Environmental Permit Applications and Support

Operating legally in the United Kingdom often requires businesses to obtain environmental permits and consents. Environmental permits are legal authorisations issued by regulators for certain business activities, and navigating these applications can be challenging, particularly where multiple regulatory requirements, management plans and risk assessments are involved. Cura Terrae provides comprehensive support throughout the entire permitting process, from identifying the permits you need to liaising with the Environment Agency or other regulatory bodies on your behalf.

Our Environmental Permit Applications and Support services help businesses secure the environmental permits and consents required by law. We offer expert guidance in identifying, preparing and submitting applications, and we also help clients manage permit variations, surrendering permits and the management plans that often sit alongside a permit. With our support, you can concentrate on your core business activities while we handle the detail of environmental compliance.

Who Needs Environmental Permit Support?

You may need support if your business activities could pollute air, water or land, increase flood risk, or adversely affect land drainage. This includes businesses operating medium combustion plant, waste operations, sites near rivers or floodplains, and any regulated facility required to hold a standard rules or bespoke environmental permit.

For projects involving work on or near rivers, flood defences or floodplains, a separate Flood Risk Activity Permit may also be required. Our Flood Risk Activity Permit application service provides specialist support with assessing permit requirements, preparing applications and environmental risk assessments, and liaising with the relevant regulatory authority.

If your business operates a boiler, engine, turbine or generator with a rated thermal input between 1 and 50MWth, you may require a Medium Combustion Plant environmental permit. Our specialist Medium Combustion Plant Permits service can help you establish your requirements and manage your application.

Operating without the correct permit, or outside its conditions, can create serious compliance risk, so understanding your obligations early, including how project designs account for energy systems and emission controls, is essential to comply with permit requirements from the outset.

If you need support with a new environmental permit, our environmental permit application service can help identify the correct permit, prepare the supporting documentation and manage the submission to the relevant regulator.

Some applications require additional technical assessments to demonstrate that emissions will not cause significant environmental harm. Our H1 risk assessment specialists can carry out the screening and prepare a report to support your permit application.

How Cura Terrae Helps

Our team of environmental consultant team, many with experience working for and with regulatory bodies, supports businesses across the full lifecycle of an environmental permit application. We help you determine which permits, discharge consents or exemptions apply to your activities, as some activities may be exempt and others require a permit, whether that means a standard rules permit, which has a set application price, or a bespoke permit, with fees based on activity type. Some sites may instead need a Part B permit from the local authority, which covers less polluting industries for air emissions only. We prepare and submit the required application forms and supporting documentation, and liaise directly with the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales or your local council on your behalf. Businesses can apply for an environmental permit through an online service, but preparing the submission can still take several months. Where your permit needs to change, or is no longer required, we can guide you through the appropriate process. Find out more about our surrendering an environmental permit service and how we can help you formally close out a permit with the regulator.

Where your operations change, your environmental permit may need to be updated to reflect new activities, processes or discharge arrangements. Our environmental permit variations service can help identify the correct variation type and manage the application through to approval.

Our environmental permitting expertise also covers specialist discharge authorisations, including applications for trade effluent discharge consents and variations to existing consents, which are issued by water and sewerage companies rather than the Environment Agency.

Our Specialist Environmental Permitting Services for Mobile Plant

Alongside core permit applications, our consultants provide a range of specialist services to support businesses with more complex or technical requirements:

