Permit Application Fees
Paul Downing
Permit Application Fees
The Environment Agency have updated their permit application fees & charging scheme for 2018. The new fees take effect from the 1st April 2018.
Instead of a flat fee for most standard rules permits, each type of permit now has it’s own fee. The application fee for SR2015 No 18 (which was £1,630) has now jumped to £3,926 and for SR 2012 No15 (was £1,630) now £2,641.
The Environment Agency says that the new permit application fees are required therefore in order to justify the regulatory time and work required to determine the application. The fees are also to regulate the permit once it has been issued.
Bespoke Permit Fees
The complicated OPRA (Operator & Performance Risk Assessment) spreadsheet has been replaced. There is a more transparent system of fee tables. These identify a generic application fee with several additional components. These components may include the presence of an effluent plant on-site, a fire prevention plan (FPP) or odour management plan for example.
Subsistence fees have also increased in line with the new permit application fees.
It is no surprise that the general fees have increased significantly over the previous charging scheme. The introduction of FPP’s in 2016 has increased time & effort for both the applicant and the Environment Agency. The EA is under pressure to recover these costs wherever possible. Whilst it is inevitable that the new charging scheme would provide for an increase in fees. It does not mean that the permit application process is beyond the reach of most operators. Operators realise that a legal and properly operated business will add value to their waste management business. Especially when/if they come to sell their company after a number of years.