Watchdog includes shadow reporting in updated Environmental Performance Assessment methodology

The Environment Agency has updated the methodology it will use to assess water companies’ environmental performance in 2021-2025.

The new Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) methodology included revised definitions and thresholds for existing metrics, as well as new metrics and cessation/replacement of metrics.

For the 2022 edition of the EPA onwards (applied to data collected from the 1 January 2021) the metrics will be:

• total pollution incidents (category 1 to 3 from sewerage assets as normalised);

• serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2 from sewerage and water supply assets);

• discharge permit compliance (numeric);

• self-reporting of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3 from sewerage and water supply assets);

• water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) scheme delivery; and

• supply Demand Balance Index (SDBI).

The agency said that alongside the live EPA metrics, it will use shadow assessment (where assessment is not published) of a new abstraction and impoundment licence compliance metric beginning on 1st January 2021, and of a numeric discharge permit compliance metric. It is also developing further metrics to use in a shadow capacity before full implementation for 2026 data onwards.

The update follows a consultation in 2019/20 on proposals to change reporting and widen, strengthen and tighten the EPA for 2021 to 2025 data years.