Our charging schemes
Annual subsistence charges for 2024-2025
The subsistence charges are the annual fees for managing your licences. From 1 April 2024, our annual subsistence charges will increase in the following areas:
- Specific increases of +5% in 2024/25 for the following subsistence areas:
- Water Resources Standard Unit Charge (SUC)
- Installations (including Medium Combustion Plant Directive [MCPD])
- Site-based Waste
- Water Quality.
- Inflationary increases of +3% in 2024/25 for the following subsistence areas:
- Non-Nuclear
- UK Emissions Trading (Permitting & Subsistence Charges)
- Materials Recycling Facilities (MRF)
- Waste Carriers, Brokers & Dealers
- Flood Risk Assessment Permits (FRAPs)
- Reservoir Compliance
Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) charges
Environmental Permitting Charging Scheme 2024-25
The Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) covers the different types of operations that require a permit or consent under the EPR including:
- waste facilities
- installations
- mining waste operations
- mobile plant
- water quality (discharges to water and groundwater)
- radioactive substances
- flood risk activities
- Medium Combustion Plant Directive and Specified Generator controls
It also includes information about charges for:
- waste carriers, brokers and dealers
- exempt waste operations
- producer responsibility
- international waste shipments
Operational Risk Assessment (OPRA)
To work out your annual subsistence charge for an Installation permit you will need to fill in an Operational Risk Assessment (OPRA) spreadsheet.
Use our new application charge tool to work out your charge for any type of installation permit application.
Find the application charge tool on the Apply for a bespoke permit for an installation page
Water Industry Act 1991, Section 166 consents – new charges
This service is for water companies that need to discharge treated, or untreated, water into a watercourse from a pipe greater than 229mm in diameter.
Apply for a Water Industry Act consent
Abstraction charges
Subsistence Charges (Standard Unit Charge) have increased by +5%
Charges for abstraction and impoundment licences are set to cover the costs we incur in ensuring water resources are managed sustainably.
Information about abstraction charges is available on our water abstraction charges scheme page. This includes information on our application charges for abstraction and impoundment licences and details on how the components of the annual charges for abstraction licences work, including the Standard Unit Charge (SUC) and Environmental Improvement Unit Charges (EIUC). More information about water abstraction and impoundment licences is available on the water abstraction and impoundment licences page.
Control of major accident hazards (COMAH) charges
Update: 2024-2025 hourly rate charge has increased to £202/hr
COMAH charges cover our regulatory role as part of the Competent Authority tasked with controlling Major Accident Hazards. Natural Resources Wales, along with the Health and Safety Executive and the Office for Nuclear Regulation, form the COMAH Competent Authority in Wales.
We ensure that duty holders take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences for human health and the environment.
We raise charges to recover our costs incurred in carrying out the functions of the COMAH 2015 Regulations based on a time and materials approach. We raise invoices within 30 days of 31 March and 30 September each year. Our charge out rate is now £202 per inspector hour unless otherwise stated.
The fees payable by operators to the Competent Authority are laid out in Regulation 28 of the COMAH 2015 Regulations. This means that the COMAH Competent Authority may charge for the discharge of any function conferred by the COMAH 2015 Regulations with the exception of:
- any criminal investigation or prosecution incurred, in either case, from the date any summons is obtained from a Magistrates Court;
- functions of the competent authority related to preparation of External Emergency Plans under Regulation 13.
UK Emissions Trading System (UK ETS) charges
Our permitting and Subsistence charges for 2024-25 have increased by +3%;
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) replaced the UK's participation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) from 01 January 2021.
Natural Resources Wales developed a charging scheme for UK ETS which we consulted on early in 2021 and implemented from 1 July 2021. Further information can be found on our UK Emissions Trading Scheme page.
Reservoir safety
The Reservoirs Act 1975 seeks to protect people, property, and infrastructure by reducing the risk of flooding caused by dam or reservoir failure. It is our duty to ensure owners and operators of large, raised reservoirs manage them appropriately.
We recover a portion of our costs through initial registration fees, this includes the cost of determining the level of risk attributable to the reservoir. The additional work we do to monitor high risk reservoirs is recovered through annual charges on the owners or operators of reservoirs.
More information is available on our Reservoir charges page.
Nuclear regulation in Wales
The Environment Agency carries out some nuclear regulation work at sites in Wales on behalf of NRW. The charges are part of NRW fees and charges however they are impacted on by the EA charging scheme. The EA consult separately on their fees and charges.
Charges for non-nuclear radioactive substance permits
Species licensing (new)
We manage the licensing of activities that would otherwise be illegal to carry out due to their likely impact on European or UK protected species.
Licences for European Protected Species (EPS) mostly relate to developments, but we also receive ‘domestic’ EPS related requests. These are generally for the removal of bats from dwellings for reasons of health, as well as small-scale, low-impact work to domestic properties.
We also receive applications for activities in relation to scientific projects, to help conservation, for forestry operations, and for agriculture. A small number are concerned with biological control or species reintroductions.
UK protected species licences are primarily issued for conservation works, including educational work, monitoring and surveying. A smaller number (mostly badger licences) relate to development. Some applications relate to health and safety at commercial premises or agricultural impact and a small number are concerned with biological controls or reintroductions.
Charging for information
If you would like to request information you can find out more about the information we provide for free and what we charge for.
Charging for advice
We can provide basic or bespoke advice and may charge for our time to provide it.
We provide a limited amount of basic pre-application advice to help customers understand what they need to do to comply and how to apply for relevant permits. Further information is available on our Pre-application advice for Environmental Permits page or the pre-application advice service for water abstraction and impoundment licences page.
More detailed bespoke chargeable advice is available on request through our Discretionary Advice Service. Bespoke advice is charged at an hourly rate of £125 plus VAT.
Fisheries
Find out more about our charges for;
Electronic payments
If you want to pay for your permit or licence application by electronic transfer, please use the information below to make your payment.
Company name: Natural Resources Wales
Company address: Income Department, PO BOX 663, Cardiff, CF24 0TP
Bank: RBS
Address: National Westminster Bank Plc, 2 ½ Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4BA
Sort code: 60-70-80
Account number: 10014438
Details given in your permit/ licence application forms may have changed since it was issued. We will update our forms as soon as possible, but please use the information below when making electronic payments from now on.
Making payments from outside the UK
These details have changed. If you are making your payment from outside the United Kingdom (which must be received in sterling), our IBAN number is GB70 NWBK6070 8010 014438 and our SWIFT/BIC number is NWBKGB2L.
Send us your payment details/Remittance Advice by email
Please email your payment details and payment type details (such as ‘Waste Variation’ or ‘Water Quality New’) to online@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk or online@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
You must include your company name and invoice number/reference. Where possible, please also submit a remittance advice. This will ensure accurate processing of your payment.
You should still include the BACS payment reference on the application form itself.
If you do not quote your payment reference number, there may be a delay in processing your payment and application.