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...

Water discharge activities: permitting, charges, exemptions, offences, enforcement and appeals under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016; context for Scotland and Northern Ireland

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

The regulatory regime

In the UK, the release of liquids — including wastewater and effluent — into watercourses is chiefly controlled by environmental permitting and authorisation regimes across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, though certain situations may fall outside their scope. For England and Wales, the principal rules on permitting and compliance are contained in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154. Taking effect on 1 January 2017, EPR 2016 brought together all amendments to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR 2010), SI 2010/675. The EPR 2010 had superseded the Water Resources ACT 1991 (WRA 1991) provisions on discharge consents and water pollution offences. (EPR 2010 was revoked in May 2024 as part of the Brexit reforms). EPR 2016 spans a range of activities and sectors. In Northern Ireland, the framework sits under the Environmental Better Regulation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. For Scotland, the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, SI 2018/219, apply. For general advice, see the NetRegs guidance for businesses operating in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The primary agency (or regulator) for...

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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 22/05/2026

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