Within the reporting period, SEPA’s implementation plan provided for the following actions and publication of the following information to be undertaken:
- build a public register page on SEPA’s new ‘BETA’ website
- key authorisation documentation for ‘Part A’[3] Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) activities under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”) and related environmental reports, including pre cyber-attack information
- a list of 98% of authorisations and key data associated with them (location, authorisation holder etc)
- a list of key authorisation conditions under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (“the CAR Regulations”), the 2012 Regulations and Waste Regimes
- all recently received or issued authorisation documentation
Website page
ESS can confirm that SEPA has introduced an updated public register page on its website which sets out what information can be accessed online under the various public registers.[4] The new page includes links to the BETA website where authorisation information and documentation can be found and sets out what information is not yet available and how it can be obtained from SEPA.
‘Part A’ PPC key authorisation documentation
SEPA has confirmed to ESS that there are 500 live PPC Part A permits, 490 of which have entries on the BETA website.[5] SEPA explained that, for legal reasons, the remaining live permits do not currently have entries.
SEPA also outlined that, of the live permit entries, 469 contain key authorisation documentation. The remaining entries currently contain no documentation for either legal reasons or because no verification has been possible. Of the 469 Part A PPC entries which contain key authorisation documentation, some entries will include all key authorisation documentation (other than operator returns) whilst other entries will include some, but not all, key authorisation documentation due to SEPA being unable to complete the verification process.[6]
SEPA has confirmed to ESS that, other than operator returns, it has published all the key authorisation documents for PPC Part A sites which it has been able to verify and which it is legally able to publish.
Authorisations and key associated data
At the time of review, there are over 180,000 entries on SEPA’s BETA website find authorisation information page. SEPA has confirmed to ESS that this constitutes over 98% of authorisations under the CAR, PPC, Reservoirs and Waste regimes. SEPA explained that this number will fluctuate as it issues or revokes authorisations.
CAR Regulations, 2012 Regulations and Waste Regimes key authorisation conditions
SEPA has confirmed to ESS that it is in the process of manually entering numeric limit condition information relating to discharges to the water environment under licences issued under the CAR Regulations into a new internal database. SEPA explained to ESS that it will continue work on this project to check completeness of data and expand the regimes for internal purposes. SEPA also explained that, if it decides to publish this data, it will be as part of its new public register website, as this is the means of ensuring compliance with Digital Service Standards Scotland requirements, accessibility requirements and user experience.
SEPA explained to ESS that the publication of this information is not necessary in terms of its public register obligations and that it is therefore currently considering whether it should publish this data and, if so, when. SEPA noted that information on discharge conditions etc is contained within the CAR, PPC and waste authorisations that it is now publishing.
Recently received or issued authorisation documentation
SEPA confirmed to ESS that it is now publishing the following documentation on its find an authorisation document webpage:
- authorisation documents, including new authorisations and changes to existing authorisations that SEPA has issued since January 2021 for:
- licences under the CAR Regulations
- other permits under the 2012 Regulations (PPC Part B permits)[7]
- licences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Part II) and the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011
SEPA explained that it commenced publication of these documents on 11 June 2024, and that all new documents are now being published within 24 hours of issue. In respect of the documents issued since January 2021, SEPA confirmed that, as of 28 June 2024, it had published documents for 1896 sites. This includes the PPC Part A sites mentioned above as well as new documents issued under water, PPC and waste regimes. For the remaining 1401 sites that have had documentation issued since 1 January 2021, the documentation is being prepared for publication and will be uploaded when available.[8]
[3] Part A activities are those listed under Part A within Schedule 1 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (PPC 2012). These are generally larger industrial activities, potentially involving discharges to land, air and water, and include activities such as energy production, mineral activities, fertiliser production and certain types of waste management. Operators of Part A activities require a PPC permit to be able to undertake their activity.
[4] Public Register | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
[5] Find an Authorisation Document | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
[6] The figures provided in this report are as reported to ESS by SEPA in July and August 2024
[7] Part B activities are those listed under Part B within Schedule 1 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012. These are generally smaller industrial activities and operators of Part B activities require a PPC permit in order to be able to undertake their activity.
[8] SEPA explained that, should a search return the notification “Document not found – Currently there are no published documents available for this authorised site”, the reason will be a) The redaction and upload of the documentation issued from 1 January 2021 is ongoing or b) In limited circumstances there may be legal reasons why the documentation has not been published.