Environmental permits
You must have an environmental permit if you operate a regulated facility in England or Wales.
A regulated facility includes:
- installations or mobile plants carrying out listed activities
- waste operations
- waste mobile plant
- mining waste operations
Listed activities include:
- energy - burning fuel, gasification, liquification and refining activities
- metals - manufacturing and processing metals
- minerals - manufacturing lime, cement, ceramics or glass
- chemicals - manufacturing chemicals, pharmaceuticals or explosives, storing chemicals in bulk
- waste - incinerating waste, operating landfills, recovering waste
- solvents - using solvents
- other - manufacturing paper, pulp and board, treating timber products, coating, treating textiles and printing, manufacturing new tyres, intensive pig and poultry farming
Listed activities are divided into three categories: Part A(1), Part A(2) and Part B.
Part A permits control activities with a range of environmental impacts, including:
- emissions to air, land and water
- energy efficiency
- waste reduction
- raw materials consumption
- noise, vibration and heat
- accident prevention
Part B permits control activities which cause emissions to air.
The permit your business requires depends on the specific processes involved and resulting emissions.
Permits are available from the Environment Agency or your local authority (the regulator) depending upon the category your business falls within:
- Part A(1) installations or mobile plants are regulated by the Environment Agency
- Part A(2) and Part B installations or mobile plants are regulated by the local authority, except waste operations carried out at Part B installations which are regulated by the Environment Agency
- waste operations or waste mobile plant carried on other than at an installation, or by Part A or Part B mobile plants, are regulated by the Environment Agency
- mining waste operations are regulated by the Environment Agency
Conditions of licence
Environmental Permitting - Conditions of Licence (PDF 13kb)
Fees
- £3318 for each Part A activity
- Standard Activity - £1629
- Mobile plant:
- First & second applications - £1629
- Third to seventh applications - £972
- Eighth and subsequent applications - £492
- Reduced fee activities
- Vehicle refinishers - £355
- PVR I & II combined - £252
- All other reduced fee activities - £152
How to apply
You can apply for a permit online.
Apply for a B Environmental Permit
Apply for an A2 Environmental Permit
Notification for the surrender of a permit (Part B) (PDF)
Application to surrender a permit (Part A2) (PDF)
Application evaluation process
The regulator will pay regard to the protection of the environment taken as a whole by, in particular, preventing or, where that is not practicable, reducing emissions into the air, water and land.
The regulator may inform the public of the application and must consider any representations.
The application must be from the operator of the regulated facility and the regulator must be satisfied that they must operate the facility in accordance with the environmental permit.
Tacit consent
It is in the public interest that we must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from us within 14 days, please contact us.
We must determine applications within 4 months of an application being made.