Environmental Permit

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The purpose of enforcement for Local Authority Pollution Prevention & Control (LAPPC) and Local Authority Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (LA-IPPC) is to protect and improve all parts of the environment and prevent harm to human health. In particular, by preventing or minimising the release of polluting substances to air (for LAPPC regulated installations) and to air, land and water (for LA-IPPC installations) from certain prescribed activities.

Do I need this licence and am I eligible?

A regulated facility includes:

installations or mobile plants carrying out listed activities
waste operations
waste mobile plant
mining waste operations

Listed activities include:

energy - burning fuel, gasification, Liquid condensing and refining activities
metals - manufacturing and processing metals
minerals - manufacturing lime, cement, ceramics or glass
chemicals - manufacturing chemicals, pharmaceuticals or explosives, storing chemicals in bulk
waste - incinerating waste, operating landfills, recovering waste
solvents - using solvents
other - manufacturing paper, pulp and board, treating timber products, coating, treating textiles and printing, manufacturing new tyres, intensive pig and poultry farming

Listed activities are divided into three categories: Part A(1), Part A(2) and Part B.

Part A permits control activities with a range of environmental impacts, including:

emissions to air, land and water
energy efficiency
waste reduction
raw materials consumption
noise, vibration and heat
accident prevention

Part B permits control activities which cause emissions to air.

The permit your business requires depends on the specific processes involved and resulting emissions.

Permits are available from the Environment Agency or your local authority (the regulator) depending upon the category your business falls within:

Part A(1) installations or mobile plants are regulated by the Environment Agency
Part A(2) and Part B installations or mobile plants are regulated by the local authority, except waste operations carried out at Part B installations which are regulated by the Environment Agency
waste operations or waste mobile plant carried on other than at an installation, or by Part A or Part B mobile plants, are regulated by the Environment Agency
mining waste operations are regulated by the Environment Agency

What you must do?

Applications must be made on the form provided by the regulator, or online and must include specified information which will vary depending on the operation.

The application must be from the operator of the regulated facility.

If further information is required the applicant will be notified by the regulator and they must provide this information or the application will be deemed to be withdrawn

For waste operations no licence will be granted unless any required planning permission had first been granted.

What we must do?

The regulator will pay regard to the protection of the environment taken as a whole by, in particular, preventing or, where that is not practicable, reducing emissions into the air, water and land.

The regulator may inform the public of the application and must consider any representations

What happens next?

The regulator must be satisfied that they must operate the facility in accordance with the environmental permit. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period.

It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from the local authority within a reasonable period, please fill in our online form to contact us.

Useful Information:

Trade Associations - Federation of Environmental
Trade Associations (FETA)
Environmental Industries Commission (EIC)
Environmental Services Associations (ESA)

Redress mechanisms:

An applicant who is refused an environmental permit may appeal to the appropriate authority. In England the appropriate authority is the Secretary of State and in Wales are the Welsh Ministers. Appeals must be lodged no later than six months from the date of the decision.

If an application to vary, transfer or surrender an environmental permit has been refused or if the applicant objects to conditions imposed on the environmental permit they may appeal to the appropriate authority.

Appeals must be lodged in relation to a regulator initiated variation, a suspension notice or an enforcement notice, not later than two months from the date of the variation or notice and in any other case not later than six months from the date of the decision.