Environment Agency
(asked on 31st October 2014) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the average time taken between a receipt of application and the granting of (a) groundwater permits, (b) mining waste disposal permits, (c) water discharge activity permits, (d) water abstraction licences, (e) radioactive substances activity permits and (f) industrial emissions permits by the Environment Agency in the last four years.
The Environment Agency is required to determine 95% of development consent applications in 91 days or less subject to agreed exceptions. The Environment Agency continues to meet this target.
The table below sets out the average time taken between receipt of application and the determination for applications under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR, covering activities (a),(b),(c) and (f)), and for water abstraction (d).
2011 (Avg time in days) | 2012 (Avg time in days) | 2013 (Avg time in days) | 2014 (Avg time in days) | |
EPR average (a,b,c,f ) | 79.3 | 81.1 | 61.8 | 53.2 |
Water abstraction (d) | 127.5 | 90.9 | 75.8 | 49.4 |
The following table provides the average times taken for each EPR activity. Information is not held centrally for ground water applications or radioactive substances.
| 2011 (Avg time in days) | 2012 (Avg time in days) | 2013 (Avg time in days) | 2014 (Avg time in days) | |
(a) & (c) | Water discharge applications (including ground water discharges) | 41.3 | 45.3 | 34.0 | 35.4 |
All Waste permits (inc mining waste) | 125.6 | 92.3 | 79.8 | 64.6 | |
(b) | Mining waste permitting | 42.5 | 116.4 | 78.9 | 65.9 |
(e) | Radioactive Substances | Based on the 14/15 half-year figures - 98.5% are determined in under 91 days
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(f) | Industrial Emissions Permits | 82.7 | 102.9 | 74.5 | 62.4 |