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What this means for your business

30 obligations

23 penalties

6 can imprison

1 guides

Enforced by: Environment Agency
Applies to: United Kingdom
On this page: 30 compliance obligations, 1 practical guide

Read full text on legislation.gov.uk

What you must do

30 compliance obligations under this legislation — 6 can result in imprisonment.

Management duties 5

If your business holds a disposal licence you must make sure the work you do does not pollute water, endanger public health or damage local amenities, and you must follow every condition set out in the licence. You must let the Environment Agency (or SEPA) carry out emergency work on your land or plant, pay any costs they incur, and act promptly on any compliance or revocation notices they serve.

Any Person s.9 Environment Agency When you hold a disposal licence

If your business has a disposal licence for waste, the Environment Agency can change the licence conditions or revoke the licence if the work would pollute water or harm public health. You must follow any notice you receive and stop the activity if the licence is taken away.

Any Person s.7 Environment Agency Agency serves a notice under this section

If you operate plant or machinery, you must keep its noise within the limits set by local regulations. This may mean fitting noise‑reducing devices or limiting how loudly it can run. Not doing so is a criminal offence, so you could face fines.

Any Person s.68 Environment Agency when operating plant or machinery subject to a noise regulation

If your business parks vehicles on a public road, the highway authority can temporarily ban parking to allow street cleaning. You must check for any posted notices and make sure no vehicles are left in the area during the hours shown on the notice, otherwise the vehicle can be removed and you may be fined.

Any Person s.23 Environment Agency When a highway or local authority issues a notice prohibiting parking for …

If your company breaches the Control of Pollution Act, any director, manager or similar officer who consented, turned a blind eye or neglected to stop the breach can be prosecuted together with the company. Make sure your senior management actively oversees pollution‑control compliance so they cannot be held personally responsible.

Director/Officer s.87 Environment Agency If an offence under the Control of Pollution Act is committed by …

Notifications 1

If you plan construction work that could create noise, you must first apply to the local authority for consent and give details of the work and how you will limit the noise. You cannot start the work until consent is given, and you must follow any conditions attached and make sure anyone you hire also knows about the consent.

Contractor s.61 Environment Agency When you intend to carry out construction works that fall under the …

Other requirements 3

If your business’s waste‑disposal licence is refused, has its conditions changed, is modified, or is revoked, you can (and should) appeal that decision to the Secretary of State as set out in the regulations. An appeal puts the decision on hold until the Secretary decides whether to change it, and if the appeal succeeds the relevant agency must implement the new decision.

Any Person s.10 Environment Agency A disposal licence is rejected, a licence with conditions is issued, licence …

The Act lets the Secretary of State set rules about what a fuel for motor cars can contain. If your business makes, imports, sells or distributes motor fuel in the UK, you must only supply fuel that complies with those rules, and you have to display the required information so buyers can see what’s in the fuel.

Trader/Business s.75 Environment Agency when you manufacture, import, sell or distribute motor fuel for motor vehicles …

If your business runs furnaces or engines that use oil fuel, you must make sure the fuel’s sulphur level does not exceed the limits that the Secretary of State sets in regulations. This is aimed at reducing air pollution, so check the fuel’s certificate or specification before use.

Occupier s.76 Environment Agency When using oil fuel in furnaces or engines

Payments and fees 1

If your business asks the local authority to collect commercial, industrial or any non‑household waste, you must pay a reasonable charge for the collection and disposal. You cannot rely on the authority to collect waste that is isolated or inaccessible unless you have made your own disposal arrangements.

Occupier s.12 Environment Agency When you request collection of non‑household waste (commercial, industrial, etc.) from the …

Offences and prohibitions 17

If you carry out construction, demolition or related engineering work and a local authority serves you a noise‑control notice, you must follow the requirements in that notice (e.g., limits on machinery, operating hours or noise levels). Failing to comply without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence and can lead to prosecution, with the possibility of an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment.

Any Person s.60 Environment Agency

If you burn the insulation off cables in order to recover the metal, you commit an offence unless the burning is part of a process covered by Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or takes place at a work registered under the Alkali Act. On conviction in the magistrates’ court you face an unlimited fine. No imprisonment is provided for this breach.

Any Person s.78 Environment Agency

If you build a drain or sewer in a way that does not follow the local authority’s requirements under the Public Health Act 1936, you commit an offence. On summary conviction you can be fined up to £200.

Any Person Schedule 2 Environment Agency

If you or your business dump waste that is not classed as ‘controlled waste’ onto land or water without the appropriate licence or other consent, you commit an offence. The penalty is the same as for unlawfully depositing controlled waste, meaning you could face a fine and/or imprisonment. The offence does not apply if the deposit is carried out under a valid consent, licence, approval or other authority.

