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Environmental Permitting Regulations (EP)

 

  • Introduction
  • Parts
  • Regulators
  • Regulations

Introduction

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 came into force on 27th February 2013. These Regulations transpose the requirements of the IED

The regulations fall into two areas and these are referred to as 'Part A' and 'Part B':


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Parts

Part A covers the control of:

  • Emissions to air, land and water
  • Energy efficiency
  • Waste reduction
  • Raw materials consumption
  • Noise, vibration and heat
  • Accident prevention

Part B covers the control of:

  • Emissions to air

In general, Part A relates to the larger installations which will generate a higher level of pollutants. Part B relates to the smaller installation which generate lower levels of pollutants.

Regulators

There is a further breakdown in Part A which helps decide which agency regulates the installation. The breakdown is defined as Part A1 and Part A2 with Part A1 being regulated by the Environment Agency and Part A2 (along with Part B) being regulated by the Local Authority.

In summary, the regulators are:

  • Part A1 - Environment agency
  • Part A2 - Local Authority Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC)
  • Part B - Local Authority Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC)

Regulations

To understand which ‘Part’ an installation needs to comply with, the installation will need to refer to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EP Regulations).

Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the EP Regulations will list criteria for each of Part A1, Part A2 and Part B (in this order). If the installation meets criteria in the Part A1 section then they must adhere to those regulations.

For example, from the Waste Incineration section in the EP Regulations:

    Part A(1)

    1. The incineration of hazardous waste in an incineration plant.
    2. Unless carried on as part of any other Part A(1) activity, the incineration of hazardous waste in a co-incineration plant.
    3. The incineration of non-hazardous waste in an incineration plant with a capacity of 1 tonne or more per hour.
    4. Unless carried on as part of any other activity in Part A(1), the incineration of hazardous waste in a plant which is not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant.
    5. Unless carried on as part of any other activity in Part A(1), the incineration of non-hazardous waste in a plant which is not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant but which has a capacity of 1 tonne or more per hour.
    6. The incineration, other than incidentally in the course of burning landfill gas or solid or liquid waste, of any gaseous compound containing halogens in a plant which is not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant.
      7.

    Part A(2)

    1. The incineration of non-hazardous waste in an incineration plant with a capacity of less than 1 tonne per hour.
    2. Unless carried on as part of any other Part A activity, the incineration of non-hazardous waste in a co-incineration plant.
    3. The incineration of animal carcasses in a plant, which is not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant, with a capacity of more than 10 tonnes per day but less than 1 tonne per hour.

    Part B

    1. The incineration of non-hazardous waste in a plant which is:
      1. not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant, and
      2. on premises where there is plant, other than incineration plant or co-incineration plant, which has an aggregate capacity of 50 kilogrammes or
    2. The cremation of human remains.
    3. The incineration of animal carcasses in a plant, which is not an incineration plant or a co-incineration plant, with a capacity of more than 10 tonnes per day but less than 1 tonne per hour.