The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025

Made: 27th May 2025

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2), (3), (4) and (5)

In accordance with section 58(4) of the 2014 Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

PART 1 — General

Citation and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 1 November 2025 except as provided in paragraphs (3) to (5).

• (3) Regulations 1, 2, 8, 11 to 18, 20, 21, 23 to 32, 34 and 36 come into force on 1 June 2025.

• (4) Subject to paragraph (5), the following regulations come into force on 1 June 2025—

• (a) regulation 4,

• (b) regulation 6, insofar as new regulation 3(1)(a) and (c), and (2B) to be inserted into the 2018 Regulations,

• (c) regulation 7, insofar as the definitions of “radioactive substances activity” and “waste management activity” to be inserted into the 2018 Regulations,

• (d) regulation 9—

• (i) paragraph (1) insofar as new regulation 6(1)(a), (c) and (j) to be inserted into the 2018 Regulations,

• (ii) paragraph (2), insofar as it relates to schedules 2 and 9 to be inserted into the 2018 Regulations.

• (5) Notwithstanding the coming into force of the regulations as specified in sub-paragraph (4), during the period between and including 1 June 2025 and 31 October 2025—

• (a) the definition of “waste management activity” in regulation 7,

• (b) “waste management activity” for the purposes of new regulation 3(1)(c) as inserted into the 2018 Regulations, and

• (c) the provisions of schedule 2 inserting new schedule 11 into the 2018 Regulations,

apply only insofar as they relate to the activities described in paragraph 1(1) of new schedule 18 of the 2018 Regulations to be inserted by schedule 9 of these Regulations, that is, the recovery of waste by application to land for the purpose of soil improvement, and the temporary storage of waste at the place where it is to be used for that purpose.

Interpretation

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In these Regulations—

• “the 2013 Regulations” means the Water Environment (River Basin Management Planning: Further Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2013[^f00002],

• “the 2018 Regulations” means, except in schedule 23, the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018[^f00003].

PART 2 — Amendment of the 2018 Regulations

Amendment of the 2018 Regulations

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The 2018 Regulations are amended in accordance with regulations 4 to 40.

Amendment of regulation 2(1) (interpretation)

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• (1) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), the following definitions are inserted—

• (a) before the definition of “assimilated law”, insert—

• “the 2000 Commission Decision” means Commission Decision of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (notified under document number C(2000) 1147)[^f00004],
• “the 2013 Regulations” means the Water Environment (River Basin Management Planning: Further Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2013[^f00005],
• “abstraction” means the doing of anything whereby any water is removed or diverted by mechanical means, pipe or any engineering structure or works from any part of the water environment, whether temporarily or permanently, including anything whereby the water is so removed or diverted for the purpose of being transferred to another part of the water environment, and includes— the construction or extension of any well, borehole, water intake or other work by which water may be abstracted, and the installation or modification of any machinery or apparatus by which additional quantities of water may be abstracted by means of a well, borehole, water intake or other work,
• “asbestos” includes any of the following fibrous silicates— actinolite, amosite, anthophyllite, chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite,

• (b) after the definition of “authorised place”, insert—

• “broker” means any undertaking arranging the recovery or disposal of waste on behalf of others, including such brokers who do not take physical possession of the waste,
• “CEN” means the European Committee for Standardization (CEN),

• (c) after the definition of “charging scheme”, insert—

• “coastal water” means water (other than groundwater) within the area extending landward from the 3 mile limit up to the limit of the highest tide or, where appropriate, the seaward limits of any bodies of transitional water, but does not include any water beyond the seaward limits of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland,
• “co-incineration” means— the use of waste as a regular or additional fuel in a co-incineration plant, or the thermal treatment of waste for the purposes of disposal in a co-incineration plant,
• “coke” means a black material made from coal that is used as fuel for heating,
• “collection” means the gathering of waste, including the preliminary sorting and preliminary storage of waste for the purposes of transport to a waste treatment facility,
• “combustion plant” means any technical apparatus in which fuels are oxidised in order to use the heat thus generated,

