Back in December 2020, we updated you regarding the Environment Agency’s new Regulatory Position Statement (RPS): RPS 243 and RPS 244. These were available to new Medium Combustion Plant (MCP) or Specified Generator (SG) bespoke environmental permit applicants from 02 October 2020 to 30 June 2021.

This leaves new applicants a short amount of time to get a bespoke permit application submitted, receipt of application and fee confirmed by EA staff, and a notification email sent to MCPD Help. Any notification emails sent after the 30 June 2021 will not be accepted and the applicant will have to wait in the permitting queue for a permit officer (currently 6 months) and cannot commission or operate their plant until their permit is determined; unless permission is sought from their local EA combustion team.

What about those operating under an RPS already?

Applicants who are already operating under their RPS conditions (MCERT accredited lab within 4 months of the initial RPS notification or first operation (whichever is later) and have an Environmental Management System for the plant) may continue to operate until their permit application is determined. However, if there are incidents of excess emissions, the local EA combustion team have the authority to remove the RPS prior to the permit’s determination. This means the plant must be shut down and cannot operate again until the permit is issued.

How much longer will my permit be?

After 30 June 2021, the EA will start filtering the RPS permit queue to permit officers who will then contact applicants with any queries prior to permit determination. The EA are already auditing complex applications who submitted dispersion modelling, so that the determination process can progress swiftly after officer allocation; we anticipate this to take 1-3 months depending on the complexity of the permit, but it could also be much quicker.

If I cannot get an RPS, what happens if I operate anyway?

Plants operating without an RPS or an issued permit are in breach of EPR with operators liable to enforced shut down, fines, or sanctions as deemed fit by the EA’s enforcement and sanctions policy. There are alternative permissions outside of RPS that we can assist you with obtaining if you are required to operate for RHI but are still waiting for your permit. Please do not risk it, we are here to help.

If you need support with a new environmental permit application, RPS or other permission requests, environmental management system, extractive testing management, or any further advice on anything discussed in this blog, please call the NFU Energy team on 024 7669 8899.