 April 2008. At their heart these regulations continue to implement existing statutes but aimed at delivering a risk-based approach that should streamline and simplify regulation reducing the bureaucratic requirements for the less high risk sites.

Whereas both waste activities and industrial activities, were previously regulated under separate Waste Management Licensing (WML), and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regulations, both will from now on be regulated together under a single new regime.

If this is successful, it is thought that Defra has plans that this will be extended to other environmental regulations which will be brought under the EP umbrella, over a period of time.

The greatest benefits enjoyed by process operators, especially in the waste sector, where multiple authorisations have until now been an unwelcome feature of the WML and IPPC regimes.

At the core of the EP simplification philosophy will be the publication of a series of standard permits. However, currently these are solely available for waste management facilities. Examples of these types of installations include waste transfer stations, household and civic waste sites, and Materials Recycling Facilities (MRFs).

The full panoply of requirements still applies to large and high risk installations, but there is now an option of applying for a standard permit, which is now available for low to medium risk facilities . This is subject to capacity limits on standard permits which will restrict their use to most sites to treating 75,000 tonnes of waste per year (but this could be as low as 5,000 tonnes per year for outdoor waste transfer stations).

The option to apply for a bespoke permit for all sites will remain open to applicants who wish to maximise operational flexibility, although this will also revert a project to the much criticised old system which was often slated for its high application costs, and potential for delays to project programmes.

For those familiar with the Waste Management Licensing Regime, the EP regime will bring
requirements similar to those seen in PPC permits, including tightened staff competency requirements and formalised Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

Operators of existing sites need not be concerned that their consents/permits will need to be re-negotiated. We understand that existing PPC permits or waste management licence holders will not have to re-apply for an Environmental Permit or EP.

Multiple Sites Under Environmental Permitting (EP)?

For operations eligible for standard permits, the EP regulations will bring a potential opportunityfor the site operator to save money and streamline permit administration. This comes about due to the fact that  the new regulations (Reg. 17(d)) allow an operator to hold one standard permit that can apply to more than one site in different locations.

Operating a number of sites under a single permit could be a lot cheaper when making the application and in future subsistence fees, although the details of this are still to be clarified.

The Future for Environmental Permitting (EP)?

There is now a second phase of the EP Programme (EPP2) planned by Defra during it plans to extend the common permitting approach to a number of other environmental permitting regimes. Whoever, this will take time to implement and is likely to take two or more years to implement, from Summer 2008.

Activities which may in future be suitable for EPs include water discharge consenting, groundwater abstraction authorisation, river water abstraction, radioactive substances regulation and licensing of some waste carriers and brokers.

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