• (d) after the definition of “consolidated authorisation”, insert—

• “dealer” means any undertaking which acts in the role of principal to purchase and subsequently sell waste, including such dealers who do not take physical possession of the waste,
• “disposal” in relation to waste, means any operation which is not recovery even where the operation has as a secondary consequence the reclamation of substances or energy and includes, but is not limited to, the activities listed in Annex I of the Waste Framework Directive,
• “electrical and electronic equipment” means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1,000 volts for alternating current and 1,500 volts for direct current,

• (e) after the definition of “electronic communication” insert—

• “emission” means the direct or indirect release of substances, vibrations, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in the installation or plant into air, water or land,
• “emission limit value” means the mass, expressed in terms of certain specific parameters, concentration and/or level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time,

• (f) after the definition of “enforcing officer” insert—

• “fuel” means any solid, liquid, or gaseous combustible material,

• (g) after the definition of “general binding rules” insert—

• “groundwater” means water which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil,
• “groundwater hazardous substances” means substances which have been identified by SEPA in accordance with regulation 24A of the 2013 Regulations,
• “harm to the water environment” means— harm to the health of human beings or other living organisms, harm to the quality of the water environment, including— harm to the quality of the water environment taken as a whole, other impairment of, or interference with, the quality of aquatic ecosystems or terrestrial ecosystems directly depending on aquatic ecosystems, offence to the senses of human beings, damage to property, or impairment of, or interference with, amenities or other legitimate uses of the water environment,
• “hazardous substance” means a hazardous substance or mixture as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures[^f00006],
• “hazardous waste” means waste that is— listed as hazardous in the 2000 Commission Decision, determined to be hazardous pursuant to regulation 2ZA of the Special Waste Regulations 1996[^f00007], or a specific batch of waste which is determined to be hazardous waste pursuant to regulation 2ZB of the Special Waste Regulations 1996,
• “ISO” means International Organization for Standardization (ISO),
• “impounding works” means in relation to surface water— any dam, weir or other works by which water may be impounded, any works diverting the flow of water in connection with the construction or alteration of any dam, weir or other works falling within sub-paragraph (a),
• “incineration” means the thermal treatment of waste with or without recovery of the combustion heat generated,
• “industrial emissions activity” has the meaning given in regulation 4 and schedule 19,

• (h) after the definition of “inland water”, insert—

• “land” includes land covered by waters where the land is above the low water mark of ordinary spring tides,
• “landfill” has the meaning given in paragraph 2 of schedule 13,
• “landfill activity” has the meaning given in paragraph 3 of schedule 13,
• “large combustion plant” has the meaning given in paragraph 1(2) of schedule 21,
• “loch” means a body of standing inland water,
• “municipal waste” means— mixed waste and separately collected waste from households, including paper and cardboard, glass, metals, plastics, biowaste, wood, textiles, packaging, waste electrical and electronic equipment, waste batteries and accumulators, and bulky waste, including mattresses and furniture, mixed waste and separately collected waste from other sources, where such waste is similar in nature and composition to waste from households, but does not include waste from production, agriculture, forestry, fishing, septic tanks and sewage network and treatment, including sewage sludge, end-of-life vehicles or waste generated by construction and demolition activities,
• “non-hazardous waste” means waste which is not hazardous waste,
• “operating a medium combustion plant” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of schedule 27,
• “organic solvents emissions activity” has the meaning given in paragraph 2 of schedule 23,

• (i) after the definition of “off-site condition”, insert—

• “other emissions activity” has the meaning given in regulation 4 and schedule 26,

• (j) after the definition of “owner”, insert—

• “petrol vapour recovery activity” has the meaning given in paragraph 2 of schedule 28,
• “pollution” means the direct or indirect introduction, as a result of human activity, of substances, vibrations, heat or noise into air, water or land which may be harmful to human health, or cause offence to any human sense, or the quality of the environment, result in damage to material property, or impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment,

