The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007

Made: 13th December 2007

Coming into force: 6th April 2008

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PART 1 — General

Citation, commencement and extent

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Interpretation: general

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Interpretation: activities, installations and mobile plant

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Interpretation: excluded waste operation

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Interpretation: exempt waste operation

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Interpretation: local authority

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Interpretation: operator

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Interpretation: regulated facility

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Interpretation: relevant function

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Giving notices, notifications and directions, and the submission of forms

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PART 2 — Environmental Permits

CHAPTER 1 — Application of these Regulations to the Crown and requirement for an environmental permit

Application of these Regulations to the Crown

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Requirement for an environmental permit

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CHAPTER 2 — Grant of an environmental permit

Grant of an environmental permit

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Content and form of an environmental permit

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Conditions in relation to certain land

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Mobile plant operating on the site of another regulated facility: conflict of permit conditions

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Single site permits etc.

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Consolidation of an environmental permit

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Subsistence of an environmental permit

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CHAPTER 3 — Variation, transfer, revocation and surrender of an environmental permit

Variation of an environmental permit

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Transfer of an environmental permit

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Revocation of an environmental permit: general

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Revocation of an environmental permit: steps to be taken after the revocation takes effect

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Notification of the surrender of an environmental permit

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Application to surrender an environmental permit

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CHAPTER 4 — Standard rules

Preparation and revision of standard rules

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Standard rules as conditions of an environmental permit

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Notification of revisions of standard rules

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Revocation of standard rules

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Variation of an environmental permit: revocation of standard rules

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CHAPTER 5 — Appeals in relation to environmental permits

Appeals to an appropriate authority

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PART 3 — Discharge of functions in relation to a regulated facility

Discharge of functions

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Direction to a regulator: discharge of functions by a different regulator

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Review of environmental permits and inspection of regulated facilities

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Provision in relation to types of regulated facility

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PART 4 — Enforcement and offences

Enforcement notices

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Suspension notices

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Offences

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Penalties

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Defence: acts done in an emergency

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Offences by bodies corporate

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Enforcement by the High Court

42

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Admissibility of evidence

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Power of court to order cause of offence to be remedied

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PART 5 — Public Registers

Interpretation of this Part

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Duty of the regulator to maintain a public register

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Exclusion from public registers of information affecting national security

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Exclusion from public registers of confidential information

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Procedure if the regulator considers that information may be confidential

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Duty to determine confidentiality

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Determination of confidentiality

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Procedure following a determination

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Appeals in relation to confidentiality

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Consequences of an appeal

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Reconsideration of confidentiality

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Directions of the appropriate authority in relation to confidentiality

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PART 6 — Powers and functions of the regulator and the appropriate authority

Power of the regulator to prevent or remedy pollution

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Environment Agency: notices in relation to emissions to water

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Environment Agency: public participation statement

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Power to require the provision of information

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Directions to a regulator: general

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Reference of applications to an appropriate authority

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Directions to the Agency: installations outside the United Kingdom

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Guidance to regulators and exemption registration authorities

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Fees and charges in relation to local authorities

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Plans relating to emissions

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PART 7 — Miscellaneous and transitional provision, savings, consequential amendments, revocations and repeals

Interpretation of this Part

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Further provision in relation to waste

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Transitional provision: general

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Transitional provision: conversion of permits and licences subject to certain applications

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Transitional provision: conversion of PPC permits resulting from applications in relation to existing Part A installations and mobile plant

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Savings

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Consequential amendments

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Revocations and repeals

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SCHEDULE 1 — Activities

PART 1 — Interpretation and application: general

Interpretation

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Activities falling within more than one Part description

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Application of activities falling within Sections 1.1 to 6.9 of Part 2

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Capacity: Part A(1) and A(2) descriptions

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Operation below thresholds: effect on the installation

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Application of Part B activities: releases into the air

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References to releases into water

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References to certain substances

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PART 2 — Activities

CHAPTER 1 — Energy activities

SECTION 1.1 — Combustion activities

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In this Section “recovered oil” means waste oil which has been processed before being used.

Part A(1)

• (a) Burning any fuel in an appliance with a rated thermal input of 50 or more megawatts.

• (b) Unless carried on as part of a Part A(2) or Part B activity, burning any—

• (i) waste oil;

• (ii) recovered oil; or

• (iii) fuel manufactured from, or comprising, any other waste,

in an appliance with a rated thermal input of 3 or more megawatts, but less than 50 megawatts.

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For the purpose of paragraph (a), where two or more appliances with an aggregate rated thermal input of 50 megawatts or more are operated on the same site by the same operator those appliances must be treated as a single appliance with a rated thermal input of 50 megawatts or more.