• Medium Combustion Plant Permits – support for operators of medium combustion plant in meeting MCPD requirements.
• Permit Variations – updating an existing permit to cover new activities, administrative changes, or a permit transfer between legal entities.
• Surrendering Permits – guidance on surrendering a permit, in whole or in part, where it is no longer required.
• Regulation 61 BAT Assessments – assessing compliance against revised Best Available Techniques conclusions.
• Permit Training – tailored training to help your team understand and meet the requirements of your permit.
• Permit Application Gap Analysis – reviewing a proposed application to check the application form and supporting information before submission.
• Flood Risk Activity Permit Applications – support for businesses that carry out activities near rivers, flood defences or floodplains.
• Trade Effluent Discharge Consent Applications and Variations – assistance with applying for or varying trade effluent discharge consents.
• H1 Risk Assessments – screening assessments to determine whether substance releases pose a significant risk to the environment.
• Dust Management Plans – developing strategies to minimise dust emissions and meet permit or planning conditions.
• Fire Prevention Plans – plans to minimise fire risk and ensure compliance with environmental permit requirements.
• Odour Management Plans – site-specific plans to prevent or minimise odour pollution in line with permit conditions.

Each of these services has its own dedicated page with further detail on scope and approach.

Our Permit Application Process

Initial Review – We discuss your activities and establish which permits, consents or management plans apply to your business.

Preparation – We prepare the relevant application forms, assessments and supporting documentation, and you may need to complete any remaining information and documents for a complete submission.

Liaison – We communicate with the Environment Agency or other regulatory bodies on your behalf throughout the process.

Ongoing Support – We remain on hand for variations, training or further compliance needs as your business evolves.

Before you have a permit, we assist in preparation & decision-making

We work with you to determine what you need before anything is submitted, helping ensure your application is accurate from the outset.

• Permit Training – equips staff with foundational understanding of permitting requirements, useful groundwork before an organisation goes through its first application.
• Permit Application Gap Analysis – reviews a proposed application (or audits an existing permit) to identify missing information before submission, reducing the risk of delays or rejection.
• H1 Risk Assessments – screens proposed substance releases to determine environmental impact; often needed as evidence within a new bespoke permit application.
• Dust Management Plans – where your site activities could generate dust emissions, a Dust Management Plan may be required to support your planning or environmental permit application. Our Dust Management Plan service helps identify potential dust sources, assess risks and develop appropriate control and monitoring measures.
• Fire Prevention Plans – businesses handling combustible or flammable materials may need a Fire Prevention Plan to support a new environmental permit application or a variation to an existing permit. Our Fire Prevention Plans service helps operators assess fire risks, develop appropriate prevention and mitigation measures, and prepare documentation in line with regulatory guidance.
• Odour Management Plans – developed and submitted for regulator approval to satisfy permit conditions, typically during application.

We can help with various types of permit applications.

We assist in your application process itself, removing stress and doubt

• Discharge to controlled waters permits
• Medium Combustion Plant Permits – a specific permit type (for combustion plant 1–50MWth) with its own application route and statutory deadlines.
• Flood Risk Activity Permit Applications – applies where activities are near rivers, flood defences or floodplains; includes completing the application and risk assessments.
• Trade Effluent Discharge Consent Applications and Variations – the equivalent “permit” process for discharging trade effluent to a public sewer (consent from the water/sewerage undertaker rather than the EA).
• Installation permits – for food and drink, energy from waste, incineration, engineering, chemical sectors and more.
• Waste Permits – for transfer stations, waste recycling centres and more.

Once you hold a permit, we provide ongoing compliance & change management support.

Environmental permit compliance doesn’t stop once your permit has been granted. Businesses must also keep their operations aligned with updated Best Available Techniques and relevant BREF documents. Our Regulation 61 BAT Assessment service helps identify compliance gaps and ensures you have the necessary evidence to demonstrate that your operations meet current regulatory expectations.

Confidently maintain your compliance once you have achieved your permit.

• BAT Assessments – an annual/ongoing compliance review to ensure operations continue to meet Best Available Techniques standards under a permit already granted.
• Permit Variations – used once you’re operating under a permit but need to change what it covers to remain legally compliant (new activity, altered process, transfer to another legal entity, correcting details).
• Surrendering Permits – used when a permit is no longer needed (activity has stopped, or is being mothballed) and needs to be formally closed out with the regulator.

Get in Touch

To find out which permits apply to your business, or for support with an existing permit, contact Cura Terrae today.