The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165 have been published and will take full effect on 1 November 2025.
These Regulations are significant; they are designed to completely restructure the environmental licensing, permitting and registration regimes in Scotland. Over the years, the way in which Scotland controls environmentally damaging activities has become increasingly fragmented, spread across multiple pieces of legislation and managed in different ways.
The Regulations are complex and contain several amendments. For instance, the Regulations themselves are 292 pages long, revoke 34 documents and amend 74 other documents with the bulk of the amendments being focused on the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. As a result, we've put together this guide to explain what the Regulations do.
Background
When the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 were published, they set out common procedures for an authorisation framework. Until now, they only covered the authorisation, procedural and enforcement arrangements for radioactive substances activities. However, it was always the intention of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to consolidate Scotland's complex environmental authorisation arrangements into a single structure under a single standardised procedure.
That is exactly what the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165 aim to do.
They extend the scope of the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 so that they cover and control water activities, waste activities, radioactive substances activities, industrial and other emissions activities and pollution prevention and control.
What this means for legislation
As the environmental authorisations controls will be under a single document, the legislation containing the existing licensing, permitting or registration regimes for water, waste, industrial and other emissions will be revoked on 1 November 2025 and replaced by the extensively amended Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. The legislation to be revoked and replaced in Scotland includes the:
Is anything else changing?
Yes. In consolidating the existing regimes into one document, the Scottish Government decided to expand the scope for environmental authorisations. This means that some activities will now be covered by the new authorisations regime. These activities include:
The new requirements will apply to the above activities from the dates listed below:
|
Activity |
Specified date |
|
Application of sewage sludge to land |
1 June 2025 |
|
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage |
1 April 2027 |
|
Non-waste anaerobic digestion |
1 April 2028 |
|
Electricity generators (with an aggregated rated thermal input of 1 MW or more at a single site) |
1 January 2029 |
What does this mean if I currently have a license, permit or registration affected by the changes?
As with any complex legislative change, transitional provisions have been created that aim to create a smooth transition from the old control regimes to the new one under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219.
Those transitional provisions are contained in the Full Text of Schedule 23 to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165. The provisions are very detailed and should be checked carefully by those with existing licences, permits or registrations that will be impacted by these changes. The table below summarises what the transitional provision say about existing licences, permits or registrations, although more detail on these is in the Schedule itself. Further information is also contained in that Schedule regarding existing applications.
| Existing licence, permit or registration | Transitional Provision |
| Existing water use licences |
These licences continue to have effect on or after 1 November 2025 as if they were permits under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. Existing conditions continue to apply and the responsible person in relation to the water use licence will be treated as the authorised person for the permit. |
| Existing water registrations |
These registrations which authorise a regulated activity in relation to which there are applicable standard conditions, continue to have effect on on or after 1 March 2026, after which they will be treated as registrations under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. If the registration authorises a regulated activity with no applicable standard conditions, it will become a permit on 1 March 2026. Different transitional provisions apply to existing water registrations for private sewage activities |
| Existing water registrations: CAR closed culvert registration activity |
An existing water registration which authorised a CAR closed culvert registration activity has effect from 1 March 2026 as if it were a registration under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. The registration will be subject to the standard conditions applicable to a crossing registration under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. |
| Existing direct discharge registration |
An existing water registration which authorises the direct discharge of substances or heat, which may give rise to harm to the water environment into groundwater as a result of construction or maintenance works in or on the ground which come into contact with groundwater, where the activity consists only of the direct discharge into groundwater of grout used to facilitate ground stabilisation, ceases to have effect on 1 November 2025 to the extent that it authorises that activity and any conditions that only apply to that activity do not apply. |
|
Existing Part A PPC permits Existing Part B PPC permits |
Existing Part A and B PPC permits authorising a regulated activity have effect from 1 November 2025 as if they were permits under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. Existing conditions continue to apply and the operator of the activity is to be treated as the authorised person. However, some Part B activities will be considered to be registrations. |
| Existing solvents permits |
Exiting solvent permits which authorise a regulated activity has effect from 1 November 2025 as if they were permits under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. Existing conditions continue to apply and the operator of the activity is to be treated as the authorised person. However, some solvent activities will be considered to be registrations. |
| Existing Part B PPC permits and existing solvent permits: new registration activities |
An existing Part B PPC permit or existing solvents permit which authorises some activities in the following areas has effect on or after 1 March 2026 as if it were a registration:
|
| Existing PPC permit: selected activities |
An existing PPC permit which authorises a Part B activity involving:
under the "other mineral activities" listed under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations SSI 2012/360 ceases to have effect on 1 November 2025 if, and to the extent that, the activity is an activity included in activity 1 of the table in Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the Full Text of Schedule 9 of the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 and any conditions that only apply to that activity do not apply. |
| Existing waste management licence |
Existing waste management licences authorising a regulated activity have effect from 1 November 2025 as if they were permits under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. Existing conditions continue to apply and the licence-holder is to be treated as the authorised person. |
| Existing waste exemptions and existing complex waste exemptions |
Existing waste exemptions continue in effect until 1 November 2026. Existing complex waste exemptions continue in effect until the earlier of:
Some of the above exemptions will cease to have effect on 1 November 2025. For more information, see the Full Text of Schedule 23 to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165. |
| Existing waste carrier registrations |
Existing waste carrier registrations in effect immediately before 1 November 2025 continue to have effect after that date as if they were registrations under the the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. As a result, the:
|
| Existing PCTW registrations |
These registrations will continue to have effect from 1 November 2025 as if it was an authorisation under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 and until the PCTW expiry date. |
| Existing broker and dealer registrations |
Existing broker or dealer registrations have effect from 1 November 2025 as if they were registrations under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219. As a result, the:
|
| New waste carriers, brokers and dealers |
New applications for authorisation in relation to the collection and transportation of waste or acting as a broker or dealer can only be made under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 from 1 April 2026. Between 1 November 2025 and 31 March 2026, new applications for the above must follow the procedure in paragraph 23 of the Full Text of Schedule 23 to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165. |
| Existing waste carriers, brokers and dealers whose deemed registration expires between 1 November 2025 and 1 April 2026 |
If:
then the procedure in paragraph 24 of the Full Text of Schedule 23 to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI 2025/165 must be followed. |
| Applications for permits and registrations for waste to land activities |
Anyone who will be carrying out an activity covered by the Full Text of Schedule 18 to the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 on or after 1 November 2025 can apply for a permit or registration from 1 June 2025. |
What happens next?
Some of these amendments came into force on 1 June. Those amendments saw the integration of:
into the Full Text of Schedules 11 and 18 of the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 respectively. That means any activity described in those schedules is now covered by the new authorisations regime.
The rest of the amendments will come into force on 1 November 2025. At which point, the transitional provisions described above will apply and any new activities regulated by the new regime will have to be authorised under that regime.
The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations SI 2018/219 will be fully consolidated by us, so you won't have to try and untangle the complex and numerous changes that are being brought into force. You'll have all the information you need under one document.