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Part B

Unless falling within Part A(1)(a) of this Section—

• (a) Burning any fuel (other than a fuel mentioned in Part A(1)(b)) in—

• (i) a boiler;

• (ii) a furnace;

• (iii) a gas turbine; or

• (iv) a compression ignition engine,

with a net rated thermal input of 20 or more megawatts, but a rated thermal input of less than 50 megawatts.

• (b) Burning any—

• (i) waste oil;

• (ii) recovered oil;

• (iii) solid fuel which has been manufactured from waste by an activity involving the application of heat,

in an appliance with a rated thermal input of less than 3 megawatts.

• (c) Burning fuel manufactured from or including waste (other than a fuel mentioned in paragraph (b)) in any appliance with a net rated thermal input of 0.4 or more megawatts, but a rated thermal input of less than 3 megawatts—

• (i) which is used together with other appliances which each have a rated thermal input of less than 3 megawatts; and

• (ii) where the aggregate net rated thermal input of all the appliances is at least 0.4 megawatts.

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SECTION 1.2 — Gasification, Liquefaction and Refining Activities

Part A(1)

• (a) Refining gas where this is likely to involve the use of 1,000 or more tonnes of gas in any period of 12 months.

• (b) Reforming natural gas.

• (c) Operating coke ovens.

• (d) Coal or lignite gasification.

• (e) Producing gas from oil or other carbonaceous material or from mixtures thereof, other than from sewage, unless the production is carried out as part of an activity which is a combustion activity (whether or not that combustion activity is described in Section 1.1).

• (f) Purifying or refining any product of any of the activities falling within paragraphs (a) to (e) or converting it into a different product.

• (g) Refining mineral oils.

• (h) The loading, unloading, handling or storage of, or the physical, chemical or thermal treatment of—

• (i) crude oil;

• (ii) stabilised crude petroleum;

• (iii) crude shale oil;

• (iv) where related to another activity described in this paragraph, any associated gas or condensate; or

• (v) emulsified hydrocarbons intended for use as a fuel.

• (i) The further refining, conversion or use (otherwise than as a fuel or solvent) of the product of any activity falling within paragraphs (g) or (h) in the manufacture of a chemical.

• (j) Activities involving the pyrolysis, carbonisation, distillation, liquefaction, gasification, partial oxidation, or other heat treatment of—

• (i) coal (other than the drying of coal);

• (ii) lignite;

• (iii) oil;

• (iv) other carbonaceous material; or

• (v) mixtures thereof,otherwise than with a view to making charcoal.

• (k) Odorising natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas where that activity is related to a Part A activity.

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Paragraph (j) does not include—

• (a) the use of any substance as a fuel;

• (b) the incineration of any substance as a waste;

• (c) any activity for the treatment of sewage or sewage sludge.

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Part A(2)

• (a) Refining gas where this activity does not fall within Part A(1)(a) of this Section.

Part B

• (a) Odorising natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, except where that activity is related to a Part A activity.

• (b) Blending odorant for use with natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.

• (c) The storage of petrol in stationary storage tanks at a terminal, or the loading or unloading at a terminal of petrol into or from road tankers, rail tankers or inland waterway vessels.

• (d) The unloading of petrol into stationary storage tanks at a service station, if the total quantity of petrol unloaded into such tanks at the service station in any period of 12 months is likely to be 500m3 or more.

• (e) Motor vehicle refuelling activities at an existing service station after the prescribed date, if the petrol refuelling throughput at the existing service station in any period of 12 months is, or is likely to be, 3500m3 or more.

• (f) Motor vehicle refuelling activities at new service stations, if the petrol refuelling throughput at the service station in any period of 12 months is likely to be 500m3 or more.

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CHAPTER 2 — Production and Processing of Metals

SECTION 2.1 — Ferrous Metals

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In this Section, “ferrous alloy” means an alloy of which iron is the largest constituent, or equal to the largest constituent, by weight, whether or not that alloy also has a non-ferrous metal content greater than any percentage specified in Section 2.2.

Part A(1)

• (a) Roasting or sintering metal ore, including sulphide ore, or any mixture of iron ore with or without other materials.

• (b) Producing, melting or refining iron or steel or any ferrous alloy, including continuous casting, except where the only furnaces used are—

• (i) electric arc furnaces with a designed holding capacity of less than 7 tonnes, or

• (ii) cupola, crucible, reverbatory, rotary, induction, vacuum, electro-slag or resistance furnaces.

• (c) Processing ferrous metals and their alloys by using hot-rolling mills with a production capacity of more than 20 tonnes of crude steel per hour.

• (d) Loading, unloading or otherwise handling or storing more than 500,000 tonnes in total in any period of 12 months of iron ore, except in the course of mining operations, or burnt pyrites.

Part A(2)