Environmental permits

Who needs a permit

You may need an environmental permit if you do an activity that could:

  • Pollute the air, water or land
  • Increase flood risk
  • Negatively affect land drains

You are breaking the law if you operate without a permit when you should have one.

What you need a permit for

You need an environmental permit if you operate any of the following:

  • An installation – an industrial facility, manufacturer or other business that produces potentially harmful substances, for example a landfill site, a large chicken farm, a food factory, a furniture factory, a dry cleaners, a petrol station
  • A waste operation – a site where waste is recycled, stored, treated or disposed of
  • A mining waste operation – a site which manages waste produced from mines or quarries
  • A medium combustion plant or specified generator
  • A small waste incineration plant – where certain types and quantities of waste are burned
  • Mobile plant – plant that’s designed to move or be moved, for example a machine that’s moved onto a site to clean contaminated soil
  • A solvent emission activity – releasing organic solvents directly or indirectly into the air