You must have an environmental permit if you operate a regulated
facility in England or Wales.
Regulated facilities include:
- Installations or mobile plant which carry out listed
activities.
- Waste operations.
- Mining waste operations.
- Radioactive substances activity.
- Water discharge activity.
- Groundwater activity.
An installation is a stationary technical unit used for listed
activities, such as a self-contained building, permanent structure
or fixed plant. Mobile plant is plant that can be moved and is used
for listed activities.
You can be fined or sent to prison if you operate a regulated
facility without an environmental permit.
What are listed activities?
Listed activities include:
- Chemicals - manufacturing chemicals,
pharmaceuticals or explosives, storing chemicals in bulk.
- Energy - burning fuel, gasification,
liquification and refining activities.
- Metals - manufacturing and processing
metals.
- Minerals - manufacturing lime, cement,
ceramics or glass.
- Waste - incinerating waste, operating
landfills, recovering waste.
- Solvents - using solvents.
- Other - manufacturing paper, pulp and board,
treating timber products, coating, treating textiles and printing,
manufacturing new tyres, intensive pig and poultry
farming.
Listed activities are divided into three categories: Part A(1),
Part A(2) and Part B.
Part A(1) processes - Integrated Pollution Prevention
and Control (IPPC)
The Environment Agency regulates
A(1) activities, which are the larger more polluting and complex
industries (power stations for example). Part A(1) permits control
activities with a range of environmental impacts, including:
- Accident prevention.
- Emissions to air, land and water.
- Energy efficiency.
- Noise, vibration and heat.
- Raw materials consumption.
- Waste reduction.
Part A(2) processes - Local Authority Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC)
Local
authorities regulate A(1) activities which include emissions to
air, land and water and the impacts of noise, waste and energy
efficiency but tend to be less complex than A(1) activities.
Part B processes - Local Authority Pollution Prevention
and Control (LAPPC)
Local authorities regulate Part B
processes which include emissions to air only. Part B permits
control activities that have less potential to cause pollution and
include activities such as vehicle re-spraying, crematoria, small
foundries, coating processes and unloading of petrol.
Local authorities deal with about 80 different types of
installation including glassworks and foundries, rendering plant
and maggot breeders, petrol stations and concrete crushers,
sawmills and paint manufacturers.
Who can apply for a permit?
You can only apply for an environmental permit if you control
the operation of a regulated facility. If you are unsure whether
you need and environmental permit please contact Suffolk Coastal's
Environmental Protection Team on 01394 444624 or
email
environmental.protection@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.
Who do I apply to?
The permit your business requires depends on the specific
processes involved and resulting emissions. Permits are available
from the Environment Agency or the local authority depending upon
the category your business falls within.
You should apply to the Environment Agency if you operate:
- Part A(1) installation or mobile plant.
- Waste mobile plant.
- Waste operations, including those carried out at a Part B
installation or by Part B mobile plant (unless the waste operation
is a Part B activity).
- Mining waste operation.
- A radioactive substances activity.
- A water discharge activity.
- A groundwater activity.
You should apply to the local authority in whose area your
regulated facility is situated where you operate Part A(2)
installations or mobile plant or Part B installations or mobile
plant carrying on activities other than those which fall into the
above categories.
How do I apply?
Details of how to apply for
permits issued by the Environment Agency (new
window) are available on its website.
Part A(2) and Part B application forms are available from
Suffolk Coastal's Environmental Protection Team on 01394
444624 or email
environmental.protection@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.
Public register of environmental permits
A public register of environmental permit applications and
permits granted by the Council is held by Suffolk Coastal at
the following location:
Environmental Protection Team (Public Register)
Suffolk Coastal District Council,
Melton Hill,
Woodbridge IP12 1AU.
You can inspect this register free of charge during normal
office hours (9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday). You may obtain a copy
of documents on the register although a charge will be made to
cover the costs of any copying.