Environmental permits
We help site operators meet their legal environmental obligations by applying for environmental and discharge permits and sampling to ensure their operation remains compliant, so that they can act where non-compliance exists.
The Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 are to regulate activities which have the potential to cause harm to human health or the environment. Given the nature of their operations certain sites require an environmental permit to operate or discharge.
Our experts can help you determine if you need a permit and assist you with the application as well as ensuring you remain compliant with permits in the following circumstances:
Features and outputs
- Classify and monitor your discharges to ensure you remain compliant with environmental permits
- Samples analysed at UKAS ISO 17025 accredited laboratories
- Advice of compliance failures with solutions for improving the quality of your effluent
- Advice on environmental permit variation and treatment of trade effluent
- Our baseline investigations will prove your operation remains at or is returned back to the original standard
Added value
Relationships
Trusted partner
Experience
Water discharge or groundwater activities
The Environment Agency sets and assesses compliance for surface water discharge activity and groundwater activity permits for sewage effluent, wastewater, or trade discharges.
You may need an environmental permit if you discharge liquid effluent or wastewater:
- into surface waters, for example, rivers, streams, estuaries, lakes, canals or coastal waters – known as ‘water discharge activities’
- into or on the ground, such as spreading waste sheep dip, or discharging treated sewage effluent to ground through an infiltration system – known as ‘groundwater activities’
Trade effluent discharge consents
A trade effluent discharge consent is a legal document issued under the provisions of the Water Industry Act 1991.
There are over 100,000 environmental permits in place for consented discharges to controlled waters in the UK.
You’ll need to get an environmental permit if you’re discharging effluent that could harm the environment.
These permits cover:
- rivers, lakes or streams
- groundwater (such as boreholes)
- estuaries
- coastal waters
Flood risk activities
You must follow the environmental permitting rules if you want to do work:
- on or near a main river
- on or near a flood defence structure
- in a flood plain
- on or near a sea defence
These are regulated under environmental permits. You are breaking the law if you operate without getting the permit you need.
Our services
Our experts can help you determine if you need a permit and assist you with the application as well as ensuring you remain compliant. We can help you classify your wastewater and monitor your wastewater and trade effluent discharges. We can also assist you to build appropriate pollution prevention measures to ensure your discharge does not cause a pollution.
Environmental compliance today, creating a sustainable tomorrow
Helping you reduce risk to the environment and your operation by managing assets compliantly while achieving commercial, ESG, and net-zero goals.
Contact our experts