Statutory guidance

Environment Agency (greenhouse gas emissions) charges for 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026

Updated 1 April 2025

The Environment Agency, in exercise of its powers under Part 5 of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020, Part 4 of the Air Navigation (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) Order 2021, and section 41 and 41A of the Environment Act 1995, and with the approval of the Secretary of State and the UK ETS authority, and the consent of the Treasury, makes the following Charging Scheme.

Part 1: General

1. Commencement, extent and citation

This Charging Scheme shall:

(a) be referred to as the Environment Agency (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Charging Scheme 2025 (“the Scheme”),

(b) apply only to England, except in relation to charges for functions relating to the UK ETS Registry and National Registry where it shall apply to the United Kingdom,

(c) come into force on 1 April 2025, and

(d) remain in force until revoked.

2. Interpretation

In this Scheme:

“Activity Level Changes Regulation” means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 of 31 October 2019 as it forms part of domestic law;

“ANO” means the Air Navigation (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) Order 2021, and related expressions used in this Scheme shall have the meaning set out in the ANO;

“application charge” means a charge referred to in paragraph 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 22 or 24 of this Scheme;

“estimation charge” means a charge referred to in paragraph 21 of this Scheme;

“Free Allocation Regulation” means Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 of 19 December 2018 as it forms part of domestic law;

“National Registry” means the registry administered under the Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Kyoto Protocol Registry) Regulations 2021 on behalf of the United Kingdom for the purposes of its obligations as a party to the Kyoto Protocol;

“the Order” means the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020, and related expressions used in this Scheme shall have the meaning set out in the Order;

“the Regulations” means the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) and National Emissions Inventory Regulations 2005, and related expressions used in this Scheme shall have the meaning set out in the Regulations;

“revocation charge” means a charge referred to in paragraph 12 of this Scheme;

“surrender and return only permission” means a permission under paragraph 16(4)(e) of Schedule 5A to the Order which restricts the permission of an authorised representative appointed to an aircraft operator holding account or an operator holding account in the UK ETS Registry to the surrender or return of allowances;

“the UK ETS Registry” means the UK ETS Registry established by the Order;

“year” means a period of 12 months commencing on 1 April, unless otherwise stated.

3. Annual increases

Charges under this Scheme shall increase annually on 1 April in each year after the year the Scheme is made, by a sum not exceeding any increase in the Consumer Prices Index published by the Office for National Statistics as at 30th September in the immediately preceding year.

4. Liability to pay charge

The following persons are liable to pay charges under this Scheme –

(a) in respect of an application charge, the person making that application;

(b) in respect of a subsistence charge referred to under paragraphs 9, 17, 20 or 23 of this Scheme, determination charge under paragraphs 15 or 18 of this Scheme, or estimation charge, the holder of the permit, emissions monitoring plan or account in the UK ETS Registry or National Registry in relation to which the charge is payable;

(c) in respect of a revocation charge, the person upon whom the relevant notice is served.

5. Time of payment

Charges payable under this Scheme are due and payable in full at the following times -

(a) in respect of application charges, on the making of the relevant application;

(b) subject to paragraph (c), in respect of subsistence charges arising under Part 2 and Part 4 of this Scheme, annually in advance on 1st April;

(c) in respect of subsistence charges arising under Part 2 of this Scheme, arising in the year in which a permit is issued, on demand;

(d) in respect of subsistence charges arising under Part 3 of this Scheme, annually in arrears on 1st April;

(e) in respect of revocation charges, on the date specified in the relevant notice;

(f) in respect of determination charges under paragraph 15 or 18 of this Scheme and estimation charges, on demand.

6. Abatement of charges

The Environment Agency may, by notice to the person liable for the charge, waive or reduce any charge specified in this Scheme if it considers it to be significantly disproportionate in a particular case, having regard to the actual costs and expenses incurred or to be incurred by the Environment Agency in relation to a particular activity.

7. Revocation

The Environment Agency (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) (England) Charging Scheme 2021, which came into effect on 1st April 2021, is revoked in respect of any period on or after 1st April 2025.

Part 2: Charges relating to installations

8. Permit application charge for installations

A permit application charge of £1,494 must accompany an application for a permit made under Schedule 6, paragraph 1 or Schedule 7, paragraph 7 to the Order.

9. Subsistence charge

(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (3) and (4), a subsistence charge is payable annually for any full or part year during which that permit has effect.

(2) A subsistence charge under sub-paragraph (1) is –

(a) £4,790 for an installation with a greenhouse gas emissions permit in receipt of a free allocation of allowances;

(b) £3,348 for an installation with a greenhouse gas emissions permit not in receipt of a free allocation of allowances;

(c) £2,450 for a hospital or small emitter permit

(3) Where during a relevant year –

(a) a permit is issued in relation to an installation under Schedule 6, paragraph 3 or Schedule 7, paragraph 9 to the Order; or

(b) a permit is partially transferred in accordance with Schedule 6, paragraph 9 to the Order,

the subsistence charge relating to the installation (or in the case of a partially transferred permit, the transferred units) will be N/365 of the relevant subsistence charge in sub-paragraph (2), where N is the number of days remaining in the relevant year after the day on which the permit is granted or the transfer took effect, as appropriate.

