Guidance

Monitoring emissions from some environmental permitting activities: RPS C7

Updated 22 May 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 1 October 2020

This document has been withdrawn because it has expired. It has been replaced by Monitoring emissions from some environmental permitting activities: RPS C20.

Applies to England

This COVID-19 regulatory position statement (RPS) applies to the following activities permitted under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations (2016):

• installations
• waste operations
• radioactive substances (nuclear or non-nuclear) activities
• water discharge and groundwater activities

We normally expect all permit holders to comply in full with all the conditions in their permits. This includes conditions requiring them to monitor emissions to air and water and do other environmental monitoring.

If you follow the conditions in this COVID-19 RPS, you can make certain reasonable adjustments to those monitoring requirements. For example, you can delay and reschedule some of those specified in your permit.

The term ‘emissions’ in this COVID-19 RPS includes radioactive discharges.

This COVID-19 RPS applies to installations, waste operations and radioactive substances activities.

The effluent flow monitoring section of this COVID-19 RPS also applies to all standalone water discharge activities and groundwater activities.

The monitoring of emissions to water section of this COVID-19 RPS applies to standalone water discharge activity or groundwater activity permits except those held by water and sewerage companies. Those operators should instead consider Water and sewerage company OSM and UWWTR sampling affected by COVID-19: RPS C3.

The emissions to air and environmental monitoring sections of this COVID-19 RPS do not apply to standalone water discharge activities and groundwater activities.

You must get written agreement from the Environment Agency before you use this COVID-19 RPS. Email your Environment Agency area regulatory officer or site inspector to get this agreement.

When this COVID-19 RPS applies

This COVID-19 RPS only applies if you cannot meet the emissions, radioactive discharge and environmental monitoring required by your permit because of COVID-19 restrictions.

You must be able to demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the monitoring conditions set out in your permit. Where you cannot meet these conditions due to COVID-19 you must be able to explain why.

This COVID-19 RPS applies to installations, waste operations and radioactive substances activities.

The effluent flow monitoring section of this COVID-19 RPS also applies to all standalone water discharge activities and groundwater activities.

The monitoring of emissions to water section in this COVID-19 RPS applies to standalone water discharge activity or groundwater activity permits except those held by water and sewerage companies. Those operators should instead consider Water and sewerage company OSM and UWWTR sampling affected by COVID-19: RPS C3.

The emissions to air and environmental monitoring sections of this COVID-19 RPS do not apply to standalone water discharge activities and groundwater activities.

This COVID-19 RPS does not apply to any other activity, even if it is under the same legislation. You may still need other permits or licences for other activities you carry out.

Conditions you must comply with

If you continue to monitor and become aware of exceeding an emission limit value, discharge limit, or other compliance limit value you must notify your Environment Agency area regulatory officer or site inspector immediately.

Here are the conditions you must comply with for each type of monitoring you may be required to do and other general conditions.

Periodic monitoring of emissions to air

You may delay or cancel periodic monitoring if you cannot meet the requirements in your permit because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This means for:

• annual and 6 monthly monitoring – you can move this to later in the year
• quarterly monitoring (or any other shorter frequency) – if you cannot complete this in the required period, you may cancel it, rather than reschedule

Continuous monitoring of emissions to air

We consider the following to be business critical equipment:

• continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS), including associated alarms
• for radioactive substances activities, any system used to continuously monitor and sample discharges of radioactive waste to the atmosphere

To minimise travel to site by service engineers who maintain and repair CEMS, and continuous radiological monitoring and sampling systems, you may suspend routine servicing. However, you should make sure you repair essential systems where possible.

If CEMS or continuous radiological monitoring and sampling systems are no longer able to operate and you do not have a spare system, you must contact your area regulatory officer or site inspector immediately. You must explain the situation and how you will minimise the risk to human health and the environment during the time you cannot carry out this monitoring.

You may delay, as required by your permit:

• annual calibrations of CEMS (QAL2 and AST)
• routine calibrations of continuous radiological monitoring and sampling systems required by your permit

You must then reschedule them as soon as you can.

