A1 installations: environmental permits

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Accepted Answer

You must apply to the Environment Agency if you operate a facility which is classed as an ‘A1 installation’. Check the guidance on the regulations to find out if it is.

A1 installations are facilities which carry out industrial processes, like:

refineries
manufacturing sites
factories
process industries

It also includes certain waste activities, like:

disposing of waste to landfill
hazardous waste treatment
waste incineration

There’s separate guidance on environmental permits for intensive pig and poultry farms.

Check if your installation needs to meet Medium Combustion Plant Directive (MCPD) or specified generator requirements.

If your installation is classed as ‘A2’ or ‘B’, apply to your local authority.

See the guidance for Part B sections 1.1 (combustion) and 5.1 (incineration of wood) activities. The Environment Agency will regulate these activities where MCPD or specified generator regulations apply.

There are 2 types of permit:

standard rules – a set of fixed rules for common activities
bespoke – tailored to your business activities

You are breaking the law if you operate without an environmental permit if you should have one.

Fees and charges for permits

You must pay a fee to apply for a permit.

The application charges are listed in tables 1.4 to 1.14 of the environmental permits and abstraction licences: tables of charges.

You must send payment with your application.

If your application is successful, the Environment Agency will charge you an annual ‘subsistence’ fee while you have a permit. This fee depends on your activity and the type of permit you have.

You can contact the Environment Agency if you need help working out how much to pay.

Check if you need a standard rules permit

You can apply for a standard rules permit if your activity meets the relevant description and rules, but:

you cannot change (vary) the rules and you have no right of appeal against them
if you want to change your operations and so will not meet the criteria of the standard permit any more, you will have to apply to make it a bespoke permit instead
if there is a change in your local environment after your permit has been issued (such as a change in the definition of a groundwater source protection zone) you may need to apply to change (vary) your permit to another standard rules permit or a bespoke permit

Applying for a standard rules permit is quicker and costs less than a bespoke permit.

If you do not meet the conditions for a standard rules permit you must apply for a bespoke permit.

Standard rules permits: low impact installations

You can apply for a standard rules permit as a low impact installation if you carry out any A1 activity, except for activities related to:

incineration and co-incineration of waste
disposal of waste by landfill
disposal of waste other than by incineration or landfill
recovery of waste

Read the standard rules for:

Qualifying as a low impact installation

To qualify, your installation must have a low environmental impact because of its design, including during start-up, shutdown, or abnormal operating conditions.

Low impact installations must not:

release more than 50 cubic metres per day of waste water
have to use equipment to reduce or remove emissions before they’re released into the outside environment
discharge emissions to groundwater
produce more than 1 tonne of waste or 10kg of hazardous waste per day, averaged over a year, with not more than 20 tonnes of waste or 200kg of hazardous waste being produced in any one day
consume energy at a rate greater than 3 megawatts (MW) or, if the installation uses a combined heat and power installation to supply any internal process heat, 10MW (through both imported electricity and by burning fuel on site)

Low impact installations must have:

containment measures to prevent emissions escaping to surface water, sewer or land, which are maintained at all times
only a low risk of causing offence due to noise and odour – you cannot be a low impact installation if noise and odour are noticeable outside the boundary of your site

Standard rules permits: composting, anaerobic digestion, or treatment of incinerator bottom ash

You can apply for a standard rules permit if you carry out any of the following activities:

composting in open systems – more than 75 tonnes each day
composting in closed systems – more than 75 tonnes each day
anaerobic digestion facility, including the use of the resultant biogas – more than 100 tonnes each day
on-farm anaerobic digestion facility using farm wastes only, including use of the resultant biogas – more than 100 tonnes each day
anaerobic digestion of non-hazardous sludge at a waste water treatment works, including the use of the resultant biogas – more than 100 tonnes each day
treatment of Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) – more than 75 tonnes each day

Apply for a standard rules permit

Before you apply for a standard rules permit you need to:

read the conditions for the relevant standard rules to make sure you can comply with them
read the instructions in the application form and form guidance
contact the pre-application advice service to request a heritage and nature conservation screening – so the Environment Agency can check if any conservation sites, protected species or habitats could be affected by your activity
read the generic risk assessment for your activity so you understand the potential risks and make sure you manage them effectively (you can find this with the relevant standard rules document)
check you meet the legal operator and competence requirements
check how to control and monitor your emissions – you do not need to submit any emissions information as part of a standard rules permit application

You also need to develop a management system (a set of procedures that identifies and minimises the risks of pollution).

Standard rules permits: application forms

Download and fill in these forms:

Send your completed forms and payment by email to PSC@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Or post them to:

Permitting and Support Centre
Environmental Permitting Team
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Parkway Business Park
Sheffield
S9 4WF

Apply for a bespoke permit

You must apply for a bespoke permit if your activity does not fit the conditions of a standard rules permit. You can apply for a bespoke permit as a low impact installation if you carry out an A1 activity and meet the criteria for a low impact installation.

