If you’re applying for a bespoke environmental permit, or varying an existing permit to cover new or increased emissions, you’ll usually need to complete an H1 risk assessment. It’s the standard screening tool UK regulators use to judge whether proposed releases to air, water or land are likely to have a significant impact on the environment. The tool can be particularly complex and time-consuming to navigate if you don’t use it regularly, which is why many applicants bring in specialist support rather than completing it in-house.
Our consultants run the H1 assessment on your behalf, using the current tool, so your application is backed by evidence that stands up to scrutiny. We work through each stage of the screening process with you, gathering the information the tool requires and translating the output into a clear, usable summary for your permit application.
What is the Environment Agency H1 risk assessment tool?
The H1 risk assessment tool is a screening tool developed on behalf of the regulators to assess whether proposed releases to air, water or land from a permitted activity are likely to cause significant harm. It’s designed to give regulators and applicants a consistent, evidence-based way of judging environmental risk before a permit is granted or varied.
Rather than producing a pass or fail result in isolation, the tool screens proposed emissions against relevant environmental factors, including sensitive receptors nearby, to establish whether further assessment or mitigation might be needed. This makes it a central piece of evidence within many bespoke permit applications and permit variations, particularly where new or increased emissions are involved.
When do you need an H1 risk assessment?
You’re likely to need an H1 risk assessment in two main scenarios:
- Applying for a new bespoke permit. Bespoke permits are typically required where a standard rules permit doesn’t suit the specifics of your site or activity, and regulators will generally expect an H1 assessment to support the emissions evidence in your application.
- Varying your existing permit to cover an increase in emissions to air or water. This might include adding a stack, introducing a new chemical substance, or otherwise changing your process in a way that affects what’s released from the site.
In both cases, the purpose of the assessment is the same: to give the regulator confidence that any proposed or amended releases have been properly screened for their potential environmental impact. Whether you need a full new assessment or an update to an existing one will usually depend on the scale of the change and whether your current permit already accounts for it.
Why complete an H1 risk assessment with specialist support?
The H1 tool itself can be highly complicated for businesses that don’t use it regularly, and getting the inputs wrong can lead to delays, queries from the regulator, or a weaker application overall. The work often requires specialist knowledge to interpret inputs, outputs and regulator expectations correctly. Working with consultants who use the tool regularly brings several advantages:
- The tool is completed correctly on your behalf, reducing the risk of errors that could hold up your application and helping ensure relevant guidance is followed.
- You get expert advice on mitigating environmental risks where the screening identifies a potential issue, rather than being left to interpret the results alone.
- It saves time and helps ensure your permit application stands up to scrutiny, with the resources and data needed to support a robust submission.
This is particularly valuable for applicants who are submitting a bespoke permit application for the first time, or who are varying a permit for a change that falls outside their usual day-to-day operations.
What information is needed for an H1 risk assessment?
To run the H1 assessment accurately, our consultants need all the information about the proposed activity, not just a general picture of the emissions and the environment surrounding your site. This typically includes details of the substances proposed for release, the point or points of release, and the nature of the surrounding land, water or air environment that could be affected, as well as relevant industrial processes and waste activities. Understanding sensitive receptors near the site, such as nearby watercourses, residential areas, or protected habitats, is a key part of building an accurate picture for the screening process and to identify potential environmental impacts.
Gathering this information early helps keep the assessment on track and avoids unnecessary back-and-forth once the process is underway. Where there’s uncertainty about what’s relevant to include, our consultants will talk you through what’s needed before the assessment begins. Where relevant, control measures should be documented in the risk assessment submission.
What to expect from our H1 risk assessment service
Our consultants complete the H1 risk assessment on your behalf using the h1 software tool, screening proposed air emissions and releases to other media to determine whether they’re likely to have a significant or adverse impact on the environment.
The output is a completed H1 assessment and a summary report explaining what was recorded in the tool, the modelling process, and the calculations used, including Process Contributions and Predicted Environmental Concentrations, so it meets all the requirements for the permit submission. This becomes part of your permit application evidence, giving the regulator a clear, well-documented basis for assessing your proposed emissions alongside the rest of your application.
How the results inform next steps
Once the screening is complete, the results help determine what happens next with your application by comparing emissions with acceptable limits and environmental assessment levels. In many cases, where emissions fall below those thresholds, they may be screened out as insignificant; where a potential impact remains, a detailed assessment or detailed modelling may be needed and could lead to further action before the permit application proceeds as planned. Where the assessment flags a potential risk, our consultants can advise on options for mitigating that risk before the application is submitted, helping you address concerns proactively rather than responding to queries later in the process.
When an assessment might need to be reviewed
An H1 risk assessment reflects the specific activity, emissions, and data described at the time it’s carried out, so it should be reviewed if the underlying assumptions later change. Reviews may also be needed where the original assessment did not cover cumulative impacts or nearby protected sites. If your proposed emissions change significantly during the application process, or if a permit variation later introduces new or increased releases not covered by the original assessment, it’s worth checking whether the assessment needs to be revisited. Keeping the assessment aligned with what’s actually being applied for helps avoid gaps in your evidence base further down the line.
How long does an H1 risk assessment take?
Timescales depend on site complexity, the proposed emissions and whether further assessment is needed. We’ll confirm the scope once we understand the permit application or variation involved.
