Environment Agency

What do the Public Registers cover?

Licensing Registers

Operations and facilities

The Register of Radioactive Substances Information

Water

Other Registers

Environmental Permits (previously Integrated Pollution Control (IPC)) Public Register
Environmental Permits (previously Pollution Prevention and Control) Public Register
Environmental Permits (previously the Register of Waste Management Licences)

Waste

Industrial processes

The Control of Major Accidents and Hazards

Contaminated Land

Contaminated Land

Maps

The Water Quality and Pollution Control Public Register

A register maintained under section 190 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and prescribed by SI No.2971 The Control of Pollution (Applications, Appeals and Registers) Regulations 1996 (since 31 December 1996), and previously SINo.1160 The Control of Pollution (Registers) Regulations 1989 (since 1 September 1989)

notices of water quality objectives
applications for consents to discharge or for variation of an existing consent, and supporting material
discharge consents, consent conditions and any variations
date and time of each sample of water or effluent taken by the Agency, the result of its analysis and any steps taken by the Agency as a consequence
date and time of each sample of water or effluent taken by any other person, the result of its analysis (by the Agency) and any steps taken by that person as a consequence
prohibition notices
enforcement notices
revocations of discharge consents
notices of appeal and relevant correspondence, decisions and representations, Secretary of State's determination and any accompanying
Secretary of State directions to the Agency in relation to its water pollution functions (except directions relating to matters of national security)
details of convictions of consent holders, including the name of the offender, date of conviction, penalty imposed, the costs (if any) awarded against the offender and the name of the court reports.
returns and other information about the nature, origin, composition, temperature, volume and rate of discharges provided to the Agency as a result of consent conditions
register entries made under the previous Control of Pollution (Registers) Regulations (SI No.1160/1989 since 1 September 1989)
an index to facilitate access to particulars entered in to the register

Groundwater

A public register held under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 (1998/2746) Regulation 22

applications and information provided to the Agency to help determine these
authorisations and notices, including variations or revocations
monitoring data provided for authorisations and notices
any convictions for offences relevant to the Groundwater Regulations
discharges so small so as to obviate deterioration of groundwater quality
substances determined as inappropriate to list I and any summary of these
substances determined as appropriate to list II and any summary of these
any review by the Secretary of State of the Agency's determinations on list I and II substances
codes of practice approved for the purposes of the Groundwater Regulations

The Water Abstraction and Impounding Register

A register maintained under section 189 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and prescribed by Regulation 34 of SI 2006/641. The Water Resources (Abstraction & Impounding) Regulations 2006. In summary, details include:

name and address of the applicant, date of the application and brief details of its proposal
the Agency's decision, date of decision and brief details of any licence granted or revocation or variation
date (if any) on which a licence expires
in relation to an appeal or application made directly to him, the Minister's decision, date of decision and brief details of any licence granted or revocation or variation
name and address of a person who becomes the holder of a licence following its transfer or apportionment and details of the transfer notice or licence granted including: the date of the notice; date of effect and any date of expiry
name and address of a person in whom a licence has vested following the death or bankruptcy of the holder and the date of vesting

Maps of Freshwater Limits

Maps held under section 192 of the Water Resources Act 1991

maps of freshwater limits (and any changes to those limits) of controlled waters, ie. relevant rivers or watercourses

Maps of Main Rivers

Maps held under section 193 of the Water Resources Act 1991

maps for each area covered by the Agency's Regional Flood Defence Committees

Maps of Agency Waterworks

Maps held under section 195 of the Water Resources Act 1991

location of resource mains or discharge pipes vested in the Agency
location of underground works vested in the Agency

Maps of Sensitive Areas And High Natural Dispersion Areas

Information held under SI No.2841 The Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994 (since 30 November 1994)

maps of estuaries
maps of sensitive areas and high natural dispersion areas (HNDAs)
certificates of exemption from Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations

Environmental Permitting Regulations

The Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) came into force on 6 April 2008. These make existing legislation more efficient by combining Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) and Waste Management Licensing (WML) regulations. All existing PPC permits or Waste Management licences automatically became Environmental Permits from 6 April 2008. For more details click here.

