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Guidance

Environmental permits: when and how you are charged

How the Environment Agency charges for activities that need an environmental permit and the charges you must pay.

Updates to this page

From:
Environment Agency
Published:
21 March 2018
Last updated:
1 April 2026
Show all updates

  1. Charges have been updated in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase.

  2. Added links to the new online payment service GOV.UK Pay in section 7.1 Payments for applications.

  3. Added section 6.16 on the water industry enforcement levy. Also added that no mid-year adjustments apply to this levy.

  4. Updated the charges to reflect the outcome of the recent cost of service consultation.

  5. Updated the amounts in section 1.5.1 'Time and materials for specified radioactive substances activities'. Updated the amounts for specified radioactive substances activities in section 2.3 'Enhanced pre-application advice'. Updated the times and materials charge amount in section 6.5.1 'When time and materials costs will be charged'.

  6. Section 1 - updated general information about charges. Added information on charges for closed loop ground source heat pumps for domestic households or community buildings; land spreading of sheep dip; and inflationary increase to water discharge and ground water activities. Section 2 - updated permit application charges for enhanced pre-application advice, staged applications, high public interest applications, charges for repeated information notices and partial refunds, plans and assessment and standalone directly associated activity. Added multiple heat pump applications. Section 3 - amendments included for water discharge groundwater activities and biological treated waste by composting. Included examples of minor variations. Section 4 - updated information on transferring a permit. Section 5 - updated information on surrendering a permit for onshore oil and gas. Section 6 - updated subsistence charges for waste incinerators and co-incinerators before construction starts and material facilities charges.

  7. Updated section '2.4 Staged application procedure charge' and included link to guidance about submitting application information in stages if your proposal is complex and or a novel technology.

  8. Under 6.3.1 Waste incinerators and co-incinerators we have explained that there is a higher charge from when construction of a new plant begins until 2 years after it has been commissioned. Table 2.6 in the Table of charges lists the charges for new and existing plants.

  9. Included new charges for fusion activity. Provided further information and additional examples for application charges. Updated links to the Environment Agency (Environmental Permitting and Abstraction Licensing) (England) Charging Scheme 2022.

  10. We have clarified the following: the purpose of the pre-application service, and which pre-application advice is covered by the application charge and which is chargeable.

  11. Updated with new charges following a consultation.

  12. Section 6.4 First year of operation charge: Minor update to clarify what the Environment Agency does for the additional first year charge.

  13. Amended to provide additional clarification and examples.

  14. First published.

Documents

Environmental permits: when and how you are charged

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Details

Guidance on charges for:

  • permit application
  • varying a permit
  • transferring a permit
  • surrendering a permit
  • annual subsistence charges

This document gives information on how to pay.

You should also read the document Environmental permits and abstraction licences: tables of charges which explains the legal basis for the Environment Agency’s charges. It also gives the:

  • application charge tables for environmental permits
  • subsistence charge tables for environmental permits
  • miscellaneous environmental permitting charge tables

Contact the Environment Agency if you are not sure which charge applies to your operations.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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