Environmental Permits

Certain processes that have a potential to release substances to air (for example concrete batching plants, quarries, petrol stations, pet food manufacturers etc.) require a permit to operate under the provisions of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The permit will specify what controls must be in place to minimise releases from the process to acceptable standards.

Section 12 states that you can only operate a ‘regulated facility’ when an environmental permit has been applied for and granted. Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 sets out where within the regulatory regime each activity falls.

You can check to see if you need an Environmental permit on the .gov.uk website.

• Part A1 (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control – IPPC) installations involve activities that can result in the release of substances to land, air or water (or a combination of all). These installations are usually large and complex and are regulated by the Natural Resources Wales.

The following classes of Regulated Facility are normally regulated by the Local Authority in whose area they are situated:

• “Part A2” Installation or Mobile Plant (Local Authority – Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control - LA-IPPC) installations, like Part A1, involve activities that can result in the release of substances to land, air or water, but tend not to be as large or as complex as Part A1 processes.
• “Part B” Installation or Mobile Plant (Local Authority Pollution Prevention and Control – LAPPC) installations involve activities where only releases to air are relevant.
• Schedule 13 Small Waste Incineration Plant (SWIP): Installations to which Chapter IV of the Industrial Emissions Directive applies.
• Schedule 14 Solvent Emission Activity: Installations and activities to which Chapter V of the Industrial Emissions Directive applies, involving the use of organic solvents.

It is the aim of each of these regulatory regimes to prevent emissions, or where this is not practically possible, reduce them to acceptable standards.