Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Environment definition

What does Environment mean? In legal practice, environment refers to the natural media and the living systems potentially affected by a project, operation or emission. UK environmental legislation commonly defines it as including air, water and land, and any living organisms (including humans) and ecosystems supported by those media. Similar formulations are used across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in Irish environmental legislation; exact wording varies by statute and context, but usage is broadly consistent. Where a regime provides a definition, courts apply that text; where it does not, the term carries its ordinary meaning. The concept sets the scope of regulatory...

Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016: Regulated Facilities, Installations and Mobile Plant—Definitions, Capacities, Permits and Regulators

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

History of environmental permitting

From 6 April 2008, these regulatory frameworks have been absorbed into the current environmental permitting system:

the Integrated Pollution Prevention and control Directive 2008/1/EC and the Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EC
waste management licensing
the Mining Waste Directive 2006/21/EC
permitting elements of the Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC
water discharge consents and flood defence consents formerly handled under the Water Resources Act 1991
the groundwater permitting regime previously covered by the Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2902
control of radioactive substances, previously under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993
solvent emissions, previously governed by various directives including the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive 2008/1/EC, the Waste Incineration Directive 2000/76/EC, and the Solvent Emissions Directive 1999/13/EC

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154 took effect on 1 January 2017. EPR 2016, SI 2016/1154 consolidated and revoked the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR 2010), SI 2010/675, which had been amended many times. EPR 2016, SI 2016/1154 is the primary legislation directing the environmental permitting and compliance regime that applies to a range of activities...

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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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