ÑÇÖÞÉ«ÇéÍø

Water permits and exemptions


Types of permits, licences, consents and exemptions

Permits, licences, consents and registered exemptions are required for a range of water-related activities, including:

  1. •

    discharges to surface water. See Practice Note: Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—water discharge activities

  2. •

    discharges to groundwater. See Practice Note: Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—groundwater activities

  3. •

    activities that could affect flood risk (flood risk activities). See Practice Note: Environmental permitting—flood risk activities

  4. •

    water abstraction. See Practice Note: Water abstraction and impounding

  5. •

    water impoundment. See Practice Note: Water abstraction and impounding

  6. •

    discharges to public sewer. See Practice Note: Trade effluent consents and agreements—when are they required?

  7. •

    small sewage discharges. See Practice Note: Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—domestic septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants

  8. •

    reservoirs. See Practice Note: Reservoir registration

Due diligence in transactions

Practitioners advising on corporate, property and banking transactions need to check whether the target/seller holds all relevant water-related permits as part of the due diligence process. This extends to residential conveyancing transactions, for example, where a person is purchasing a property with a domestic septic tank or small sewage treatment plant.

Practitioners will also need to consider:

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with ÑÇÖÞÉ«ÇéÍø or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL
Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Environment News

DAERA launches consultation on Northern Ireland’s draft Climate Action Plan 2023–2027

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched a consultation on Northern Ireland’s draft Climate Action Plan 2023–2027. The plan, developed in line with the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, outlines the policies and proposals intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the first carbon budget. It sets out a pathway to achieving the statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050, with interim targets for 2030 and 2040. The draft plan includes cross-departmental contributions and focuses on delivery, monitoring and stakeholder engagement. DAERA is encouraging responses from individuals, organisations and stakeholders across all sectors. A series of public consultation sessions will be held both online and in person across Northern Ireland between July and October 2025.

Defra launches consultation on updated UK Marine Strategy Part One

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), together with the devolved administrations, has launched a consultation on the third update of the UK Marine Strategy (UKMS) Part One. The consultation seeks views on the updated assessment of Good Environmental Status (GES) for UK seas and on the proposed objectives, targets and indicators for the next six-year cycle. The assessment incorporates findings from the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic Quality Status Report 2023 and evaluates progress towards targets established in 2019. The proposals apply to all marine waters under UK jurisdiction.

HM Treasury unveils ten-year Infrastructure Strategy with £725bn clean energy investment plan

HM Treasury, in partnership with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, has unveiled a landmark ten-year Infrastructure Strategy as part of the Plan for Change. This detailed strategy commits at least £725bn to infrastructure investment through to 2035, with the dual aim of establishing the UK as a clean energy superpower and providing long-term investment certainty. It outlines aggressive 2030 clean power targets of 43–50 gigawatts (GW) offshore wind, 27–29 GW onshore wind, and 45–47 GW solar capacity, while allocating £9.4bn for carbon capture, usage and storage projects and £500m for hydrogen transport infrastructure. In addition, the strategy sets aside £14.2bn for the development of Sizewell C and £2.5bn for small modular reactor programmes, with Great British Energy set to invest £8.3bn in clean power projects, including £300m for offshore wind supply chains.

ESMA publishes statement on supervision of sustainability reporting under ESRS

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a public statement on supervising sustainability reporting under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Against the backdrop of uncertainty arising from the first ESRS application, uneven transposition of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Omnibus legislative proposals, and resulting questions about the approach to supervising sustainability reporting by national competent authorities (NCAs), the statement reaffirms NCAs’ and ESMA’s ongoing commitment to promoting transparent sustainability reporting. This includes efforts to mitigate greenwashing risks while also ensuring that measures applicable to issuers are proportionate.

View Environment by content type :  
News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Popular documents

Highway drains and culverts

Highway drains and culvertsFor the purposes of s 100 of the Highways Act 1980, a ‘highway drain’ is defined as including a ditch, gutter, watercourse, soak-away, bridge, culvert, tunnel or pipe. However, to be such a drain it must have been constructed for the purpose of carrying away surface water

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companiesWhy does it matter?A company that is a member of a group and has incurred any of the types of losses available for surrender by way of group relief may, without any further rules, have more than one way in which to use the loss. There are a

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal fees, will that count as a PET against their estate?A disclaimer is the refusal of a gift prior to acceptance. The refusal of the gift must take place before the beneficiary accepts any benefit

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claimsContributory negligence is a partial defence which can lead to a discount in damages.Other defences may also be relevant. See Practice Notes: Did the claimant consent to the risk of injury? and Was the claimant involved in an illegal activity?If a
Highway drains and culverts

Highway drains and culverts

Highway drains and culvertsFor the purposes of s 100 of the Highways Act 1980, a ‘highway drain’ is defined as including a ditch, gutter, watercourse, soak-away, bridge, culvert, tunnel or pipe. However, to be such a drain it must have been constructed for the purpose of carrying away surface water

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companies

Priority between loss reliefs in loss making companiesWhy does it matter?A company that is a member of a group and has incurred any of the types of losses available for surrender by way of group relief may, without any further rules, have more than one way in which to use the loss. There are a

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal

If a beneficiary signs a deed of disclaimer of their share of an estate and the estate pays their legal fees, will that count as a PET against their estate?A disclaimer is the refusal of a gift prior to acceptance. The refusal of the gift must take place before the beneficiary accepts any benefit

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claims

Contributory negligence in personal injury claimsContributory negligence is a partial defence which can lead to a discount in damages.Other defences may also be relevant. See Practice Notes: Did the claimant consent to the risk of injury? and Was the claimant involved in an illegal activity?If a