Defra is consulting until 22 December on plans to modernise and simplify water abstraction and impounding regulation in England.
The intention is to bring the majority of environmental permits under one legal framework, making life easier for abstractors so they can manage all their permits in one place, and helping the Environment Agency make the best use of the available water for abstraction while protecting and enhancing the environment. Defra said: “The system for regulating water abstraction was set up in the 1960s and still uses paper licences. Many licence holders also hold other environmental permits, meaning they have to operate under different definitions, processes and controls for different regulated activities.”
In a separate consultation also open for 12 weeks until 22 December, Defra is consulting on changes to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 as they apply to groundwater activities and some related surface water discharge activities. In particular it is looking to increase the range of permitting controls available to the Environment Agency for activities that affect groundwater. These can currently be permitted only by the highest-tier permits, which are often disproportionate to the different levels of risk certain activities represent. Defra said: “A wider range of permits will remove unnecessary costs for businesses while still ensuring strong protections are in place for our water environment.”
The new permits will also cover activities with the potential to introduce heat pollution or microbial pollution to groundwater, bringing them in line with the controls already in place for surface, bathing and drinking water.
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