Air emissions permitting in the UK: three regimes, not one
Environmental Permitting is the regime behind industrial air emissions, medium combustion plant, the Pollution Inventory, F-gas and ozone-depleting substances — and it is not a UK-wide law. The core instrument, EPR 2016, extends to England and Wales only; Scotland and Northern Ireland run separately constituted regimes under different instruments and different regulators.
What EPR 2016 covers, and where it stops
Environmental Permitting governs permits for industrial installations, waste operations, water discharges and radioactive substances — but only in England and Wales.
442 The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1154, "EPR 2016") is the instrument behind environmental permits for industrial installations, waste operations, water discharges and radioactive substances — in England and Wales only. Regulation 1(2) states it in terms: "These Regulations extend to England and Wales only."
Scotland permits the equivalent activities under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, administered by SEPA. Northern Ireland permits them under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013, administered by NIEA. That is three separate statutory regimes with three separate regulators — Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales for EPR 2016, SEPA for Scotland, NIEA for Northern Ireland — not one UK permitting system with three enforcement arms.
Wales is not a separate instrument the way its ESOS designation is: Natural Resources Wales co-regulates under this same England-and-Wales SI, unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, which sit under entirely different legislation. The full four-nations picture, checked against every instrument's own extent clause, is on how UK sustainability and environmental regimes split by jurisdiction.
Two dates, not one
MCP compliance runs on a permit deadline and a separate, later emission-limit-values deadline — and the pair depends on plant size.
443 Medium Combustion Plant compliance under EPR 2016 runs on two distinct sets of dates that are commonly conflated: the deadline to have a permit in place, and the deadline to meet the emission limit values (ELVs).
>5MWth existing MCP
Permit in place by 1 January 2024.
Emission limit values (ELVs) met by 1 January 2025 — a separate, later deadline from the permit date.
1MWth to 5MWth existing MCP
Permit in place by 1 January 2029.
ELVs met by 1 January 2030.
As at GOV.UK’s July 2024 guidance, this tranche’s permit application window was stated as not yet open; whether that has since changed has not been checked in this canon.
444 A "medium combustion plant" is defined by capacity, not by any list of processes: a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 1 megawatt but less than 50 megawatts (Schedule 25A ¶2(1)). The Medium Combustion Plant Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/2193) was transposed into this definition and into regulation 12(1A)/(1B) by two separate insertions of the same 2018 amending instrument — Schedules 25A and 25B by regs. 1 and 16, and regulation 12(1A)/(1B) separately by regs. 1 and 7 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/110).
Schedule 7, and only Part A installations
The IED is transposed into EPR 2016 as Schedule 7 — and Schedule 7 applies only to the largest, most complex installations.
445 The Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive 2010/75/EU, "IED") is transposed into EPR 2016 as Schedule 7, "Part A installations: Industrial Emissions Directive". By its own first paragraph, the schedule applies only to Part A installations — broadly, the larger and more complex industrial processes regulated by the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales. It requires the regulator to exercise permitting functions against a named list of IED articles, and to review a permit in accordance with Article 21 on the triggers that Article sets.
Part A(2) installations (regulated by local authorities) and Part B (air-only, local authority) installations sit in the same Schedule 1 activity list but are not governed by Schedule 7 — "Part A installation" is not synonymous with "IED-regulated."
A notice-triggered duty, and a three-nation split
Reporting to the Pollution Inventory is not automatic — and “the Pollution Inventory” is not one UK register.
446 The Pollution Inventory — the Environment Agency's public database of industrial releases and transfers — is not an automatic duty on every EPR 2016 permit holder. Its legal hook is a notice power: regulation 61(1) lets the regulator require information "by notice served on any person," and the practical trigger, per Environment Agency guidance, is a Regulation 61(1) notice issued to Part A(1) permit holders, plus a handful of non-notice triggers (large sewage works, opencast mines and quarries over 25 hectares, underground mines, radioactive-waste disposal permits). A Part A(2) or Part B permit holder who has received no such notice has no Pollution Inventory duty at all.
447 Scotland and Northern Ireland run separately constituted equivalents, not extensions of the same duty. Scotland's Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) is triggered by a "Regulation 37(1) Notice" under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (SEPA's own instrument, not EPR 2016). Northern Ireland's pollution inventory is compiled under regulation 32 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013, administered by NIEA/DAERA. All three feed the same UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register internationally, but a business operating in Scotland is never "reporting to the Pollution Inventory under EPR 2016" — it is reporting to SPRI under a different notice power.
Three instruments, one international register
EPR 2016 regulation 61 in England and Wales, the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 regulation 37 in Scotland, and the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 regulation 32 in Northern Ireland all feed the UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register — but none shares a regulation number, a regulator, or a duty that runs automatically.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland split a different way again
F-gas and ozone-depleting substances follow the Windsor Framework split, not the England-and-Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland split that governs permitting.
448 F-gas in Great Britain runs on two layers that must not be collapsed into one citation. The substantive HFC phase-down and quota system is Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 ("the F-gas Regulation"), which continues to apply as retained EU law in Great Britain — while the same EU Regulation continues to apply directly in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, not as UK law at all. Separately, The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/310) is a domestic enforcement and certification instrument (technician certification, offences, evaluation bodies) whose extent reaches Northern Ireland only for import/export controls and GB-NI trade — it is not itself the source of the quota numbers.
449 Ozone-depleting substances follow the same Great Britain/Northern Ireland split, for the same reason. Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 applies in Great Britain as retained EU law and continues to apply directly, as EU law, in Northern Ireland — the European Commission, not a GB regulator, issues Northern Ireland's ODS import/export licences. The domestic instrument, The Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/168), extends to Great Britain — regulation 1(3) limits Northern Ireland to import/export matters only, which means the substantive Regulations reach Scotland as well as England and Wales. No separate Scottish ODS instrument is implied by that extent.
Is Environmental Permitting a UK-wide regime?
No.
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1154) extend to England and Wales only — its own regulation 1(2) says so in terms.
Scotland runs a separate regime under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (as amended), administered by SEPA.
Northern Ireland runs the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013, administered by NIEA.
These are three separate statutory regimes, not one UK law with three enforcement arms — see the full four-nations breakdown.
What are the Medium Combustion Plant deadlines?
There are two dates, not one, and they differ by plant size.
For an existing MCP rated above 5MWth: permit in place by 1 January 2024, emission limit values met by 1 January 2025.
For an existing MCP rated 1MWth up to 5MWth: permit by 1 January 2029, ELVs by 1 January 2030.
Citing one deadline for the other purpose — or applying the wrong tranche’s dates — is the most common error in this area.
What counts as a Medium Combustion Plant?
A combustion plant with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 1 megawatt but less than 50 megawatts, under Schedule 25A of EPR 2016.
A plant at exactly 50MWth or above falls out of MCP scope entirely and into the Industrial Emissions Directive’s Part A regime instead.
Below 1MWth, a plant sits outside both regimes as a combustion-specific matter, though it may still be regulated on other grounds.
Does the Industrial Emissions Directive apply to every environmental permit?
No.
The IED is transposed into EPR 2016 as Schedule 7, and Schedule 7 applies only to "Part A installations" — broadly, the larger and more complex industrial processes regulated by the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales.
Part A(2) installations (regulated by local authorities) and Part B (air-only, local authority) installations sit in the same activity list but are not governed by Schedule 7.
Separately, the EU recast the IED in 2024; that recast has no domestic effect in England and Wales, where Schedule 7 still transposes the original 2010/75/EU directive as retained law.
Do all environmental permit holders have to report to the Pollution Inventory?
No.
The Pollution Inventory is not a self-executing duty — its legal hook is a notice power.
Regulation 61(1) of EPR 2016 lets the regulator require information "by notice served on any person," and the practical trigger, per Environment Agency guidance, is a Regulation 61(1) notice served on Part A(1) permit holders (plus a small number of non-notice triggers for large sewage works, opencast mines and quarries, underground mines and radioactive-waste disposal).
A Part A(2) or Part B permit holder who has never been served a notice has no Pollution Inventory duty at all.
Is the Pollution Inventory the same across the UK?
No — it is three legally distinct regimes under three different instruments that happen to feed the same international register.
In England and Wales it runs under EPR 2016 regulation 61.
Scotland's equivalent, the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory, is triggered by a "Regulation 37(1) Notice" under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018.
Northern Ireland compiles its own pollution inventory under regulation 32 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013.
All three feed the UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register internationally, but a Scottish operator reporting to SPRI is never "reporting to the Pollution Inventory under EPR 2016."
Does F-gas law apply the same way across the UK?
No.
The substantive HFC phase-down — Regulation (EU) No 517/2014, "the F-gas Regulation" — continues to apply as retained EU law in Great Britain, amended by a series of UK statutory instruments since Brexit.
The same EU Regulation continues to apply directly in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework — not as UK law at all.
A separate domestic instrument, the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015, handles technician certification and enforcement in Great Britain and reaches Northern Ireland only for import/export and GB-NI trade controls; it is not the source of the phase-down percentages.
Do the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015 cover the whole UK?
They cover Great Britain, not just England and Wales.
SI 2015/168 regulation 1(3) states the Regulations extend to Northern Ireland only so far as they concern import and export controlled by the underlying EU Regulation — meaning the substantive text extends to Great Britain, Scotland included, with no separate Scottish instrument implied.
Northern Ireland continues to apply the underlying EU Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 directly, with the European Commission (not a GB regulator) issuing Northern Ireland's ODS import and export licences.
Related guides & references
UK Sustainability Regimes by Jurisdiction
The full England/Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland split, checked against each instrument’s own extent clause
The Four ESG Pillars
Where pollution, waste and environmental permitting sit inside the broader ESG environmental pillar
Carbon Reporting Software
The procurement guide this page’s canon gap was originally found from
ESOS: Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Guide
A UK-wide energy regime administered by the same lead regulator, the Environment Agency
SECR Compliance Guide
Companies Act energy and carbon reporting, separate in scope and enforcement from environmental permitting
Authority Sources
- Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, reg 1
- EPR 2016, reg 12(1A) and Schedule 25A
- EPR 2016, Schedule 25A
- EPR 2016, Schedule 7
- EPR 2016, reg 61
- Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, reg 37
- Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013, reg 32
- The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015
- The Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015, reg 1(3)
- Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026
- Medium combustion plant: when you need a permit
- Fluorinated gases (F gases)