Overview

We are proposing revised standard rules environmental permits and would like your views.

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 allow us to offer standard permits to reduce the administrative burden on business whilst maintaining environmental standards. They are based on sets of standard rules that we can apply widely.

The consultation includes changes to a number of existing standard rules on:

• water discharges
• materials recovery and recycling
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
• storage of electrical insulating oils
• metal recovery / scrap metal
• onshore oil and gas exploration and mining operation.

It also asks for views on the clarification of wording with regards to distances from spring, well or borehole and the revocation of one existing standard rule.

We welcome your views on the proposed changes that are relevant to you.

Supporting information

Links to the consultation document, proposed and revised standard rules and generic risk assessments can be found at the bottom of this page.

If you experience any difficulties accessing the information online, please contact us.

A call for evidence

Later this year we will carry out a detailed review of the permitting framework and elements of the available guidance for biowaste permits.

To help start this process we would like to hear your views as they will help inform revisions to our permit conditions and standard rule requirements.

A review of biowaste permits to improve environmental outcomes - Call for evidence is open now and closes on 20 September 2018.

Why your views matter

This consultation is your opportunity to comment on our proposes for changes to the rule sets and evidence to assist the review of our biowaste permits.

Once we have considered all the consultation responses, and made any changes, we hope to be able to publish the standard rules and risk assessment in Autumn 2018.