Guidance

Protecting groundwater from human burials

Updated 2 October 2023

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

This guidance is for local councils or other cemetery operators. It sets out the Environment Agency’s approach to the regulation of cemeteries to protect the environment. It covers both new cemetery developments and existing cemeteries.

Environmental risks from burials

Like all developers and operators, those involved with cemeteries have a legal responsibility not to cause pollution.

There is the potential for groundwater pollution caused by:

• large numbers of burials in a short time
• the cumulative effects of many burials over a longer period of time
• novel or unproven burial practices
• site specific environmental factors
• a lack of appropriate operational controls

If pollution happens, the Environment Agency will take action. This will be proportionate and appropriate to the harm being caused.

Large numbers of burials in environmentally sensitive locations cause the greatest concern. In many of these locations cemetery developers and operators need ongoing controls to reduce the risks to the environment. This is especially so in areas where the groundwater:

• is vulnerable to pollution
• is used locally as a source of drinking water
• supports nearby sensitive surface waters or wetland habitats

The Environment Agency encourages cemetery developers and operators not to propose developments in areas where the groundwater is highly vulnerable (wherever possible). They should avoid development proposals that present a very high risk to the water environment.

The Environment Agency has position statements detailing its approach to groundwater protection when dealing with cemeteries in Section L of The Environment Agency’s approach to groundwater protection. These position statements are being reviewed and updated due to changes to The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 which come into effect in October 2023.

To manage the pollution risks caused by the burial of human remains, some higher risk cemeteries must operate under an environmental permit. The details on whether your cemetery will need a permit are provided in the following sections.

Existing cemeteries: permitting requirements

Existing cemeteries are those which either:

• received planning permission for a cemetery development before 2 October 2023
• were already in operation before 2 October 2023 if planning permission was not required

Most operators of existing cemeteries do not need to apply for an environmental permit to operate.

If you are the operator of an existing cemetery, you will only need a permit if:

• your cemetery needs active mitigation measures to prevent pollution
• your cemetery is causing pollution or has very high pollution risks, and voluntary action to resolve these problems has not been successful – if so, the Environment Agency will tell you that you need to apply for a permit

Active mitigation measures to prevent pollution to the environment could include, for example:

• ongoing groundwater monitoring
• active groundwater drainage controls to allow burials

All existing cemeteries that do not need an environmental permit should still aim to meet the minimum good practice groundwater protection measures.

Minimum good practice groundwater protection measures

If you operate an existing cemetery, you should aim to meet the following minimum good practice groundwater protection measures.

Measure 1

You should not carry out any human burials within:

• a groundwater source protection zone 1 (SPZ1)
• 10 metres of the nearest field drain
• 30 metres from the nearest spring or watercourse
• 250 metres of any well, spring or borehole where the water is intended for human consumption or used in food production
• areas identified as having karstic groundwater flow characteristics – these areas are highly vulnerable to pollution because groundwater can flow quickly through the many fissures and fractures in the rocks

Field drains can mean:

• a ditch or open land drain that receives surface water run-off from surrounding land
• buried pipes or gravel-filled channels which are used to drain surface water from fields by gravity

Measure 2

You should not carry out any human burials on land which is liable to flooding.

Measure 3

You should make the base of each grave at least 1 metre above the highest anticipated annual groundwater level.

Measure 4

You should not dig graves in unaltered or unweathered bedrock. This is solid rock which:

• can be buried or exposed at the earth’s surface
• has not been altered by physical or chemical reactions (or both) such as exposure to the weather

New cemeteries: permitting requirements

A new cemetery is defined as either:

• a cemetery development requiring planning permission under section 57 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which was granted on or after 2 October 2023
• an extension to a cemetery requiring planning permission under section 57 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which was granted on or after 2 October 2023

New cemetery developments must do one of the following:

• meet all the criteria in the exemptions for low environmental risk cemeteries
• operate under a standard rules permit
• operate under a bespoke permit

Exemptions for low environmental risk cemeteries

New cemetery developments, or new extensions of a cemetery, do not need an environmental permit if they meet all the criteria in the exemptions for low environmental risk cemeteries.

The exemptions are set out in The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023, and will be consolidated into The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

Standard rules permits for medium risk cemeteries

Standard rules permits are suitable for activities where:

• the generic risks are well understood and mitigated
• a site specific risk assessment is not necessary because of this

Most medium risk cemetery developments are likely to be eligible for standard rules permits. For example, when burial rates are greater than those described in the exemptions.

The Environment Agency will soon consult on standard rules permits for cemeteries developments. They aim to make this option available to cemetery operators after the response to the consultation.