Any Person s.18 Environment Agency

If you reveal a trade secret that you received because of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, you commit a criminal offence unless the disclosure is made in the performance of your duty, under a specific statutory provision, with written consent, or the information is of a prescribed type. A conviction in the magistrates’ court can result in an unlimited fine.

Any Person s.94 Environment Agency

If you deposit controlled waste on land or use equipment to get rid of waste without a valid disposal licence, you commit a criminal offence. The offence can lead to a fine of up to £400 and, if tried in the Crown Court, up to two years' imprisonment – or up to five years for dangerous poisonous or polluting waste. The case can be heard in either a magistrates’ court or a Crown Court.

Any Person s.3 Environment Agency

If you or anyone acting for your business moves, sorts, or tampers with waste that has been placed in a public tip, dustbin or other receptacle provided by a council or authorised body, without the appropriate permission, you are committing an offence. The offence is triggered by any unauthorised handling of that waste, even if it is just to look through it. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, dealt with in a magistrates’ court.

Any Person s.27 Environment Agency

If your business holds a waste‑disposal licence and you break a licence condition that the regulations say may be ignored for other parts of the Act, you commit a criminal offence. The offence is tried in the magistrates’ court and can result in an unlimited fine. Prosecution can only be started with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Environment Agency.

Any Person s.6 Environment Agency

If a local authority serves you with a notice telling you to provide or use specified dustbins or other waste receptacles and you do not follow the requirements, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction in the magistrates’ court you face a fine of up to £1,000. The same penalty applies whether the notice relates to household waste or to commercial/industrial waste.

Any Person s.13 Environment Agency

If you break any regulation made under sections 75 or 76 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 – for example rules about the quality of motor fuel or the sulphur content of oil used in furnaces – you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you can be fined without limit in the Crown Court, or fined up to £400 in the Magistrates’ Court (the regulations may change these limits). No prison term is mentioned.

Any Person s.77 Environment Agency

If the Environment Agency (or another relevant authority) serves you with a notice requiring you to provide specified information, you must supply it as directed. Failing to do so without a reasonable excuse, or giving information you know is false or misleading, is a criminal offence. On conviction you face an unlimited fine and, on indictment, up to two years’ imprisonment (or both).

Any Person s.93 Environment Agency

If a local authority serves you with a notice asking for estimates or other information about emissions from your premises, you must supply it within the time allowed. Failing to do so without a reasonable excuse, or knowingly providing false or reckless information, is a criminal offence. On conviction in the Magistrates' Court you face an unlimited fine.

Occupier s.80 Environment Agency

If the Environment Agency (or a relevant collection authority) serves you a notice requiring you to remove waste that has been deposited on your land in breach of licensing rules, you must carry out the removal (or other remedial steps) within the period set – at least 21 days. Failing to do so is a criminal offence. On conviction you face an unlimited fine and a daily fine of up to £50 for each day the failure continues after conviction.

Occupier s.16 Environment Agency

If you operate a mine and plan to abandon (close) it, you must give SEPA written notice at least six months before the abandonment takes effect. Not giving this notice is a criminal offence. On conviction you could face an unlimited fine – either on summary conviction in the magistrates' court or on indictment in the Crown Court.

Any Person s.30Z Environment Agency

If you submit an application for a waste‑disposal licence and include a material statement that you know is false, or you recklessly make a false statement, you commit an offence. On summary conviction you can be fined up to £400; on indictment you can face up to two years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

Any Person s.5 Environment Agency

If you run a loudspeaker in a public street between 9 pm and 8 am for any purpose, or at any other time to advertise a business, entertainment or trade, you are committing an offence unless one of the numerous statutory exceptions applies. The Environment Agency can prosecute, and a conviction can result in a fine and/or imprisonment.

Any Person s.62 Environment Agency

If you deliberately block or prevent an authorised inspector or officer from entering your land or vessel in order to carry out their powers under the Control of Pollution Act, you are committing a criminal offence. On conviction in the Magistrates' Court you face a fine of up to £1,000. No prison term is provided for this offence.

Any Person s.92 Environment Agency

Registration and licensing 1

If you started disposing of waste on land before a licence was needed, you can keep doing it for one year from the day the rule came into force. After that, you must get a proper waste‑disposal licence or else you could be breaking the law and face very large fines.

Occupier s.4 Environment Agency After the 12‑month period from when the licence requirement became effective, if …

Reporting and filing 2

If you run a waste‑to‑heat installation as a disposal authority, you must send the Secretary of State details of the plant and the amount of heat generated each year. The report is required as soon as practicable after the year ends.

Any Person s.21 Environment Agency when you operate a heat‑producing installation from waste under the Control of …

If your business emits gases or could help measure them, the local council may give you a notice asking for details about those emissions. You must provide the information requested, keep any records required and submit any reports the notice specifies. In practice it means staying ready to share pollution data when asked.

Occupier s.82 Environment Agency When a local authority issues a Section 80 notice requesting emission information.