Environment Agency consults on seven permit exemptions for construction in England

The Environment Agency has opened a consultation on seven proposed exemptions from environmental permitting that it said are designed to support construction activities in England, with responses due by 11:59pm on 29 December 2026.

The consultation, published on 4 November 2026, is the regulator's first on new exemption proposals ahead of gaining new powers to make, revise and revoke exemptions. It applies to England only.

The Environment Agency said the proposals support the UK government's commitment to streamline environmental permitting for low-risk activities.

"We want to make sure that the exemptions work for you and your industry but also provide the necessary protection to the environment and human health," the Environment Agency said in the consultation document.

What is being asked

Exemptions cover activities that do not need an environmental permit and pose lower risks than permitted activities, according to the Environment Agency. Some require registration and some do not. They exist in four classes of facility: waste operations, water discharge activities, groundwater activities and flood risk activities.

The regulator is asking respondents three things: whether it has correctly identified the risks for each activity, whether compliance with the proposed conditions and limitations reduces the risks to the environment and human health to an acceptable level, and how the new exemptions should be applied.

The Environment Agency said the process to create new exemptions depends on forthcoming amendments to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

The legislative route

The amending instrument, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026, is published on legislation.gov.uk as a draft and has not yet been made as a statutory instrument. The draft Regulations extend to England and Wales.

Part 2 of the draft, which includes the exemption-related amendments, is due to come into force on 6 January 2027. Part 3 comes into force on 6 July 2027 and Part 4 on 22 July 2027.

The explanatory note to the draft says a full impact assessment covering Part 3 and certain Schedule modifications is published with an Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument. A full impact assessment has not been produced for the other provisions because no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen, and a de minimis assessment of those provisions is available from Defra's Circular Economy Directorate.

Background to the reform

The new powers stem from a consultation on exemptions reform that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Government ran from 8 April 2025 to 3 June 2025. It received 79 responses from individuals, businesses, public bodies and others, and the government response was published jointly by Defra and the Welsh Government.

The reform gives regulators power to create, amend and remove types of exempt facilities and activities that do not need an environmental permit. The government said the aim was to enable regulators to take risk-based decisions.

The government said use of the power by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales would be subject to robust safeguards. Regulators will be required to carry out public consultation before using the new powers and to publish an assessment of risk when consulting on exemption proposals. The process is to operate in a similar way to the existing one for publishing standard rules.

Timing in England and Wales

In its 2025 response, Defra said it planned for the required amendments to the Regulations in England to be made in 2026. The draft instrument now on legislation.gov.uk is not yet made, and its exemption provisions carry a commencement date of 6 January 2027.

The Welsh Government said in the same response that it would not take a decision on amendments to the regulations until after the Senedd elections in May 2026.

The Environment Agency's consultation on the seven proposed exemptions is being held on a separate website and closes at 11:59pm on 29 December 2026.