You must continue ongoing quality control (QAL3) of CEMS. As part of your contingency planning you should make sure you have enough calibration and fuel gas.

Monitoring emissions to water

You may delay effluent quality periodic monitoring if you cannot meet the requirements in your permit because of:

• staff shortages due to coronavirus
• restricted access caused by people or places being infected or potentially infected with coronavirus
• external laboratories not being available due to coronavirus

This means for:

• annual and 6 monthly monitoring – you can move this to later in the year
• quarterly monitoring (or any other shorter frequency) – if you cannot complete this in the required period, you may cancel it, rather than reschedule

Consider these alternatives:

• use other appropriate tests such as onsite chemical oxygen demand or total organic carbon measurements
• calculate emissions based on other parameters

If you cannot provide an alternative compliance assessment you must contact your area regulatory officer or site inspector to discuss options.

You must, wherever possible, keep online analysers and flow proportional samplers operating. If you cannot keep them operating you should consider alternatives, such as periodic (spot) samples. You should do routine in-house servicing and calibration but you can postpone external contractor services. If you need essential repairs by external contractors you must assess the risks of not doing them.

You should store samples that cannot be analysed (whether collected manually or using flow proportional samplers) in a way that preserves them for later analysis, where possible.

Effluent flow monitoring

You may delay the certification and recertification of MCERTS (the Environment Agency’s monitoring certification scheme) for flow monitoring. You must then reschedule as soon as you can.

If you need a flow monitoring quality management system reassessment audit, discuss with your assessor how they can do this remotely.

Continue to do onsite maintenance of flow monitoring structures and equipment where you can.

Environmental monitoring

You may delay or cancel other periodic monitoring if you cannot meet the requirements in your permit because of COVID-19. This means for:

• annual and 6 monthly monitoring – you can move this to later in the year
• quarterly monitoring (or any other shorter frequency) – if you cannot complete this in the required period, you may cancel it, rather than reschedule
• seasonal sampling – you do not need to reschedule to replace missed collections

Where you cannot sample and monitor to the full extent required by your permit, you should take a risk based approach. Focus on significant exposure pathways to demonstrate you are protecting people and the environment. For example, you should:

• continue offsite landfill gas monitoring between your site boundary and nearby properties
• focus on pathways to the representative person for radioactive substances

You should store samples that are collected but cannot be analysed in a way that preserves them for later analysis, where possible.

Other general conditions

You must comply with all the other requirements in your environmental permit unless they are covered by another COVID-19 RPS.

You must keep records that show why you needed to use this COVID-19 RPS. For example, records of:

• staff absences
• contractors being unavailable
• supply chain failures

You must keep these records for 2 years after this COVID-19 RPS has expired, including any extensions to it. You must make them available to the Environment Agency on request.

You must make sure your activities do not endanger human health or the environment.

For waste operations you must not:

• cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
• cause a nuisance through noise or odours
• adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Places of special interest include but are not limited to:

• European sites (Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas)
• Ramsar sites
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• national and local nature reserves
• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Marine Conservation Zones
• National Parks

Enforcement

A COVID-19 RPS means that the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you provided:

• your activity meets the description set out in this COVID-19 RPS
• you comply with the conditions set out in this COVID-19 RPS
• your activity does not, and is not likely to, cause environmental pollution or harm human health
• you have taken all reasonable steps to comply with your permit

If you operate under this COVID-19 RPS, but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must tell the Environment Agency immediately.

The Environment Agency will monitor how operators use and comply with this COVID-19 RPS through its proportionate, risk-based inspection and monitoring activity.

When to check back

This COVID-19 RPS will be withdrawn on 30 September 2020 unless we extend it. After this date you must comply with your permit.

Contact the Environment Agency

You must get written agreement from the Environment Agency before you use this COVID-19 RPS. Email your Environment Agency area regulatory officer or site inspector to get this agreement.