Environmental Permitting: Regulatory Simplification?

A new environmental permitting regime was introduced in England and Wales on 6 April 2008 combining integrated pollution prevention and control and waste management activities.

Introduction

On 6 April 2008, a new regulatory framework for environmental permitting was introduced in England and Wales in the form of the environmental permitting regime ("EPR")¹. The EPR regime attempts to simplify the administration of environmental permitting and create a risk based proportionate system of regulation. The EPR is the government's response to the Better Regulation Taskforce which identified environmental permitting and the administration involved in permit applications as an area in need of regulatory simplification. In particular, a principal aim is, where possible, to reduce the number of permits and regulators governing sites. A number of regimes have grown up independently of each other, with