Environment Agency
Environment Agency charges
You may have to pay a charge to cover the costs of regulating your activity. The amount you pay depends on:
- the activity you carry out
- the regulations that apply to you
The Environment Agency consults with customers before making any changes to their charges. Environment Agency charges are approved by government ministers.
Changes to Environment Agency charging
The Environment Agency regularly review their charges to make sure they reflect their costs.
If they think that charges need to change, they consult with customers first. Then they publish the consultation responses to explain how they addressed customer comments when setting their new charges.
See a list of the Environment Agencys charge consultations.
Environmental permitting: supplementary charges
There are extra (supplementary) charges that some customers need to pay on top of the fixed application and annual subsistence charges.
These supplementary charges will only apply if the Environment Agency needs to do extra or unusual regulatory work. This could either be when they determine a permit application or after a permit has been issued.
Charges for this extra work will either be a fixed cost or calculated on a time and materials basis.
You will pay a fixed cost supplementary charge when extra work is needed to support a permit application. For example, at some sites the Environment Agency will need to assess an odour management plan, or for intensive farming installations, a dust and bio-aerosols management plan.
Operators with a waste transfer or treatment permit will pay a fixed cost supplementary charge in the first year of operations.
You will pay time and materials supplementary charges when it is hard to predict the amount of work the Environment Agency will need to do. This is so the hourly costs of Environment Agency officers and the equipment involved can be recovered in full.
Time and materials supplementary charges will apply in the following cases, where extra work is needed to:
- determine a permit application for example, for sites of high public interest
- bring a site with a permit back into compliance after an unplanned event such as a pollution incident or suspension notice
- assess or approve information submitted by the operator to meet a condition in their permit for example if you need to produce an odour management plan or fire prevention plan after your permit has been issued
You can find more information about time and materials charges in the guidance Environmental permits: when and how you are charged.
Optional advice services
The Environment Agency charges for the following optional advice services:
- definition of waste opinions
- marine licensing advice
- planning applications advice
Find out more about Environment Agency charges in the following sections.
Abstraction charges
Water resources charges have changed.
See the guidance Water resources licences: when and how you are charged.
See the Environmental permits and abstraction licences: tables of charges.
Climate change agreement charges
See details of climate change agreement charges.
COMAH charges
The hourly rate for work related to COMAH sites is 161 an hour.
The Environment Agency also charges to recover the costs of their work exercising external emergency plans. These charges are passed on to operators through their local authority. The charge is 84 an hour.
CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme charges
See details of CRC charges.
Definition of waste service charges
The Environment Agency has a discretionary service that provides formal definition of waste opinions. Customers pay an initial fee of 750 when they submit a request for a definition of waste opinion. This is equivalent to 6 hours work at 125 an hour. This is the minimum amount of time they need to complete an initial review.
The Environment Agency will then provide a cost estimate of further work needed to complete a full technical and legal assessment.
Find out more about the definition of waste service.
Environmental permitting charges
See:
- Environmental permits: when and how you are charged
- Environmental permits and abstraction licences: tables of charges
Fisheries charges
See details of the charges for:
Greenhouse gas emissions charges
See details of Greenhouse gas emissions charges.
Marine licensing advice charges
The Environment Agency has a discretionary service that provides marine licensing advice. This is the same approach they take for planning application advice.
They offer a free preliminary opinion. The charge for further technical advice is offered as a discretionary service at 100 an hour.
Registration charges for equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
See details of PCB registration charges.
Planning advice
The Environment Agency charges 100 an hour for their optional planning advice service.
The Environment Agency charges 100 an hour for services related to a development consent order under the Planning Act 2008. These services include advice, information, assistance and responses to consultations. Examples of these services are listed in guidance on the Planning Act 2008: Infrastructure Planning (Fees) Regulations 2010 - cost recovery by The Planning Inspectorate and Public Bodies.
Applicants should set up a written agreement with the Environment Agency for the advice services they need. This is so applicants can get more detail about the services and what theyll need to pay.
For services related to a development consent order, the charges will apply with or without a written agreement.
To request advice on your proposal, and to find out how to set up a written agreement, see Developers: get environmental advice on your planning proposals.
Waste charges non-EPR
See details of non-EPR waste charges.
Waterways (navigation) charges
For details of current charges, see: