Operating while a waste permit application is pending

By WasteSignal · England, Scotland and Wales

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A pending waste permit application is a request for a regulatory decision. It is not, by itself, permission to carry out the proposed activity. A business with a pending application may already have authority for some of its work. Existing permissions, exemptions and specific transitional arrangements can make the answer different for different activities.

Ask what currently authorises the particular operation, by that person, at that location. Once that is clear, you can distinguish work that remains within an existing permission from a proposed change that still needs approval.

This guide explains how to make that distinction for waste activities in England, Wales and Scotland. It also helps customers assess a supplier’s statement that its ‘permit is being processed’. Start with the registrations and permits guide for the wider framework.

Does submitting a waste permit application authorise the activity?

Normally, submitting a new application does not grant the permission being requested. In England and Wales, regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 sets the requirement to operate a regulated facility under the authority of an environmental permit, subject to the framework’s applicable exclusions and exemptions.

An operator therefore needs to establish a current legal basis before starting an activity requiring permission. The application can be important evidence of a proposal and its progress, but it should not be presented as if it were the granted instrument.

For a customer, ask what authority covers the proposed receiving operation today. If the answer is only an application for a new site that needs a permit, the essential question remains unresolved. If the answer is an existing permit while a separate expansion is considered, check whether your waste route fits that existing permission.

Assess each activity against its current authority. Application status alone does not show whether a proposal is approved or whether all of the business’s existing operations are unauthorised.

Can an existing permitted waste site keep operating during a variation application?

An existing permit can continue to authorise the activities within its current scope while a variation is considered, subject to its conditions and any other applicable restriction. Applying for a change does not normally erase the existing permission or automatically extend it.

For example, a site may already be authorised to store specified non-hazardous wastes and apply to add another waste stream. Existing acceptance can continue where the current permission covers it. The additional stream cannot be justified merely by pointing to the pending variation.

Read the current permit, relevant amendments and any notices. Check the activity, waste description, location and limits rather than relying on the fact that the site has operated for years. An established operator can still propose a change outside its current scope.

Our waste permit variations guide explains changes and effective dates. If the supplier says an application allows an increased throughput or an expanded yard, identify the current provision that actually supports that claim. Proposed drawings and requested limits are not the same as operative conditions.

What do application received, duly made and under consultation mean?

These describe progress through assessment rather than an interchangeable form of approval. Receipt means the application has arrived. An initial completeness check considers whether the regulator has the information needed to assess it. Consultation allows relevant views to be considered. A final decision is a different event.

In England, the Environment Agency’s waste permit guidance explains that ‘duly made’ means the information and payment needed to start assessment have been provided. The Agency can subsequently request more information and can refuse an application for reasons including unacceptable risk or insufficient evidence of competence.

For Wales, NRW’s application services explain their own completeness checks and decision processes. Use the applicable Welsh guidance rather than assuming an English service description establishes the status of a Welsh application. The words may be familiar while the relevant correspondence and procedure remain regulator-specific.

Ask for precise evidence of the stage being claimed. An email acknowledging receipt does not prove the application has been accepted for assessment. A consultation page does not prove the requested permission will be granted. A draft permit can contain detailed wording while still awaiting a final decision.

Does passing an expected decision date mean a permit is automatically granted?

Do not assume that silence or delay is approval. Determination periods, requests for information, extensions and appeal rights form part of the relevant legal process. A target date or usual service timescale is not an environmental permit.

If a decision is late, contact the regulator about the actual status and applicable procedure. Operators should obtain advice on any available rights and deadlines. Customers should ask for current authority covering the proposed operation rather than trying to calculate an automatic permission from an expected response date.

Equipment arriving, a lease starting or a customer contract becoming due can put pressure on the programme. None of those events establishes that the regulator has granted the permission. Build permission-dependent commitments around a realistic contingency rather than an assumed grant date.

Likewise, payment of an application fee pays for the relevant process; it does not buy the requested outcome. Keep receipts in the application record and granted documents in the operative permission record so colleagues can tell them apart easily.

Can an exemption still apply while a permit application is considered?

Potentially, if the actual activity continues to meet an applicable exemption and its current conditions. The permit application does not automatically invalidate every existing exemption. It also does not increase exemption limits or permit new activities that fall outside them.

Identify the exemption, the operator and site, any registration requirement, expiry and all relevant conditions. If the proposed operation has already exceeded those conditions, the existence of a pending permit application does not automatically fix the problem.

There may also be specific statutory transitional provisions when exemption rules change. Those need their own assessment: which activities qualify, what must be submitted by when, which conditions remain applicable, and what happens on refusal or withdrawal. Do not turn one transitional scheme into a general rule for all applications.

The waste exemption expiry and renewal guide explains the ordinary checks. For storage of waste your business produces itself, storing your own business waste covers distinct routes that should be considered on their actual conditions rather than assumed to need the same permit as a commercial transfer station.

How should proposed exemption reforms be treated in England and Wales?

Distinguish a policy announcement from legislation that has commenced and applies to the particular activity. The government’s waste exemptions reform paper describes intended transitional arrangements, including circumstances involving permit applications. Its description of a future scheme should not be treated as immediate permission for an unrelated operation.

At this guide’s review date, NRW’s check-before-registering guidance says the Welsh Government is changing exemptions and that holders will be written to when the date is confirmed. It describes periods running after the legislation comes into force. Do not convert those periods into invented calendar deadlines.

For a live decision, establish the national commencement position and the actual transitional provision. Ask the regulator for activity-specific clarification where necessary. Record the policy publication date separately from the date legislation takes effect. If a transition applies, identify when that particular period ends as well.

Ask an operator relying on a transition to explain the provision supporting continued operation, as well as confirming that it has applied. The necessary evidence may include the previous exemption, the relevant provision, a qualifying timely application and confirmation of what conditions continue to apply. The details depend on the scheme, not a universal checklist in this article.

How are pending applications and transitions handled in Scotland?

Scotland uses EASR, the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018. Waste management activities moved into this framework from 1 November 2025. Its authorisation levels and transition arrangements are distinct from England and Wales’s environmental permitting system.

SEPA’s transition guidance explains that existing waste management licences automatically became EASR permits, with the same conditions. It also describes how applications already pending when the framework changed are handled. A pending application and an existing transitioned permission therefore need to be identified separately.

The guidance gives activity-specific application deadlines for former exemptions, including differences between simple exemptions, complex exemptions and particular paragraph categories. Some activities may instead meet General Binding Rules. Do not assume that every Scottish exemption expires or transitions in exactly the same way.

If continued operation is being justified by transitional provisions while an application is assessed, obtain the exact basis and confirm it with SEPA where unclear. Check the former authorisation, activity category, applicable deadline, application status and continuing conditions. The fact that an application was submitted is not enough to infer rights for every activity or an expansion beyond the previous scope.

Our Scottish EASR guide provides the broader explanation. Use SEPA’s current activity pages and application guidance for the actual authorisation needed, rather than relying on an English form or an old Scottish exemption webpage without considering the transition.

Can a regulatory position statement help while an application is pending?

Only if the actual activity and circumstances fit the relevant statement and all its conditions. An Environment Agency regulatory position statement is an enforcement position, not a granted permit or a general legal exemption. It should not be described simply as temporary permission to do anything awaiting approval.

Check the precise statement, its territorial scope, conditions, expiry or review arrangements and any requirements about applying. If the operator relies on a statement covering a different waste, process or location circumstance, it does not answer your question.

Waste regulatory position statements explains the distinction. NRW and SEPA have their own regulatory approaches, so an English RPS should not be assumed to govern a Welsh or Scottish site unless the relevant regulator expressly provides the applicable position.

Record which statement and conditions the operator relies on. A route relying on a time-limited enforcement position deserves a reminder to check the position before future use. This is a practical monitoring recommendation, rather than a claim that every business must adopt the same review interval.

What if a permit transfer, surrender or appeal is pending?

These are different processes from an application for a new activity. A pending transfer does not by itself name the incoming company as the authorised operator. Establish who currently controls the facility, who holds the permission and when any transfer will take effect.

A surrender application similarly needs to be distinguished from a completed surrender. The site may have stopped accepting waste while still carrying out authorised management or closure work. Do not infer commercial availability from the continued existence of a permit, or loss of permission merely from the fact that surrender has been requested.

Appeals can have specific effects depending on the decision and legal framework. An intention to appeal is not the same as an appeal actually brought. Nor does an appeal necessarily suspend a notice. Our suspension, revocation and surrender guide explains why the actual documents matter.

Where more than one process is pending, separate them in the record. A transfer awaiting decision, a proposed variation and an existing restriction can coexist. Resolving one does not automatically resolve the others, so identify which event controls the activity you are considering.

Does a granted permit always mean operations can start immediately?

Read the granted permission before deciding when to start. Its effective date, any pre-operational conditions and other applicable requirements still matter. A permit can establish the overall authority while requiring specified measures before a particular activity begins. Do not confuse receipt of a PDF with completion of those measures.

Mobile plant illustrates the distinction. The Environment Agency’s waste permit guidance explains that it must agree a deployment before operation under a mobile plant permit. The plant permission and agreement for the proposed deployment are different pieces of the arrangement. Mobile waste plant permits and deployments explains that additional checking.

Other permissions can also remain relevant. Environmental permission does not settle every planning question or remove conditions imposed through other applicable processes. Planning permission and waste permits explains why the two should be checked separately rather than treating approval under one system as approval under all systems.

How should an operator prepare a permission-dependent start date?

Create a short list of the actual dependencies: the regulatory decision, its effective date, any conditions to satisfy before starting, practical readiness and other permissions relevant to the proposal. Assign each item to someone who can verify it. This is a recommended planning method, not a prescribed statutory checklist.

Separate preparation from waste acceptance. Some preparatory work may be possible while a permit is being assessed, but that needs to be considered against the laws and permissions applying to that work. Do not assume all construction is prohibited, or that taking waste early is permissible because it is described as commissioning.

Tell customers which services are currently available and which remain conditional. Where a start date is uncertain, explain the alternative route and check it properly. That is more useful than promising an opening date that depends on an application outcome nobody can yet confirm.

What should a customer ask before sending waste to a site awaiting a decision?

Ask the supplier to identify the current authority for the particular waste and operation. Request the relevant reference and operative documents, or the specific exemption or transition basis being relied on. Then compare that information with the proposed destination and date.

If the current permit covers your route, record that conclusion and the separate proposed change without treating the whole business as unapproved. If your route depends on the requested new permission, arrange a properly checked alternative until the relevant authority can be established.

For example, a contractor may offer an existing transfer site while a treatment plant application is pending. Check what will actually happen to your waste at the transfer site and where it will go next. Do not describe the future treatment plant as the present destination merely because it appears in a proposal.

Use finding current permit documents to resolve missing files and supplier approval records to document open questions. In your record, explain which activity is currently covered and which proposal awaits a decision. List the evidence you still need before using the new route, so the next person handling the booking can see what remains to be checked.

Can you operate while a waste permit application is pending?