• (k) after the definition of “radioactive substances activity”, insert—

• “rated thermal input” means the rate at which fuel can be burned at the maximum continuous rating of the appliance multiplied by the net calorific value of the fuel expressed as megawatts thermal,
• “recovery” means, in relation to waste, any operation the principal result of which is waste serving a useful purpose by replacing other materials which would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function, or waste being prepared to fulfil that function, in the plant or in the wider economy and includes, but is not limited to the activities listed in Annex II of the Waste Framework Directive,
• “recovery of waste by application to land for the purpose of soil improvement” has the meaning given in paragraphs 2 and 3 of schedule 18,
• “recycling” means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original purpose or for other purposes, including reprocessing of organic materials, but excluding energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations,

• (l) after the definition of “relevant function”, insert—

• “reuse” means any operation by which products and components that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived,

• (m) after the definition of “revocation notice”, insert—

• “schedule 20 emissions activity” means an activity listed in Part 4 of schedule 20 where the installed capacity is at or above any applicable threshold in Part 4, whether or not the activity is carried on below the threshold,

• (n) after the definition of “SEPA”, insert—

• “sewer”, “public sewer”, “private sewer”, “sewage treatment works” and “sewage” have the meanings given in section 59(1) of the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968[^f00008],
• “shellfish” includes crustaceans and molluscs of any kind, and includes any brood, ware, half-ware, spat or spawn of shellfish,

• (o) after the definition of “standard conditions”, insert—

• “storage” in relation to waste, includes keeping, managing or depositing waste,
• “substance” includes any chemical element and its compounds (including bacteria and other pathogens),
• “surface water” means inland water (other than groundwater), transitional water and coastal water,

• (p) after the definition of “technical schedule”, insert—

• “the 3 mile limit” means the limit consisting of a line every point of which is at a distance of 3 miles on the seaward side from the nearest point of the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland is measured, and “miles” means international nautical miles of 1,852 metres,
• “the water environment” means all surface water, groundwater and wetlands,
• “titanium dioxide activity” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of schedule 24,
• “transitional water” means water (other than groundwater) in the vicinity of river mouths which partly saline in character as a result of its proximity to coastal water but which is substantially influenced by freshwater flows,
• “treatment” means in relation to waste, recovery or disposal operations, including preparation prior to recovery or disposal,

• (q) for the definition of “waste”, substitute—

• “waste”, except where otherwise defined— in relation to schedule 8 and Chapter 1 of schedule 9, means any substance or article which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard, in any other case has the meaning given in section 75(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990[^f00009] and read in accordance with section 75A of that Act,
• “waste oil” means any mineral or synthetic lubrication or industrial oil which have become unfit for the use for which it was originally intended, such as used combustion engine oil and gearbox oil, lubricating oil, oil for turbines and hydraulic oils,
• “waste prevention” means measures taken before a substance, materials or product has become waste, which reduce— the quantity of waste, including through the re-use of products or the extension of the life span of products, the adverse impacts of the generated waste on the environment and human health, or the content of hazardous substances in materials and products,
• “Waste Framework Directive” means Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste[^f00010],
• “waste electrical and electronic equipment” means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste, including all components, subassemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding,
• “waste management activity” has the meaning given in regulation 4 and schedule 11,
• “water activity” has the meaning given in regulation 4 and schedule 10,
• “WEEE” means waste electrical and electronic equipment,
• “wetland” means an area of ground the ecological, chemical and hydrological characteristics of which are attributable to frequent inundation or saturation by water and which is directly dependent, with regard to its waters needs, on a body of groundwater or a body of surface water.

New regulation 2A (interpretation: best available techniques (“BAT”)

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After regulation 2 (interpretation), insert—