Summer 2026 environment and net-zero roundup: waste, development and CCUS

Overview

This digest covers three distinct but connected regulatory changes affecting environmental and net-zero obligations in England during summer 2026. Together they touch waste carriers and brokers, property developers, and operators of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) infrastructure.

The broadest change — affecting tens of thousands of businesses — is the replacement of waste-carrier registration in England with full environmental permitting. Parliament approved the regulations and they were made on 22 July 2026 (SI 2026/873). Transitional provisions took effect on 12 August 2026; the main changes take effect on 22 July 2027, with existing registered businesses moving to permits in stages after that. Businesses should begin reviewing their position now.

The two instruments that are already made — the Environmental Delivery Plans (Appropriate Prioritisation) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/655) and the Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage (Financing of Costs of Offshore Decommissioning) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/632) — come into force on 9 July and 10 July 2026 respectively. Both are narrow in immediate business impact but significant in establishing the regulatory architecture for the Nature Restoration Fund and the CCUS sector.

Two smaller items — a UK ETS lime benchmark revision for the 2027 scheme year (in force 24 June 2026) and a fee uplift for OPRED offshore oil and gas environmental regulation (in force 7 July 2026) — are noted briefly at the end.

Waste carriers reform: registration replaced by environmental permitting (from 22 July 2027)

Who this applies to: all businesses in England currently registered as waste carriers, brokers or dealers under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989, and any business that organises or physically transports waste as part of its operations.

The Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/873) were approved by both Houses of Parliament and made on 22 July 2026. Regulations 1 and 2 (commencement and interpretation), the transitional provisions (regulations 27 to 30) and an amendment adding the Environment Act 2021, as it applies in England, to the laws covered by Primary Authority partnerships (regulation 31) came into force on 12 August 2026. The rest of the regulations come into force on 22 July 2027.

Existing registered carriers, brokers and dealers do not all need a permit on that date. Specified persons — including charities, voluntary organisations, businesses that carry only waste they produce themselves (other than construction or demolition waste), and businesses that carry, broker or deal in only animal by-products, mine or quarry waste or agricultural waste — have until 22 July 2028. Other registered businesses must have a permit or registered exemption from the day after their current registration was due to expire. If you apply more than 3 months before your deadline, your current registration stays valid until the Environment Agency decides your application. Since 12 August 2026, a carrier, broker or dealer operating in England may hold only one registration; only the earliest is valid and any later registrations are void.

The reform replaces the existing light-touch registration system with full environmental permitting under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. Three new regulated-activity categories are created: waste controlling (organising collection, classification, transportation or destination of waste), waste transporting (physically moving waste between locations), and waste controlling-transporting (combined operations). Businesses carrying out these activities will need either an Environment Agency environmental permit or a registered exemption. Drivers transporting waste must carry their permit number and a unique driver number.

Some activities can be carried out under a registered exemption instead of a permit, provided the conditions for each are met. They include controlling or transporting waste produced in your own business, waste handled by registered charities, extractive waste, animal by-products, and waste illegally deposited on land you own or occupy. The regulations apply to England only; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland maintain separate frameworks. Given the scale of change — transitioning tens of thousands of currently-registered carriers and brokers from registration to permitting — businesses should identify which new category applies to them and start engaging with the Environment Agency's permit application process well before their compliance date.

Environmental Delivery Plans: statutory mitigation hierarchy now in force (9 July 2026)

Who this applies to: developers and housebuilders in England who are, or expect to be, subject to habitats regulations assessments or species-level mitigation requirements, and who may use the Nature Restoration Fund levy route in place of project-specific mitigations.

The Environmental Delivery Plans (Appropriate Prioritisation) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/655), in force on 9 July 2026, bind Natural England to a statutory mitigation hierarchy when selecting conservation measures within Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs). EDPs are the core instrument of the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Under an EDP, Natural England identifies strategic conservation measures to address the cumulative effects of development on protected habitats and species; developers covered by an EDP pay a levy into the NRF rather than securing individual site-level mitigations.

The hierarchy — avoidance first, then mitigation, then compensation — mirrors established best practice but is now a statutory obligation rather than a policy expectation, subject to Natural England's assessment of value for money in each case. Natural England notified the Secretary of State in December 2025 of its intention to prepare 23 EDPs, including those covering nutrient pollution from development and great crested newt effects across England. The breadth of EDP coverage will determine how widely the NRF levy route is available to developers as an alternative to project-specific mitigation. These regulations do not replace or affect the separate mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain requirement under the Environment Act 2021.

CCUS decommissioning financing: compulsory ring-fenced funds from 10 July 2026

Who this applies to: holders of Section 7 licences to conduct carbon dioxide transport and storage activities under the Energy Act 2023, and any persons subject to Section 29 notices regarding covered offshore infrastructure — principally CCUS network operators and CO2 pipeline and storage site licence holders participating in government-sanctioned CCUS clusters.

The Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage (Financing of Costs of Offshore Decommissioning) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/632) come into force on 10 July 2026 with no transitional period; compliance obligations apply from that date. The regulations mirror the well-established decommissioning fund requirements for offshore oil and gas operators, adapted for the emerging CO2 transport and storage sector under the Energy Act 2023.

Core obligations are: preparing and submitting fund estimates of projected decommissioning costs for Secretary of State approval; establishing ring-fenced offshore decommissioning funds with approved holding arrangements; submitting funding and investment strategies; making monthly contributions to the fund; providing annual accounts and infrastructure reports; and obtaining Secretary of State approval before making any payments out of the fund. Fund assets must be managed with reasonable care and skill, held in segregated accounts, and used only for permitted activities. These regulations concern financial provisioning for end-of-operational-life decommissioning and are distinct from the separate CCUS offshore safety and environmental regulations governing operations during production.

Rates and fees: two smaller items

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Lime Benchmark) (England) Order 2026 (SI 2026/566, in force 24 June 2026). For calculating free allocation for the 2027 scheme year, raises the benchmark for lime product sub-installations of incumbent installations in England from 0.725 to 0.798 t CO2e per tonne of product. This increases the preliminary free allocation calculated for UK ETS installations in England with a lime product benchmark sub-installation.

Pollution Prevention and Control (Fees) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/757, in force 7 July 2026). Raises the hourly fee rates charged by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) for environmental regulation of offshore oil and gas activities: from £210 to £256 for specialist officers and from £114 to £130 for non-specialist officers. Parliament approved the regulations in draft and they were made on 6 July 2026.