(4) Where an operator has paid the subsistence charge for a year in full and during that year –

(a) a permit is surrendered under Schedule 6, paragraph 11 to the Order; or

(b) a permit is revoked under Schedule 6, paragraph 12 to the Order,

the Environment Agency will refund to the operator a proportion of the subsistence charge in respect of the remainder of the year calculated on a daily basis commencing on the date on which the notice of surrender or revocation takes effect.

10. Transfer charge

A transfer charge of £1,321 must accompany an application to transfer a permit, in whole or in part made under Schedule 6, paragraph 7 to the Order.

11. Surrender charge

A surrender charge of £1,508  must accompany an application to surrender a permit made under Schedule 6, paragraph 11 to the Order.

12. Revocation charge

A revocation charge of £1,010  is payable in relation to a revocation notice served under Schedule 6, paragraph 12 to the Order.

13. Charge for allocation from new entrant reserve

A charge of £1,443 must accompany an application for an allocation by a new entrant under article 5 of the Free Allocation Regulation .

14. Charge for increase to emissions target

A charge of £1,154 must accompany an application by a hospital or small emitter to increase its installation’s emissions target under Schedule 7, paragraph 19A to the Order.

15. Determination charge

A charge of £151 per hour is payable in relation to time spent by the Environment Agency  –-

(a) determining reportable emissions under article 45 of the Order;

(b) making a conservative estimate of the value of any parameter under article 34H(4) of the Order or article 3(4) of the Activity Level Changes Regulation.

Part 3: Charges relating to aviation

UK Emissions Trading Scheme

16. UK ETS application charge

A charge of £2,073 must accompany an application for an emissions monitoring plan under article 28(1) of the Order.

17. Subsistence charge

(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3), a subsistence charge of £3,147 is payable annually by a person holding an emissions monitoring plan in respect of each calendar year in which that person is an aircraft operator under the Order.

(2) Where an emissions monitoring plan under article 29(1) of the Order is issued part way through a calendar year, any subsistence charge under sub-paragraph (1) is payable only in respect of the period from the date the emissions monitoring plan is issued.

(3) In the year that the emissions monitoring plan is issued under article 29(1) of the Order (the relevant year), the subsistence charge will be N/365 of £3,147, where N is the number of days remaining in the relevant year after the day on which the emissions monitoring plan was issued.

18. Determination charge

A charge of £151 per hour is payable in relation to time spent by the Environment Agency determining aviation emissions under article 45 of the Order.

Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation

19. CORSIA application charge

A charge of £1,782 must  accompany an application for an emissions monitoring plan under article 23 of the ANO.

20. Subsistence charge

(1) Subject to subparagraph (2) and (3), a subsistence charge of £2,293 is payable annually by a person holding an emissions monitoring plan in a calendar year in which that person is an aeroplane operator administered by the United Kingdom under the ANO.

(2) Where an emissions monitoring plan under article 24(1) of the ANO is issued part way through a calendar year, any subsistence charge under sub-paragraph (1) is payable only in respect of the period from the date the emissions monitoring plan is issued.

(3) In the year that the emissions monitoring plan is issued under article 24(1) of the ANO (the relevant year), the subsistence charge will be N/365 of £2,293, where N is the number of days remaining in the relevant calendar year after the day on which the emissions monitoring plan was issued.

21. Charge for estimating emissions

A charge of £151 per hour is payable in relation to time spent by the Environment Agency estimating emissions under article 37(6) of the ANO.

Part 4: Specific charges relating to the UK ETS registry and the National Registry

22. UK 22. UK ETS Registry and National Registry application charges

The following charges must be paid when making one of the applications listed in the table below in relation to the UK ETS Registry or the National Registry –

Application	Charge
Application for a trading account in the UK ETS Registry	£1,169
Application for a person holding account in the National Registry	£1,169
Application to appoint an additional or replacement authorised representative in the UK ETS Registry (if not covered by the charge for a permit or emissions monitoring plan application) or the National Registry	(a) £241 for an existing authorised representative where the due diligence required for the permission applied for has been previously undertaken. (b) £402 for an existing authorised representative where the due diligence required for the permission applied for has not been previously undertaken. (c) £241 for a new authorised representative with a surrender and return only permission in relation to whom no previous due diligence has been undertaken. (d) £402 for a new authorised representative with a permission other than a surrender and return only permission in relation to whom no previous due diligence has been undertaken.

23. Subsistence charge

An annual subsistence charge of £2,123 is payable in relation to the maintenance of a trading account in the UK ETS Registry or a person holding account in the National Registry.

Part 5: Charges relating to project activities under the regulations

24. Project activity application charges

The following charges must be paid when making one of the following applications listed in the table below under regulation 5(1) or (2) of the Regulations –

Application	Charge
Application relating to a proposed Article 6 project activity	£862
Application relating to a proposed Article 12 project activity for the production of hydro-electric power with a generating capacity of more than 20 megawatts	£862
Application relating to any other Article 12 project activity	£308