Permit Compliance
Assessing Compliance
It is our role to assess compliance with the permits and to take appropriate regulatory action if we identify any breaches. We do so by reference to our enforcement and sanctions policy and the Government’s core guidance on environmental permitting, and with appropriate regard to the Regulators' Code.
Our Regulated Industry Team assesses compliance with the permit conditions at Walleys Quarry Landfill Site (WQLS) in a number of ways including by site inspections, announced and unannounced, reviewing monitoring data and by conducting off-site odour assessments. We charge all permit-holders subsistence fees, which cover the cost of these routine regulatory activities. Subsistence fees do not cover provision of a constant officer presence on any permitted site. This is explained in more detail in the guidance to our charging scheme.
We have carried out significant regulatory activity with regard to WQLS, and continue to do so. A typical landfill site would usually be the subject of 1 audit, 4 site inspections, 4 monitoring reviews and 1 engineering inspection each year. In 2022, we carried out 60 inspections at WQLS.
Compliance Assessment Reports (CAR)
A CAR is used to record the findings of our site inspections, audits and monitoring activities, reviews of monitoring and other data/reports.
We use these forms to:
- record our observations
- provide advice and guidance
- identify and score permit breaches and specify any remedial actions required
- inform the operator of enforcement action, if any, that we are considering.
We use our guidance on assessing and scoring environmental permit compliance to score permit breaches in accordance with our Compliance Classification Scheme (CCS).
How CCS scoring works
The risk category and score we give a non-compliance reflects the potential impact it could have if it were not addressed promptly and adequately. The only exception is for non-compliances relating to amenity conditions - odour, dust, noise and pests. We categorise the risk and score these according to their actual (rather than potential) impact.
There are 4 risk categories of non-compliance. They represent the severity of the reasonably foreseeable impact, or in the case of amenity conditions, the actual impact. Each risk category is scored. The scores are accumulated during the compliance year.
Category | Description | Score |
CCS 1 | a non-compliance associated with a major impact on human health, quality of life or the environment. | 60 Points |
CCS 2 | a non-compliance associated with a significant impact on human health, quality of life or the environment. | 31 Points |
CCS 3 | a non-compliance associated with a minor impact on human health, quality of life or the environment. | 4 Points |
CCS 4 | a non-compliance associated with no potential environmental impact. We describe a CCS 3 breach as a minor breach and CCS 4 is often used for administrative errors. | 0.1 Points |
When we identify several non-compliances under one permit condition, we consolidate these.
The risk category and score we give is usually the most severe non-compliance we have identified. For example, if under one permit condition we identify 3 risk category 3 non-compliances, and 1 risk category 2 non-compliance, then we would record all the non-compliances on the CAR form. However we would only award 1 risk category 2 non-compliance, and score under the relevant permit condition and most appropriate sub-criteria on the CAR form.
Further Information about how we score permit breaches is set out in guidance available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessing-and-scoring-environmental-permit-compliance.
Subsistence charges for waste activities and installations including landfills reflect both the regulatory interventions and the effort applied by the Environment Agency in the previous compliance year.
The subsistence charge is calculated by applying a percentage multiplier to the baseline subsistence charge, based upon the compliance band for the previous year. At the end of the compliance year, the scores for non-compliance are added together to generate a compliance band. You can see further details in the guidance referred to above.
You can also watch the video on the right-hand side of this page.
At the end of the compliance year (January to December), the scores for non-compliance are added together to generate a compliance band.
| Compliance Band | CCS Points |
|---|---|
| A | 0 |
| B | 0.1 - 10 |
| C | 10.1 - 30 |
| D | 30.1 - 60 |
| E | 60.1 - 149.9 |
| F | 150+ |
The higher the compliance band the greater the operator's subsistence rate. Our subsistence rate (as a percentage of the baseline) is as follows for the compliance bands:
| Compliance Band | Compliance rating Adjustment (%) |
|---|---|
| A | 95% |
| B | 100% |
| C | 110% |
| D | 125% |
| E | 150% |
| F | 300% |
Total CCS Scores Assessment of Compliance history at Walleys Quarry
| Year | CCS Points | Compliance Band |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 28 | C |
| 2018 | 16 | C |
| 2019 | 36.2 | D |
| 2020 | 56 | D |
| 2021 | 166.5 | F |
| 2022 | 176.2 | F |
In the years 2017 and 2018 WQLS was assessed as falling within compliance band C and in 2019 and 2020 compliance band D (must improve in order to reach permit compliance). In 2021 and 2022 WQL was assessed as falling within compliance band F (significant improvement required to achieve permit compliance).
Our overall assessment is that WQLS is ‘working towards compliance’. WQLS has taken remedial action in response to recent breaches by addressing amongst other things the waste acceptance process and the capping and the gas infrastructure. This has contributed to a reduction in hydrogen sulphide (H2S) emissions recorded by our mobile monitoring facilities (MMFs) and reported in our regular updates and the monthly UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) Health Risk Assessments.
Odour Management
The permit includes a condition that requires that ‘Emissions from the permitted activities to be free from odour at levels likely to cause pollution outside the site, as perceived by an authorised officer of the Environment Agency, unless the operator has used appropriate measures including, but not limited to, those specified in an approved odour management plan (OMP), to prevent or where that is not practicable to minimise the odour’. The OMP must be kept up to date and each revision is assessed by our officers to ensure it covers all the key areas of operations in relation to odour management.
Officers assess compliance with the odour condition by:
- Verifying the presence, type and intensity of odour in the vicinity of a permitted site,
- Identifying whether the site is the likely source of the odour, and if so, going on site to determine the causes of any odours and whether the operator is taking appropriate measures to control the odour.
Officers carry out odour investigations (including off-site odour assessments) in accordance with our guidance and by reference to published odour management guidance.
Odour intensity describes the strength of the odour as perceived by an individual officer. We record odour intensity using a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 = no odour, 3 = distinct odour and 6 = extremely strong odour.
A permit breach will only be recorded where:
- Odour due to activities on the site at a level likely to cause pollution outside the site boundary is substantiated by an officer, and
- The operator is not taking all appropriate measures to control that odour.
If the operator is taking appropriate measures then no breach of the permit has occurred, even if there is some odour. We would expect the operator to identify appropriate measures in its OMP, but we may require additional measures if serious odour pollution occurs.
