The Environment Agency has issued new guidance on surface water discharges from installations and waste activities as well as point source water discharges and stand alone water discharge activities.

The guide gives advice on assessing impacts from discharges to surface waters and to smaller infiltration systems when applying for a bespoke permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

The revised Annex D guidance provides an overview of the new approach to the permitting of hazardous pollutants across all activities under the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Surface waters include:

• rivers
• estuaries
• coastal waters
• lakes and canals.

Annex D implements the requirements of the Water Framework Directive - a prominent aspect of which is ‘No Deterioration’. The Environment Agency must ensure proposed discharges do not make it impossible for the achievement of any target standards not currently being met - such as the Water Framework Directive Status Objective.

The principle of ‘No Deterioration’ is implemented in relation to flowing freshwaters by the Environment Agency across England through a programme of water quality planning and permitting.

However, ‘No Deterioration’ is also applied to discharges containing sanitary, and other pollutants such as phosphorus, as well as hazardous pollutants. In addition, there is also a requirement to aim to “progressively reduce” discharges of priority substances, and to “cease and phase out” discharges of priority hazardous substances.

These additional requirements are not currently addressed in Annex D, but are being considered further in the context of River Basin Management Plans. Any additional requirements will be included in an amended version of Annex D once the cease and phase out requirements have been defined more clearly.

The guidance is part of a series of statutory guidance documents published by the Agency today.

Click here to download the Annex D Guidance 

Click here to download Surface water discharges: assessment of sanitary and other pollutants

Click here to download Surface water discharges: assessment of hazardous pollutants