Guidance on complying with an environmental permit for an installation

We issue an Environmental Permit for an Installation when we are satisfied that the process operator will be able to comply with the conditions that we have set to ensure a high level of protection to the environment and human health.

There are a number of common aspects of permits that all operators need to comply with.

Environmental Management System

You must keep your Environmental Management System (EMS) and all associated procedures up to date. You must ensure that all relevant staff understand the permit requirements, their responsibilities, and have access to a copy of the permit. Your EMS should be proportionate to your site’s complexity and risk, identify environmental risks, and set out measures to prevent or minimise them. It must be followed by everyone on site and reviewed regularly to remain current.

Monitoring

Most permits will contain conditions requiring monitoring of emissions. Guidance can be found on the Environment Agency’s website:

Reporting

You must send all your monitoring reports to your regulatory officer by the dates specified in your permit. The area Industry Regulation teams have email addresses you can use:

North (Anglesey, Conwy, Gwynedd, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham) north.wales.ppc@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

South East (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen, Monmouth, Newport) industryregulation.southeast@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

South Central (Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda CT, Vale of Glamorgan) industryregulation.southcentral@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

South West (Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Neath PT, Carmarthenshire) industryregulation.swwales@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Notification

Condition 4.3 of the permit requires you to tell us immediately about incidents or accidents that may significantly affect the environment. You can report such incidents by phoning 0300 065 3000 24 hours a day. If that incident poses an immediate danger to human health or threatens to cause an immediate significant adverse effect on the environment, you must immediately suspend the operation of the relevant activities until compliance has been restored.

You must also notify us when you become aware of a breach of a condition of your permit using the templates in Schedule 5 of your permit. Use the email address for your local team, as listed above, for these notifications.

Changes

You must tell your regulating officer if you are intending to change any of the operating techniques that we have assessed in your permit application. If we need to reassess the potential impact from those changes on the environment, then you may need to apply to vary your permit.

You must also tell us about any changes to the registered company or corporate body as explained in the Notification section of your permit.

Emissions Inventory reporting

Most permit holders are required to report their releases to air and water, and waste transferred from site each year. You will have received a Regulation 61 Notice at the time your permit was issued if this applies to you. Guidance on what you need to report and how to go about it can be found here: Natural Resources Wales / Emissions inventory reporting

Compliance assessment

We will carry out risk-based assessments to ensure that you are compliant with your permit. This may include

Desk based assessment of monitoring or other reports you send us
Site inspections
Detailed audits to ensure that you are operating to the standards we require
Incident investigations

We will provide you with reports of our findings following these assessments and detail any action required. These reports will normally be placed on our online public register.

Annual charges

We charge an annual fee to cover the costs of assessing compliance with your permit. The amount we charge depends on the complexity of your activities and the associated risk to the environment. Details of charges for installation permits can be found here:

Natural Resources Wales / Charges for installation Environmental Permits

The full details of our charging scheme, including charges for other activities can be found here:

Natural Resources Wales / Our charging schemes

Future changes that may affect you

Medium Combustion Plant

If you have any existing Medium Combustion Plant within your Installation with a thermal input of between 1 and less than 5 MWth then these will need to be included in your permit by 1 January 2029 and compliant with their specific conditions by 1 January 2030. Further guidance can be found here: Natural Resources Wales / Medium combustion plants and specified generators

Further guidance

You can find more guidance on how to comply with your permit, along with technical and regulatory guidance here:

Last updated