H1 Environmental Risk Assessment Consultation

The document focuses on how to assess health and environmental risks when applying for a bespoke permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Our response (published 31 March 2010)

We have now published our response to this consultation:

• Summary of responses to our consultation H1 Environmental Risk Assessment (PDF, 507KB)

The original consultation documents are still available to download from this page.

Background information

We revised the March 2008 version of the H1 guidance to include activities being brought in under the Environmental Permitting Regulations in 2010; water discharge consents and groundwater authorisations.

Operators applying for a bespoke permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations need to show us that they will use appropriate measures to manage health and environmental risks. The H1 Environmental Risk Assessment guidance helps them do this. 

Applicants need to navigate through the guidance, which covers a wide range of activities, selecting the assessments they need to make. To make the document manageable, we have structured it into modules; a main document, H1 Environmental Risk Assessment - overview, and 11 technical annexes.

Table 1 in the Overview Document makes it clear which modules you will need for the different types of activity. This structure aims to ensure that operators target their assessments and do not carry out unnecessary work.  We have also taken the opportunity to simplify some aspects and make some minor updates where there have been legislative, policy or technical advances. 

Revised H1 guidance

You can find the revised H1 Guidance on the following web page:

• Horizontal guidance

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 Environmental Permitting 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