The following are encompassed by the Environmental Permitting Regulations

Environmental Permits:

The Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) Public Register
The Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Public Register
The Register of Waste Management Licences

A register maintained under regulation 46 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 Pollution Prevention Control Regulations 2000 and as specified in Schedule 19 of those Regulations

1.—(1) A public register must contain a copy of—
(a) every application—
(i) for the grant of an environmental permit,
(ii) to vary a environmental permit,
(iii) to transfer an environmental permit in whole or in part, or
(iv) to surrender an environmental permit in whole or in part;
(b) every notice requesting further information under paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 5,
(c) all representations made in respect of an application for an environmental permit or to vary an environmental permit
(d) every environmental permit, variation, transfer in whole or in part, or surrender in whole or in part granted or made by the regulator
(e) every determination or decision notified under paragraph 17(2)(a) of Schedule 5
(f) every enforcement notice, revocation notice, suspension notice, landfill closure notice or notice withdrawing such a notice served by the regulator
(g) in relation to an appeal to an appropriate authority, every—
(i) notice of appeal,
(ii) document relating to the appeal,
(iii) representation made in respect of the appeal, and
(iv) determination of the authority, including any report accompanying that determination
(h) all monitoring information obtained by the regulator—
(i) as a result of its own monitoring,
(ii) by virtue of any environmental permit condition, or
(iii) under regulation 60
(i) all other information given to the regulator in compliance with—
(i) an environmental permit condition,
(ii) an enforcement notice,
(iii) a suspension notice,
(iv) a landfill closure notice, or
(v) regulation 60
(j) every report published by the regulator relating to an assessment of the environmental consequences of the operation of an installation;
(k) every direction given to the regulator by an appropriate authority under these Regulations, other than a direction given under regulation 47.
(2) A public register must also contain—
(a) details of any conviction or formal caution for an offence under regulation 38 in respect of an environmental permit granted by the regulator or a failure to apply to the regulator for an environmental permit
(b) a list identifying all waste incineration installations which—
(i) have a capacity of less than 2 tonnes per hour, and
(ii) are the subject of an environmental permit containing conditions which give effect to the Waste Incineration Directive and
(c) details of—
(i) all fees and charges paid to the local authority pursuant to a scheme under regulation 65, and
(ii) the total expenditure of the authority in exercising its functions under these Regulations in respect of permits granted by the authority.
(3) The regulator may omit a representation referred to in sub-paragraph (1) from its public register at the request of the person making the representation, but it must then include in the public register a statement that a representation was made and was the subject of such a request.
(4) If the regulator omits monitoring information referred to in sub-paragraph (1) from its public register on the grounds that it is commercially or industrially confidential the regulator must include in the public register a statement indicating whether or not there has been compliance with any environmental permit condition related to that monitoring information and requiring compliance with emission limit values.
(5) In this paragraph, “waste incineration installation” has the meaning given in Schedule 13.

Waste

The Register of Carriers of Controlled Waste

A public register maintained under section 2(2)(b) of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 and Regulation 3 of SI No. 1624 The Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations 1991 and prescribed by Regulation 6 of SI No. 1991/1624 (since 14 October 1991)

entries showing persons as registered carriers of controlled waste with their allocated registration number, including any letter
the date the registration takes effect and the date of expiry
registered person's business name, address of his principal business office and telephone, telex or fax numbers, and if an individual, date of birth
for bodies corporate, the names of each director, manager, secretary or other similar officers and their dates of birth
for companies registered in Great Britain, the registered number, otherwise the country in which it was incorporated
relevant conviction details including person's name, details of the offence, date of conviction, penalty imposed, the name of the Court and, if an individual, their date of birth
details of waste management licences held
date of renewal and revised Expiry Date
any other changes to registered details and the date of amendment
an index to allow members of the public to readily trace information on the register

The Register of Brokers of Controlled Waste

A public register held under Regulation 20(7) (as detailed in Schedule 5, paragraph 2) of SI No.1056 The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (since 1 May 1994)

broker's registration number
date the registration takes effect and date of its expiry
broker's business name and address of the principal place of business including telephone number, telex or fax numbers and, if an individual, their date of birth
for corporate bodies, the names of each director, manager or similar position and their dates of birth
for companies registered in Great Britain, the registered number, otherwise the country in which it was incorporated
relevant conviction details including person's name, details of the offence, date of conviction, penalty imposed, the name of the Court and, if an individual, their date of birth
details of waste management licences held
date of renewal and revised expiry date
any other changes to registered details and the date of amendment

