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We are here to help you not just to put plans in place, but to help you physically on the ground to make the changes you need to make to train your team and to provide you with the tools to continue to be compliant going forward!

Below are the main enforcement notices issued by the Environment Agency to help you with some understanding. 

We aim to provide advice and guidance to assist an operator to come back into, or remain in, compliance at all stages in the regulatory cycle.

 In the context of enforcement, we will normally provide advice and guidance after the commission of an offence, or where an offence is likely, unless this may undermine any enforcement action.

However, provision of advice and guidance will not normally be the only response we make unless

the offending is very minor; and

the operator can demonstrably return to compliance as soon as reasonably practicable.

This advice and guidance may be either verbal or written but will be recorded and, if the non- compliance is subject to CCS will be scored. In the event of continued or further, non-compliance(s) this will influence the subsequent response. 

We will also seek, where possible, to achieve a lasting solution to a problem that is causing offences to be committed

In some simple and very minor cases a discussion with the operator with a view to resolving site problems and preventing their recurrence may be sufficient. This approach can be more effective than formal action to resolve small problems. If you take this approach you should make a clear note on the file of what you have done and why. This could be important if the discussion does not result in an improvement or there is a repeat of the breach and will help justify more formal action.

 If the operator is required to maintain and implement plans under the permit

(e.g. management arrangements, accident plans, odour management plans, working plans), it may be appropriate to seek revisions to those plans. 

A warning letter or site warning using the CAR1 form may be appropriate in relation to a minor breach of condition Note that CAR1 form is not used for all regimes, for example the Integrated Inspection Form (IIF) is used for farms. The appropriate form for the sector should be used.

All breaches of condition will typically be recorded on the CAR1 form and Compliance Classification Scheme (CCS) and this is likely to affect Operator Pollution Risk Appraisals (Opra) scores and charging. Any regime specific reporting requirements, for example, any non compliance with groundwater activity permits on agricultural land need to be reported to the Rural Payments Agency / Rural Inspectorate for Wales, will also need to be addressed.

The account manager for the operator, if there is one, should be kept up-to- date of reoccurring issues, particularly serious events, and when issues are occurring at more than one site. The account manager may then raise the issue with the operator, if appropriate. Where the issue is raised a record should be made and kept.

Even where a more serious response is required, advice and guidance should be provided in addition, except where it would undermine the enforcement action.

You should seek advice from legal when enforcement action is being taken before agreeing to any requests for informal discussions about the proposed actions. This is not advice and guidance.   

 A variation notice can be used to bring a permitted activity or operation under regulatory control.

Normally a request for a variation would be made by the operator but Regulation 20 EPR says that we may vary an environmental permit on our own initiative. No specific test for the exercise of this power is given, but it will be necessary to justify a decision to vary, for example by reference to government policy or the Directives relevant to the activity in question. For example, we will be reviewing groundwater activity permits before December 2012 and varying them to give effect to the Groundwater Daughter Directive. So if you think that the present permit conditions do not adequately address an environmental issue that we are required to address for a particular type of activity, then variation may be appropriate. There are exceptions in relation to regulator-initiated variations of permits for standalone water discharge activities which mean a condition cannot be varied for 4 years unless the variation relates to an EU obligation.

In some cases, you may think there is a permit condition that addresses an issue but perhaps not as clearly or specifically as it could. Variation could be a way forward. If you think that a variation of a condition is needed because the conditions doesn’t deal with the issue as well as it might there should be discussion with Operational Technical Services and Legal Services before the variation notice is issued. If you think there might be an argument about whether a condition had been breached, you should seek legal advice.

Variation may also be more appropriate where you wish to require the operator to undertake something significantly different to what he is currently doing, especially where this might require significant investment. You will need to have clear justification for the variation as there is a right of appeal against a variation notice.

 An enforcement notice can be used to restore or remediate harm or damage or to bring an activity or operation under regulatory control.

Regulation 36 EPR says that we can serve an enforcement notice where an operator (including a deemed operator) has contravened, is contravening or is likely to contravene an environmental permit. In most cases, if advice and guidance or informal requests for compliance with a condition have not worked or are not appropriate, this may be the first tool used to bring an operator back into compliance with their permit.

 Regulation 36(2) says an enforcement notice must:

· Contain a statement that we have formed the view that the permit has, is or is likely to be contravened;

· Say what constitutes the contravention or makes the contravention likely,

· Say what steps must be taken to remedy the contravention or ensure the likely contravention does not occur; and

· Specify the time within which those steps must be taken.

There is a template in the enforcement notice handbook. Using this template will ensure the requirements above are addressed.

You can include both steps to make the regulated facility compliant with its permit and steps to remedy the effect of pollution caused by the contravention

It is not, however, sufficient to simply require compliance with the condition. In some cases it may be appropriate to simply prohibit something happening, for example, to stop accepting a particular waste, which is not authorised by the permit, at a facility. In most cases, however, you must give some reasonable indication of the technical or procedural steps you require the operator to take in order to comply. It is acceptable to setting out the overall aim of the notice, such as compliance with the condition and

saying this can be done by, but not limited to, taking the following steps. When appropriate you should seek advice from elsewhere in the organisation, such as from Operational Technical Services, Sector or topic support groups such as the noise, odour or monitoring networks to make sure we get the measure set out in the enforcement notice right. A sensible approach might be to require measures that you are reasonably sure will solve the problem. You can then specify that option in the notice with a time for implementation. In addition to that requirement you could also as a separate requirement of the enforcement notice allow the operator, if they chose to do so, to propose other measures that the operator can demonstrate will achieve an equivalent outcome and that can be implemented in the same timescale. This allows the operator to make more cost effective proposals but puts the onus on the operator to justify that they will be as effective and achieve the desired outcome.

Suspension notices can be used to stop offending or to bring an activity or operation under regulatory control. In doing so they may also include remediation steps.

 Regulation 37(1) says that if we consider that the operation of a regulated facility under an environmental permit involves a risk of serious pollution we can serve a suspension notice on the operator. The effect of a suspension is to stop an operation being carried on. A suspension notice can be used where something has already happened to cause a risk of serious pollution or where we consider that something is likely to happen that will cause a risk of serious pollution. There will be some cases where it is necessary only to suspend part of the operations or activities allowed under the permit to achieve the outcome. You should not simply automatically suspend the entire permit. You should consider how much of the permit needs to be suspended to deal with the risk of serious pollution.

there can be a risk of serious pollution even if the permit conditions are being complied with. Compliance with the permit conditions is not a factor to be considered in deciding whether or not to issue a suspension notice.

Suspension notices should be regarded as a measure to be used where it is necessary to prevent a risk of serious pollution (paragraphs 3.45-3.47 below). It cannot be used as a mechanism simply to address a breach of an enforcement notice; we need to be satisfied there is a risk of serious pollution to use of these powers. A decision to serve a suspension notice will have serious implications for the operator’s business and therefore should not be taken lightly but it is likely to be effective at encouraging a prompt response and does not criminalise the operator. However, the implications for the operator should not deter you from serving a notice where you think it necessary to avoid a risk of serious pollution. Suspension of a permit at a waste site may also make the delivery of waste to that site unlawful if that part of the permit is suspended.