These regulations will amend the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018.

Amendments will bring pollution prevention and control, waste management, discharges to controlled waters, water abstractions and waste carrier/broker/dealer licensing into an Integrated Authorisation Framework (IAF). The IAF will include four tiers of authorisation. The IAF previously only concerned radioactive substance activities.

The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 will amend the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018. The amending regulations will come into force on 1 November 2025, although some supporting elements will apply from 1 June 2025.

A range of legislation will be revoked and replaced. This is listed later in this summary.

This legislation will apply in Scotland only.

What will change?

The Integrated Authorisation Framework (IAF)

The IAF will apply a common, integrated framework for environmental authorisations in Scotland. This enables more than one type of activity to be authorised via an integrated authorisation, similar to the environmental permitting system in England and Wales.

The IAF includes four tiers of authorisation:

• General binding rules: Low risk activities that may be undertaken provided the associated conditions are met. SEPA may require that it is notified of these activities in order to authorise them.
• Notifications: Low risk activities that must be notified to SEPA to undertake them. These activities also be subject to general binding rules.
• Registrations: Regulated activities requiring authorisation via a registration, which will apply standard conditions.
• Permits: Regulated activities that may not be undertaken unless a permit is obtained. This permit will apply mandatory conditions.

Addition to further regimes to the IAF

The IAF previously only concerned radioactive substances activities in Scotland.

The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 will bring the following regimes into an ‘Integrated Authorisation Framework’ (IAF). The former implementing legislation for these regimes will be revoked and replaced

Broadly, activities requiring authorisation under the IAF and the conditions applied do not significantly differ from the preceding legislation. However, the types of authorisation required, the application process and the way activities are regulated will change. The regulations will also expand public participation on applications certain authorisations.

New activities brought into the IAF

The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 includes IAF requirements for a small number of activities that were not previously regulated:

• Combustion plants generating electricity on the same site with an aggregated thermal input of 1 MW or greater.
  • A registration must be applied for this activity between 28 February and 30 June 2028 and this must be in place by 1 January 2029. Schedule 26 (Other emissions activities) applies later deadlines for certain plant located on Scottish islands.
  • Certain
• Any activity carried on in a technical unit for the capture of carbon dioxide for the purposes of utilisation or storage.
  • A registration or permit may be applied for this activity after 1 January 2027 and must be in place by 1 April 2027.
• Anaerobic digestion of non-waste materials and associated feedstock and digestate handling and storage.
  • A registration or permit may be applied for this activity after 1 January 2028 and must be in place by 1 April 2028.

Applying sewage sludge to land, which was previously subject to the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989, as amended, will be regulated under a general binding rule, registration or permit under the IAF.

Impact on holders of or applicants for existing authorisations

Schedule 23 applies transitional arrangements for holders of pre-existing authorisations. Pre-existing authorisations will generally remain valid and will become ‘deemed’ authorisations under the IAF.

The Table below summarises anticipated changes to existing authorisations.

Where an application was underway for an authorisation prior to 1 November 2025, this is to be processed under the legislation prior to the IAF.

Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial emissions and other emissions activities)

The PPC regime will be integrated into the IAF as follows:

• ‘Industrial emissions activities’: industrial processes listed by Part 4 to Schedule 20, large combustion plant activities, incineration and co-incineration plants (Schedule 22), organic solvent emissions activities (Schedule 23) and titanium dioxide activities (Schedule 24).
• ‘Other emissions activities’: industrial processes listed by Part 3 to Schedule 26, medium combustion plants (Schedule 27) and petrol vapour recovery activities (Schedule 28).

Authorisations required for industrial emissions activities and other emissions activities

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 include two types of permit: Part A and Part B. Part B permits authorise discharges to air only.

The IAF does not classify Part A or Part B activities, but transfers the majority of Part B activities into Schedule 26 (other emissions activities). Certain Part A activities, such as the production halogens, will become other emissions activities.

The following activities are expected to move from requiring a permit to requiring registration:

• Petrol vapour recovery at petrol and service stations;
• Cement storage and batching;
• Coating road stone with bitumen;
• Vehicle respraying;
• Manufacturing wood products, where wood is sawn and/or drilled, sanded, shaped, turned, planed, shredded or cured in volumes exceeding the thresholds stated; and
• Dry cleaning.

Other emissions activities: General binding rules requiring notification

General binding rules will authorise the use of crushing and screening equipment aboveground to process designated minerals, mineral products, waste bricks, tiles or concrete at the place it is produced, where the attached conditions can be met. The general binding rule also authorises associated temporary storage of waste.

Water activities

Water activities previously subject to the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, as amended, will be regulated as ‘water activities’ under the IAF. Water activities are defined as:

• Activities liable to cause direct or indirect introduction, as a result of human activity, of any substance or heat into the water environment which may give rise to harm to the water environment;
• Abstraction of water;
• Constructing, altering or operating impounding works in inland water or wetland;
• Qualifying building or engineering works in or in the vicinity of inland water or wetland;
• Artificial recharge or augmentation of groundwater;
• Direct or indirect discharges to groundwater of groundwater hazardous substances or other substances or heat liable to cause environmental harm; and
• Any other activities likely to directly or indirectly have a significant adverse impact on the water environment.

Schedule 10 concerns the regulation of water activities under the Integrated Authorisation Framework.

Water activities: General binding rules

Conditions attached to a number of general binding rules will be revised. A new general binding rule will authorise the discharge of hot tub effluent to groundwater, where a site only has one hot tub.

Waste management

Activities requiring a waste management licence or exemption will become ‘waste management activities’ under the IAF. Waste management activities are defined as:

• Storage, treatment (including sorting), recovery and disposal of waste, including supervising these operations and disposal site after-care;
• Collecting and transporting waste professionally; and
• Acting as a dealer or broker.

Schedule 11 sets out arrangements for SEPA to regulate waste management activities and record keeping requirements for authorised persons.

Former waste exemptions

The prior system of waste management exemptions under the existing waste management licensing system will end. Activities that were formerly exempt may instead require notification, registration or a permit. In some cases, a low-risk waste position or general binding rules may authorise activity formerly requiring an exemption under the IAF.

A number of exemptions will also be deleted as they are no longer required.

Waste: General binding rules

General binding rules reflect prior non-Waste Framework Directive exemptions and will concern the following activities:

• Temporary storage of waste, other than waste liquid digestate, at the place of production;
• Temporary storage of waste at a place owned or occupied by the producer; and
• Temporary storage of waste at a collection point

A further general binding rule will concern the ‘use of agricultural land following the application of sewage sludge to agricultural land for the purposes of soil improvement.’

Waste carrier, broker and dealer licensing

Organisations collecting and transporting, or acting as a broker or dealer in, waste will ultimately be required to register under the IAF. These registrations will remain valid for three years, as at present.

Additional requirements will apply on registration applications. Standard conditions on these registrations are expected to require operations to be managed in line with the waste hierarchy, comply with technical competence standards, avoid risks to human health or the environment and require records to be kept.

Carrier, broker and dealer registrations in England and Wales will continue to be recognised for use in Scotland.

Amendments to the Water Environment (River Basin Management Planning: Further Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2013

Amendments by the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 reflect changes to as a result of the IAF and are necessary to ensure this legislation continues to function.

A new Schedule is inserted, providing an indicative list of the main pollutants.

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