Bespoke permits

You must apply for a bespoke permit if your new cemetery:

• cannot meet all the conditions in the exemption criteria
• cannot meet the conditions in a standard rules permit, when they are available

To apply for a new, bespoke groundwater activity permit for a human cemetery, fill in the Part B9 form.

You must also fill in:

• Part A: about you
• Part F1: charges and declarations

You will need to use an Adobe Acrobat product to complete the forms.

It costs £2,708 to apply for a new bespoke permit. This is a one-off application fee you must pay when you apply.

There is also an annual subsistence charge, depending on the numbers of burials a year. It is:

• £256 for up to and including 1,430 burials a year
• £812 for over 1,430 burials a year

Where the Environment Agency has granted your permit, if you wish to change (vary) its conditions, you will need to pay the following variation charges:

• £812 for a minor variation to the permit
• £1,354 normal variation
• £2,437 substantial variation

Please contact the Environment Agency for more information about varying your permit.

Groundwater risk assessment

As part of your planning application or permit application, the risk to groundwater must be assessed.

If your new cemetery development or new extension to a cemetery can meet all the exemption conditions, you do not need to do a groundwater risk assessment. That’s because your development is considered a low risk to the environment. You will still need to provide information to support your planning application to show you can meet all the exemption conditions.

If your new cemetery development or new extension to a cemetery will operate under a standard rules permit, you do not need to do a groundwater risk assessment. That’s because the Environment Agency has assessed your operation through a generic risk assessment that comes with a standard rules permit. You will still need to provide information to support your planning application to show that you can meet the constraints in a standard rules permit.

You must produce a groundwater risk assessment and provide this to support your planning and permit applications if:

• you cannot meet the exemption conditions
• you cannot meet the constraints in a standard rules permit

A groundwater risk assessment will give you a site specific analysis of the risks your activity may cause. The Environment Agency will use this to help you operate your cemetery and protect the water environment.

For information on how to carry out a risk assessment, follow the guidance in cemeteries and burials: groundwater risk assessments.

The Environment Agency uses a proportionate approach when assessing groundwater risk assessments. The risk for each site will depend on many factors, including the:

• vulnerability and sensitivity of the underlying groundwater
• depth to the water table
• proximity of groundwater abstractions, particularly those used for drinking water or food production purposes
• proximity to watercourses and wetland habitats
• aquifer type and local hydrogeological conditions
• number and density of burials
• burial techniques employed

The guidance on protecting groundwater and preventing groundwater pollution explains:

• aquifer types
• other hydrogeological terms like unproductive strata

You can view the Environment Agency’s SPZ and aquifer designation areas on Magic map.

Information to support planning applications

If your new cemetery will operate under the exemptions or a standard rules permit

You will not need to produce your own groundwater risk assessment in these cases.

But you will need to provide information to support your planning application to show that you can meet all the conditions in either the exemptions or a standard rules permit.

You should employ a competent environmental consultant to collect and interpret this information. The Environment Agency takes a tiered approach to the level of detail that you need to provide. These tiers are described here.

Tier 1 information

Tier 1 information is desk-based information provided from environmental datasets and online mapping services such as Magic map. It also includes information about the cemetery proposal, such as burial numbers per year. Examples of tier 1 information include:

• burial rates
• burial densities
• anticipated ground conditions
• anticipated groundwater levels
• distance of burials from watercourses

If it is not clear that your new cemetery can meet all the relevant conditions, you will need to provide more site-specific information (tier 2 information).

For example, if you think you can meet the cemetery exemptions, but the tier 1 information indicates that groundwater levels will be shallow, it will not be clear that you can meet conditions 3 and 4 of the exemptions. You will need to provide actual groundwater level data from your site to show that you can comply with these conditions (tier 2 information).

Tier 2 information

Tier 2 information is data collected from intrusive investigations at your site. Intrusive investigations can provide information such as:

• actual ground conditions
• actual groundwater levels
• depth to solid bedrock

If the tier 1 and 2 information indicates that your cemetery will not meet the conditions of either the exemptions or a standard rules permit, you will need to:

• provide your own groundwater risk assessment
• apply for a bespoke permit

If your new cemetery will need a bespoke permit

You must provide a groundwater risk assessment to support your planning application if:

• you cannot meet the exemption conditions
• you cannot meet the constraints in a standard rules permit

You must also provide this risk assessment to support your bespoke permit application.

For information on how to carry out a risk assessment, follow the guidance in cemeteries and burials: groundwater risk assessments.

You can read guidance on how to get advice before you apply for an environmental permit.

If you cannot comply with this guidance

The Environment Agency may take appropriate enforcement action against you if you cause, are likely to cause, or knowingly permit groundwater pollution.

Contact the Environment Agency

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.