The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EP Regulations), allow us to offer standard permits, to reduce the administrative burden on business while maintaining environmental standards. They are based on sets of standard rules that we can apply widely in England and Wales. The rules are developed using assessments of the environmental risk posed by the activity.

The rules take considerable time, resources and consultation to develop but once in place they make applying and determining the applications comparatively easy. This is because there is no need for a site-specific risk assessment. 

We are consulting on a number of changes for a number of existing rule sets for various reasons, including the introduction of new fire prevention requirements, and changes to permit conditions to allow a broader range of materials and activities to be undertaken under a single permit. We have also reviewed the deposit for recovery permits to reduce the risk of pollution from these activities.

The proposed changes if agreed, will apply to existing permits and new applications.

The proposal is set out in detail in the consultation documents below.

This consultation will run from the 1st August until the 14th October 2016.