Guidance

Change, transfer or cancel your environmental permit

How to change details of your environmental permit, transfer it to somebody else or cancel it.

From:
Environment Agency
Published
1 February 2016
Last updated
2 September 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

You can apply to:

  • make changes to your permit to update its details – you must do this if you want to do an activity that is not currently covered by your permit
  • correct mistakes in the permit
  • transfer your permit to somebody else
  • cancel your permit if you no longer need it

Using the forms

You will need to use an Adobe Acrobat product to complete the forms listed on this page. The forms may not work properly if you use a different pdf reader, such as the one built in to your internet browser.

Return your forms using the appropriate contact details listed in the ‘Submit your documents’ section.

Change (vary) your permit

Change your address or contact details

Complete the following documents and send them to the Environment Agency:

Correct mistakes or make administrative changes

You can apply to correct a mistake in your permit or make administrative changes. This is known as an ‘administrative variation’.

Read the form guidance for part C0.5 to find out what changes you can make.

To request changes, complete part C0.5: administrative variation of a standard or bespoke permit and send it to the Environment Agency.

Changing or adding things to your permit

If you want to do an activity that is not currently covered by your permit you must apply to have it added. See the ‘Carrying out research or trials for exception’ section.

You can also apply to:

  • make changes to your permitted activity or its conditions
  • combine 2 or more permits into one

Complete part A: about you and part C1: varying a standard facilities permit to change or add a standard rules permit.

Complete part A: about you, part C2: varying a bespoke permit, and one of the following for changes to a bespoke permit:

  • part C2.5 to add a medium combustion plant (MCP) or specified generator (SG) to your existing bespoke permit or change (vary) your standalone MCP or SG permit

  • part C3 to change an installation permit (not intensive farming)

  • part C4 to change a bespoke waste operation permit

  • part C5 to change a mining waste operation permit

  • part C6 to change a standalone water discharges permit or effluent discharge to water or sewer from an installation

  • part C7 to change a standalone groundwater discharges with spreading activities permit

In addition, complete:

  • part F1: charges and declarations for installations (not intensive farming), waste operations, mining waste operations, groundwater discharges onto land permit, and water discharge and point source groundwater discharge activities

To change the conditions or any part of a flood risk activity permit complete:

For changes to an intensive farming installation permit, complete part C3.5 only.

Send your documents to the Environment Agency.

Carrying out research or trials

If you have an environmental permit for an A1 installation or waste operation, you may not need to make changes to your permit if you want to carry out research or trials. But you must contact the Environment Agency before you start this activity.

Transfer your permit to somebody else

You can transfer your permit or part of your permit to somebody else at any time.

Transfer a standalone water discharge or groundwater permit

Complete part D1: notification of transfer.

Get the person taking over the permit to complete part A: about you and declaration 6b in part D1.

If you cannot contact the current permit holder, you may be able to transfer the permit without their completed declaration. Contact the Environment Agency to discuss. You will need to supply evidence in your application to confirm that you are unable to trace one or all of the permit holders.

Send the completed documents to the Environment Agency.

There is no charge for transferring this type of permit.

Transfer an installations, intensive farming, waste or mining waste operations permit

The person who wants to take over the permit must fill in:

The person who wants to take over the permit must also be the legal operator and meet the competence requirements.

The current permit holder and the person who wants to take over the permit must complete the relevant declarations in part F1: charges and declarations.

Send your documents to the Environment Agency.

If you cannot contact the current permit holder, you may be able to transfer the permit without their completed declaration. Contact the Environment Agency to discuss. You will need to supply evidence in your application to confirm that you are unable to trace one or all of the permit holders.

Transfer a standalone flood risk activity permit

Complete part D3: notification of transfer and send it to the Environment Agency.

Get the person taking over the permit to complete and send part A: about you to the Environment Agency.

There is no charge for transferring this type of permit

If you cannot contact the current permit holder, contact the Environment Agency.

If you are moving address, you need to include details of your new address.

Cancel (surrender) your permit

Cancelling your permit or part of your permit is known as ‘surrendering’ or ‘partially surrendering’ your permit. You must still pay for your permit until you surrender all of it.

You can notify or apply to surrender your permit if you:

  • no longer need it, for example if you have stopped doing the activity your permit covered
  • want to reduce the area of land your permit covers

You do not need to surrender your permit if you want to:

  • transfer your permit to somebody else
  • remove people from a permit
  • remove activities from your permit

Surrender a water discharge or groundwater activity permit

You can notify the Environment Agency of your permit or part permit surrender at any time.

Complete the following document and send it to the Environment Agency:

There is no charge for surrendering this type of permit.

Surrender an installations, intensive farming, waste or mining waste operations permit

You can apply to surrender all or part of your permit.

Complete the following documents and send them to the Environment Agency:

Surrender a flood risk activity permit

You can notify the Environment Agency of your permit or part permit surrender at any time.

Complete the following document and send it to the Environment Agency:

There is no charge for surrendering this type of permit.

Fees

See the environmental permitting charges guidance. The cost depends on the type of business activity, the environmental risk and the amount of work needed to assess the application.

It is free to transfer or surrender:

  • standalone water discharge permits
  • standalone groundwater permits
  • standalone flood risk activity permits

Get help with your application

Before you apply to change, transfer or surrender your permit, you can contact the Environment Agency’s pre-application advice service to help make sure your application is correct.

Submit your documents

Send your completed forms to:

Alternatively, you can post your forms to:

Permitting Support, NPS Sheffield
Environment Agency
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Sheffield
S9 4WF

Contact the Environment Agency

Contact the Environment Agency if you have questions about changing, cancelling or transferring your permit.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Updates to this page

Published 1 February 2016
Last updated 2 September 2024 + show all updates

  1. Added email address for standalone flood risk activity permits.

  2. We have reviewed this page and made changes to make sure it is up to date. The main changes include reordering information to make it clear what forms to use for each activity; added information about what to do if you cannot contact the current permit holder under the ‘Transfer’ section; removed reference to use of part A forms from the ‘Cancel (surrender) your permit’ section; added the surrender report to the list of documents to be sent for a landfill or deposit for recovery surrender application in the ‘Surrender’ section; clarified postal addresses for different applications in the ‘Submit your documents’ section.

  3. Updated headings to refer to how to transfer or surrender an intensive farming permit.

  4. Added that, if you have an environmental permit for an A1 installation or waste operation, you may not need to make changes to your permit if you want to carry out research or trials. Linked to guidance on this.

  5. Edited the description for part C6 to include water discharge from installations.

  6. Updated the 'Get help with your application' to link to the new guidance on the pre-application advice service. Removed a paragraph from the 'Submit your documents' section about not getting post, as we are now receiving it.

  7. Explained how we are managing postal applications during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

  8. We've added a link to Form C2.5 to add a medium combustion plant (MCP) or specified generator (SG) to an existing bespoke permit or change (vary) a standalone MCP or SG permit.

  9. New section added called 'Get help with your application'. The new section provides information about the Environment Agency's basic pre-application advice to help you complete your application.

  10. Removed form F2. You now need to complete form F1 to change a permit for a water discharge or point source groundwater discharge activity.

  11. Flood risk activity permits forms added.

  12. Minor update for clarification: You need to complete part C3.5 to change an intensive farming installation permit. Use part C3 to change an installation permit that isn't for intensive farming.

  13. First published.

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