Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Sanctions definition

What does Sanctions mean? Sanctions are the penalties or procedural consequences a court imposes in civil litigation when a party fails to comply with procedural rules, practice directions or court orders. Common sanctions include striking out or dismissing a claim or defence, debarring a party from relying on evidence or experts, costs orders (including indemnity or wasted costs), stays, unless orders with automatic strike-out on non-compliance, and, in serious cases, contempt remedies. In England and Wales, sanctions are imposed under the Civil Procedure Rules (for example CPR r.3.1, r.3.4, r.3.5, r.32.10 and r.3.14). A party may seek relief from sanctions under CPR r.3.9,...

Groundwater activities under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016: permitting, offences, exemptions, defences, enforcement and civil sanctions, including standard rules and mobile plant

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

Introduction

What is groundwater?

In brief, groundwater is water stored beneath the surface. Rainfall gathers and then infiltrates the soil, percolating through soils and rocks into aquifers—layers of porous rock or sediment. The British Geological Survey notes that groundwater supplies around one third of the public water in England and makes an important contribution in Wales and Scotland.

What is groundwater activity

Government guidance explains that a groundwater activity includes:

discharging a pollutant that causes, or could cause, a direct or indirect input to groundwater
any other discharge that may lead to a direct or indirect pollutant input to groundwater
an activity subject to a Schedule 22 notice that has taken effect
an activity, carried out as part of another class of regulated facility, that may cause such a discharge

The guidance further states it is an offence to cause or knowingly permit a groundwater activity unless authorised by a permit or registered as exempt.

Environmental permitting

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154 as variously...

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Craig Burman

Schofield Sweeney

Craig is a director and head of Schofield Sweeney’s Environmental and Regulatory team. He qualified as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand and practiced in a broad mixture of contentious litigation matters before moving to the UK in 2001. Between 2008 and 2015 Craig worked in house at the Environment Agency, including as Principal Solicitor for Enforcement and Prosecutions (Yorkshire and North East), and then Regional Solicitor (Yorkshire and North East), before being appointed as the Senior Managing Lawyer of the national Enforcement and Prosecutions team. Craig advises on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious environmental matters including waste, water pollution, air pollution, packaging waste, environmental permit compliance, fisheries offences, noise and odour, drainage and flooding, contaminated land, REACH compliance, fracking and agricultural matters. Craig advises on a wide range of other regulatory compliance matters and acts for a number of...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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