Pig and poultry farmers must apply to us for an environmental permit to operate if their livestock capacity exceeds:
- 750 sows
- 2,000 production pigs over 30kg
- 40,000 poultry (includes chickens, layers, pullets, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowl)
If the farm’s capacity is less than these thresholds then the farm does not need an environmental permit.
Where a farmer currently operates below the threshold and wants to expand to exceed the threshold then an environmental permit will be required. For example, a farmer rearing 38,000 chickens wishes to add a poultry house that contains 20,000 chickens – this will give a new capacity of 58,000 chickens. This exceeds the 40,000 poultry threshold and the farmer will have to apply for a permit.
The Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) were introduced on 6 April 2008 and replaced the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Regulations 2000.
You will need to submit an application for a permit and tell us how you will meet the conditions in ‘How to comply with your environmental permit for intensive farming’, along with the appropriate fee. You will find all documents for 'How to comply with your environmental permit for intensive farming' on our guidance page. Please note: for intensive farming you will need to apply for a new bespoke permit.
Making changes to your farm
If you already have an environmental permit and you want to make changes to your farm you may need to apply for a permit variation.
There are four types of variation available, which are:
- Administrative variation - Administrative alterations such as the correction of an error regarding the name or address or grid reference
- Normal variation - A technical change that would normally require a new risk assessment such as the construction of a new slurry store or carcass incinerator
- Substantial variation - A substantial change to a farm such as an increase of more than 40,000 bird places or where consultation with the local community is required
- Streamlined application - A minor technical change with a simplified application form. These are available for specific technical changes. For more details visit our web page:
If you are unsure about the type of variation needed please contact your local Environment Agency officer.
Your application will be assessed and we will ask for additional information where necessary. All farms should be able to meet the conditions although farms with existing buildings may need to make improvements. These will be identified in an improvement plan. We may need to ask for higher standards to be met or refuse applications in exceptional cases if the environmental impacts of the installation are significant.
Transfer your permit
If you need to transfer your permit to a new owner or legal entity:
Surrending your permit
If you no longer need your permit or part of your permit you should apply to surrender it:
Before you apply for an Environmental Permit
We encourage you to have a pre-application discussion with your local Environment Agency officer. To find out who to talk to call our National Customer Contact Centre on 0370 8506506 or click on the link to find your local office:
We have a series of factsheets and example applications to help you when you apply.
Download our factsheet on applying for a permit for an overview of the process:
You can view some example applications here:
You will find more useful guidance on our Environmental Permitting guidance page for intensive farming:
We have two types of permit available, standard and bespoke. Although environmental permits are available under EPR for other activities there are no standard permits for intensive livestock rearing - all intensive farming permits are bespoke.
Operating without a valid permit is a criminal offence. We will consider prosecution where a criminal offence has been committed, in addition to any other enforcement action.
