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Environmental permitting guidance - point source discharges to surface water or groundwater

Use the following guidance to help you complete your application and comply with the conditions of your environmental permit.

Our guidance

‘How to Comply with your Environmental Permit’ contains both technical guidance, advice on complying with permit conditions and describes the basic standards and measures that standard permit holders will need to know. Applicants for bespoke permits will also find the basic information they require but they will also need to use other technical guidance where appropriate.

The document is in three parts:

Part 1: guidance for all activities;
 
Part 2: is split into five separate sections to provide guidance for different types of regulated facility.You will need to read the section that is relevant to your regulated facility. 

Part 3: additional guidance, which may be relevant to some activities, for example monitoring.

You will find a link to 'How to Comply with your Environmental Permit' on our generic guidance page:

Sector technical guidance

If you want to apply for a permit to discharge to surface waters or from a point source into groundwater you should start by reading the technical guidance document EPR 7.01 How to comply with your Environmental Permit for Water Discharge and Groundwater Activity Permits. This document has been split up into several parts. 

You can download each part and also see a summary of what is in each chapter on the following web page:

Horizontal guidance

The horizontal guidance provides information relevant to all sectors regulated under EPR. It includes information on noise, odour, energy efficiency, and protection of land.

Regulatory guidance

Regulatory guidance notes are Environment Agency guidance on policy and legal interpretation issues associated with implementing the Environmental Permitting Regulations:

Making an application

There is one application form, which must be used to apply for a new bespoke or standard permit or to vary, transfer or surrender your permit. Guidance on how to complete the form is provided:

Charges

There is an application charge to cover our costs of determining your permit. There is also an annual charge to cover our costs of maintaining and reviewing your permit, ensuring that you comply with the permit conditions and monitoring the water body that you discharge into. There is no charge for registering an exempt small sewage discharge.