The Register of Exempt Activities

A public register held under and prescribed by Regulation 18(2) and 18(3) of SI No.1056 The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (since 1 May 1994)

name and address of the exempt establishment or undertaking
activity which makes it exempt
place where the activity occurs

The Producer Responsibility Register

A public register maintained under Regulation 26 (as detailed in Schedule 7) of SI No.648 The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (since 1 September 1997)

Producer registrations:

(for 1997 and 1998) the name and address of the registered office or principal place of business of the registered producer [and]
(for 1999 and subsequent years) a statement for each year as to whether a certificate of compliance has been furnished

Scheme registrations:

(for 1997 and 1998) the name of the scheme, the name and address of the registered office or principal place of business of each operator of the scheme and the members of the scheme [and]
(for 1999 and subsequent years) a statement in relation to each scheme member and each year as to whether the scheme has discharged its recovery and recycling obligations

For all registrations:

a note of any amendment made to any register entry and the date of amendment
an index to allow members of the public to readily trace information on the register

Hazardous Waste Producer Register

This is maintained under the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005

Registration details of premises, other than exempt premises, where hazardous waste is to be produced or removed from:

Name of the person or organisation holding the notification
Address and Postcode of the notified premises
Registration number
Start date of the registrationy
Expiry date of the registration

Agricultural Waste Exemptions Register

A public register held under and prescribed by Regulation 18(2) and 18(3) of SI No.1056 The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (since 1 May 1994).

Agricultural waste exemptions are low risk activities that do not require a waste management licence and are carried out on farms using agricultural waste.

Where the register search indicates Licence no. it is the Registration Number that is shown for all exemptions.

The data available on the public register is:

The name and address of the establishment or undertaking carrying out the activity
The location of the activity
The type of activity taking place

Register of Professional Collectors and Transporters of Waste, and Dealers and Brokers

A public register held under Regulation 19 (as detailed in Schedule 4, para 12) of SI No.1056 The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (since 1 May 1994)

name and address of the establishment or undertaking
address of its principal place of business
address of any place at, or from which, it carries on its business

Industrial Pollution

The Register of Radioactive Substances Information

Documents and records received and issued under any provision of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, held by the Agency in the form of a register, under section 39 of the Act and as specified in DoE Circular 21/90 (since 1 January 1991)

In light of concerns that release of certain information could be prejudicial to national security, certain information has been deemed to be sensitive. The risks associated with information related to closed and mobile source registrations have been assessed to be the most significant and this has been removed from the Agency's Public Registers.

applications for registration or authorisation including supporting material, e.g.maps and photographs
certificates of registration or authorisation
notices of variation or cancellation
enforcement and prohibition notices
letters notifying those served with an enforcement notice due to a breach of the conditions of the registration or authorisation, that the conditions are being complied with
notices advising those served with a prohibition notice that the notice is now withdrawn
notices advising the variation or cancellation of a registration following a determination of an appeal
notices advising the variation or revocation of an authorisation following a determination of an appeal records of convictions, specifically the offence, the name of the offender, the date of the conviction, the penalty imposed and the name of the Court
copies of annual reports of the Agency's monitoring programmes of authorised discharges of radioactive wastes in England and Wales
detailed monitoring data held by the Agency (this information is not distributed to local authorities)
monitoring data provided to the Agency by operators of major sites where it is required as a condition of the authorisation
certificates of notification, certificates of agreement (previously known as noting letters or letters of approval) issued to the Ministry of Defence and Visiting Forces
variations or cancellations to certificates of notification or agreement

The Control of Major Accidents and Hazards

A register maintained under Regulation 21 (4) of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999. SI 1999 No. 743

notifications to the Competent Authority under regulation 6
notifications under regulation 16 (2)
communications under regulation 17 (1)(a)
COMAH improvement notices served under section 21 of HSW74
COMAH prohibition notices served under regulation 18 (3)

Contaminated Land

A public register held under Part IIA of EPA 1990 of remedial activities carried out for the purpose of risk management

remediation statements
remediation declarations
remediation notices
land identified as contaminated land under Part IIA but which is subsequently dealt with under other environmental controls
designation of Special Sites
notification of remediation steps claimed to have been taken
statements on appeals

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