Defra builds on proposals from Corry Review with new consultation on how to fast-track environmental permitting processes for the industrial and energy sectors
The government has today unveiled plans to streamline environmental permitting rules and processes for the industrial and energy sectors, in a bid to boost research and development (R&D) efforts and fast track clean tech adoption.
Defra this morning published a consultation on the proposed reforms, building on the recent Corry Review, which concluded the UK was subject to a "rigid and archaic" approach to environmental regulation that "not only stunts growth but impedes large-scale nature recovery, holds up the delivery of homes and infrastructure and creates an unnecessary financial and administrative burden".
The review - which was carried out by economist and former Number 10 adviser Dan Corry - set out a series of recommendations designed to roll back duplicated or overly-complex environmental regulations.
The new eight-week consultation focuses on reforming permitting in the industrial and energy sectors in a bid to "deliver a simplified framework that is fit for the future - helping British industry to embrace tomorrow's technologies more quickly, increasing competitiveness and creating economic growth", the government said.
The proposals include a new streamlined approach for securing environmental permits for those projects deemed to be 'low risk', such as data centres and back-up generators, which could slash permit waiting times from months to days.
The reforms would see new flexible permits issued that would set an overall cap on emissions at individual installations, removing the need for separate tailored permits for each facility.
The consultation also sets out plans for 'a more common-sense process' for approving time-limited trials for cutting-edge new technologies, such as the use of hydrogen as fuel at industrial sites, to help accelerate the process of bringing new technologies to market.
Air Quality Minister Emma Hardy said the proposed reforms would help accelerate the roll out of innovative new technologies, while retaining robust environmental protections.
"Britain is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and supporting science and innovation is a central pillar of our mission to drive economic growth," she said. "Through the Plan for Change, our once-in-a-generation reforms will streamline regulation for vital industrial sectors that protects the environment while enabling growth and innovation."
The proposals are likely to be welcomed by business groups, which have argued that environmental permitting processes that can require hundreds of pages of documents and take months to secure a decision, are excessively onerous. Some clean tech firms have also complained that challenges in securing environmental permits can slow the roll out of new green technologies.
However, the government's plans to reform environmental regulations have sparked opposition from some green groups, which fear they could jeopardise recent progress to curb carbon emissions and improve air quality, while undermining efforts to deliver on the government's goal to reverse nature loss by 2030. Some campaigners fear the attacks on 'red tape' could result in a weakening of environmental protections for important habitats and enable a wave of carbon intensive developments.
But Ministers have countered that the reforms - which also include controversial moves to roll back environmental requirements included in the UK's current planning regimes - are needed to accelerate the development of clean energy and housing projects. They have also repeatedly stressed that the current regulatory framework is both hindering growth and failing to adequately protect nature, maintaining that a new regime for funding nature recovery could result in better results.
Philip Duffy, chief executive at the Environment Agency, welcomed today's proposed reforms, arguing that "modernised regulation can help deliver growth, innovation and protect the environment and communities".
"Today's consultation marks a positive step forward in efforts to make our regulatory regime fit for the future, with proportionate but robust rules that enable the UK to compete globally whilst supporting nature's recovery," he said. "The Environment Agency will match this ambition with improvements in how we deliver the regime, with better IT, faster turnaround times and a commitment to support sustainable growth across the economy."
The government said the reforms would build on an environmental permitting regime that has helped deliver a significant reduction in industrial pollution over the last 30 years, which is estimated to have resulted in more than £52bn in benefits to human health, ecosystems, and labour productivity.
