Pollution prevention and control

We are responsible for regulating certain industrial activities covered by the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR regulations). If a company wants to carry out processes that may cause emissions to land, air or water they must apply for an Environmental permit to do so from either the Environment Agency or the council.

The EPR Regulations were introduced under the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. The Environment Agency regulates industries with the greatest potential of causing pollution to land, air or water. We regulate industries with less potential to pollute the environment. The EPR Regulations introduce three separate, but linked, systems of pollution control:

• Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), which covers installations known as A(1) installations, which are regulated by the Environment Agency. Examples include large iron and steel foundries, brickworks, chemical production, waste disposal etc;
• Local authority Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC) which activities known as A(2) activities, which are regulated by local authorities Examples include some smaller but similar activities to those under Part A(1);
• Local authority Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC), which covers activities known as Part B activities, also regulated by local authorities Examples include:
  • Combustion processes e.g. waste oil burners
    Incinerators e.g. Crematoria and animal carcass incineration
  • Timber processes e.g. timber / chipboard manufacture and chemical timber treatment
  • Mineral processes e.g. quarrying, cement plant and mineral screening, grading and crushing
  • Animal and plant treatment processes e.g. animal rendering, animal feed compounding, pet food, composting and manure drying
  • Solvent and oil recovery processes e.g. petrol filling stations and dry cleaners
  • Coating processes e.g. printing, vehicle re-spraying and coating (paint, adhesives, powder, resin and ink)

This example list is not complete and if you are unsure you should contact the Environmental Services Division

All three systems require the operators of certain industrial and other installations to obtain an Environmental permit to operate. Regulators must set permit conditions based on the use of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) to control pollution. For Part A(1) and A(2) installations the permit conditions must cover pollution to all media: air, land and water. The Environmental permit may also cover energy efficiency, site restoration, noise, odour, waste minimisation, accident prevention and heat and vibrations. Permit conditions for Part B installations only cover emissions to air.