Standard Rules for the Environmental Permitting Regulations - Consultation No. 4

Our response (published 22 March 2010)

We have published our response to this consultation:

• Summary of responses to our fourth consultation on standard rules for the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (PDF, 587KB)

If you wish to read the original consultation document, it is still available to download from this page.

Background information

This consultation asked for your views on new and revised sets of standard rules and generic risk assessments under the revised Environmental Permitting (EP) Regulations 2010. The rule sets reflected proposals to widen the EP regime to include water discharge consenting, groundwater authorisations and radioactive substances regulation.

The proposed revisions to existing sets of rules for composting activities should be helpful to operators who are working under these rules because of the increased flexibility they bring.  
 
Before we can introduce new or revised standard rules for a particular activity, we must consult on a set of draft rules and this is the fourth such consultation. We will take account of the consultation responses and publish the new and revised standard rules on our website.

Standard permits contain one condition, which refers to a fixed set (or sets) of standard rules that an operator must comply with.
Standard rules define how the operator must carry out the activity, for example by limiting the temperature of a discharge to surface water.

If an operator wishes to carry out an activity covered by standard rules and believes that they can comply with those rules, then they can apply for a standard permit. This is quicker and easier than applying for a bespoke permit, which require more detailed assessment.

Consultation document

• Standard Rules Consultation No.4 - Standard rules for the Environmental Permitting Regulations (PDF, 301KB)

More information

Existing rules and further information can be found on our environmental permitting web pages, which you can access at the link below:

• Environmental Permitting

The EP Regulations are a product of the Environmental Permitting Programme, our joint project with Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government. It aims to reduce administrative burdens while maintaining standards of environmental protection.

For more information look on Defra's Environmental Permitting Programme web pages:

• Defra's Environmental Permitting Programme