The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2016

Amendment of regulation 20 (variation of an environmental permit)

11.  In regulation 20, after paragraph (6), add—

“(7) With respect to any part of an environmental permit (or if applicable, the whole permit) that authorises the carrying on of a stand-alone flood risk activity, the regulator must not, without the agreement of the operator, of its own initiative vary any condition of the permit that relates to the flood risk activity unless—

(a) in the opinion of the regulator, the circumstances in which the activity is or is to be carried on have changed such that any of the objectives in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 23ZA would no longer be met; and

(b) in the case of a variation that relates to an activity that involves any construction or works, the variation relates to aspects of the construction or works which have not yet been completed.

(8) Paragraph (7) does not apply if the regulator, of its own initiative, varies an environmental permit, or any condition of a permit, in order to comply with—

(a) an obligation of the United Kingdom under the EU Treaties; or

(b) a direction given by the appropriate authority under regulation 61.”.