Before you apply you must do all of the following:

check you meet the legal operator and competence requirements (including technical competency if you’re a waste installation)
develop a management system – a set of procedures that identifies and minimises the risks of pollution
complete a risk assessment
design your facility to avoid and control emissions by using best available techniques
check the technical guidance
check the energy efficiency guidance

You can ask the Environment Agency if you can submit application information in stages if your proposal is either or both:

complex
a novel technology

Check if your application is suitable and how to request a staged application – see the guidance on how to send environmental permit application information in stages.

Bespoke permits: application forms

Download and fill in these forms:

Send all the following with your application forms:

the summary of your management system
your risk assessment
any other supporting documents mentioned in the form guidance, such as site maps and plans
your payment

Send your application and payment to PSC@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Or post them to:

Permitting and Support Centre
Environmental Permitting Team
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Parkway Business Park
Sheffield
S9 4WF

Consultations on permit applications

The Environment Agency consults on:

bespoke permit applications
other permit applications where it’s appropriate or in the public interest to do so

The Environment Agency will publish a notice of your application, instructions for how other people can comment on it and the application documents on the public register.

Members of the public and anyone interested in the application have 20 working days to comment.

The Environment Agency may also consult other public bodies, for example local authorities, UK Health
Security Agency, water companies and Natural England.

If the Environment Agency considers your application to be of high public interest, they may:

take longer to give you a decision
carry out an extra consultation on the draft decision
advertise the application more widely

Keeping sensitive information confidential

When the Environment Agency consults on your permit application they will let people see the information in your application.

You can ask the Environment Agency not to make public any information that’s commercially sensitive for your business (such as financial information). You can do this by including a letter with your application that gives your reasons why you do not want this information made public.

The Environment Agency will email or write to you within 20 days if they agree to your request. They will let you know if they need more time to decide.

If they do not agree to your request they will tell you how to:

appeal against their decision
withdraw your application

After you apply

The Environment Agency may send back your application if, for example, you have:

not used the right forms
forgotten to include payment, or sent the wrong payment
not provided important information

Examples of insufficient information include:

the environmental risk assessment not identifying potential pollutants
the best available technique (BAT) assessment not justifying how BAT has been applied

The information required is explained in the application form guidance. It depends on the type of application you are making.

Once the Environment Agency is satisfied they have the information and payment required to start assessing your application, they will contact you to tell you that your application is ‘duly made’. This means they are starting the assessment process.

If the Environment Agency needs any more information from you before your application can be duly made, they will either:

contact you to request it if it seems you could provide the information within 10 working days
return your application with a list of missing information to help you reapply

If the Environment Agency cannot progress your application past the duly made stage, they will return it to you. They may keep part of your application charge if they have spent time reviewing your application. This is explained in the environmental permitting charges guidance.

After an application is duly made, if the Environment Agency needs any more information from you, they will contact you to tell you what information you need to send.

Decisions about your permit

The Environment Agency will write to you to tell you their decision. The time this takes depends on:

the complexity of the application
whether they need to consult
whether they need to ask you for more information so they can complete their assessment
the number of applications they are dealing with

They usually make decisions on applications within:

4 months if you are applying for a new permit
3 months if you want to change a permit or cancel it
2 months if you want to transfer a permit

They will tell you if your application will take longer.

The Environment Agency will publish the decision on the public register.

Appeal a decision

You can appeal if the Environment Agency refuses your application.

Examples of why they may refuse an application are:

unacceptable environmental risk or damage to habitats or species
insufficient evidence of operator competence
inadequate management plans
insufficient evidence of appropriate alternatives where BAT is not being proposed
requests for information not being responded to

You can also appeal if you applied for a bespoke permit and you’re not happy with the conditions.

The decision letter will explain how you can appeal.

When you get a permit

Find out how the Environment Agency will regulate you when you start operating.

Change, transfer or cancel your permit

When you have got a permit you can:

change (vary) the details on it
transfer it to someone else
cancel (surrender) it

Find out how to change, transfer or cancel your permit.

You may not have to make changes to your permit if you want to carry out research or trials.

Get help with your application

If you are sure you need a permit you can ask the Environment Agency for advice before you apply.

A1 installations: environmental permits

Applies to England

Fees and charges for permits

Check if you need a standard rules permit

Standard rules permits: low impact installations

Qualifying as a low impact installation

Standard rules permits: composting, anaerobic digestion, or treatment of incinerator bottom ash

Apply for a standard rules permit

Standard rules permits: application forms

Apply for a bespoke permit

Bespoke permits: application forms

Consultations on permit applications

Keeping sensitive information confidential

After you apply

Decisions about your permit

Appeal a decision

When you get a permit

Change, transfer or cancel your permit

Get help with your application

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A1 installations: environmental permits

Applies to England

Fees and charges for permits

Check if you need a standard rules permit

Standard rules permits: low impact installations

Qualifying as a low impact installation

Standard rules permits: composting, anaerobic digestion, or treatment of incinerator bottom ash

Apply for a standard rules permit

Standard rules permits: application forms

Apply for a bespoke permit

Bespoke permits: application forms

Consultations on permit applications

Keeping sensitive information confidential

After you apply

Decisions about your permit

Appeal a decision

When you get a permit

Change, transfer or cancel your permit

Get help with your application

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