Environmental Permitting Programme

New Environmental Permitting Regulations have come into force in England and Wales. They should both cut red tape and put a spotlight on high-risk businesses.

Environmental permits are required for industrial and waste activities that could harm human health or the environment unless they are controlled. Now, as part of a joint Defra, Environment Agency and Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) initiative, Waste Management Licensing and Pollution Prevention Control have been streamlined and integrated into a single regulatory system. This Environmental Permitting Programme replaces over 40 separate sets of regulations.

The Environment Agency's Chief Executive, Baroness Barbara Young, commented: "The new Environmental Permitting Regulations are in keeping with our role as a modern, risk-based regulator. Not only will many operators have quicker, easier and more cost-effective regulation, but the Environment Agency will be able to concentrate more of its resources on the riskiest and worst-performing operators, leading to a better-protected environment."

Additional benefits and savings in costs will be delivered through a second phase of the Environmental Permitting Programme. Defra, the Environment Agency and WAG are currently looking to expand the new single system by including further permitting regimes.