You or your business may require an environmental permit if there are activities that pose a risk to the surroundings. Before you get start, or let us get started. Here’s some useful information to help understand the process.
The permit type depends on the scope of activities that are being carried out, as this impacts the size and severity of the environmental risks involved. For low risk processes a permit may not be needed, and an exemption could be sufficient. Exemptions are free to register and quick to be approved however most activities don’t qualify for this category. Standard rule permits cover medium risk activities with a generic set of points that the permit holder has to comply with. For more complex processes, a bespoke or Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) permit will be required. These will be tailored to your site and activities to effectively manage the specific environmental risks. Bespoke and IED applications can be expensive, time consuming and have greater compliance requirements once consented.
Most permits in the UK are issued by the Environment Agency, however this is not universal as Scotland and Wales have their own respective governing body.
Preparing the documentation, information and procedures to submit a permit application can be time consuming, but will ultimately depend on what is already established and accessible. Once the application has been submitted the advised time scales are as follows:
- 4 months if you are applying for a new permit
- 3 months if you want to vary a permit or surrender it
- 2 months if you want to transfer a permit
The governing body may come back with a Schedule 5, which is a formal request for additional information that is needed before granting the application. These requests have a deadline, which if not met, the permit application can be rejected.
Standard rules permits are a fixed fee for the permit application, annual subsistence, variation or surrender. Bespoke or IED permit charges are based on risk, and therefore large scale operations are more costly.
Click here for an accurate breakdown of the Environment Agency permit fees.
If you haven’t already got one, you will need an Environmental Management System (EMS). This doesn’t need to be accredited to an external standard such as ISO 14001, but this may be considered as an additional step to improve your business image. The policies and procedures that form the EMS must effectively demonstrate that all environmental risks has been minimised and you are able to meet the permit conditions. Additionally, you must also provide detailed documentation for your current or proposed business activities. Including site plans, process flows, discharge consents and overall capacities. It is advised to hire a consultant for advice and expertise as this process can be complex and labour intensive.
Once your permit has been approved, you will be legally obliged to comply with the clauses detailed in the issued permit document. These conditions will vary with the permit type and associated activities but is likely to state reporting and monitoring criteria that must be followed. All the conditions should be familiar to you at the time the permit is issued as these are discussed with the regulatory body during the application process. Your site will be assigned a local area officer whom will complete ad-hoc unannounced inspections to ensure operations are in compliance with the permit and are not imposing environmental risk.
