Changes to the regulatory framework for abstraction and impounding licensing in England: Moving into the Environmental Permitting Regulations regime

We are moving the regulation of abstraction and impounding licensing into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 [1] in 2023. This consultation covers all abstraction and impounding licences regulated by the Environment Agency. The Government’s 2017 Water Abstraction Plan [2] sets out how the Government will reform water abstraction management over the coming years and how this will protect the environment and improve access to water. The abstraction plan contributes to delivery of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan [3] long-term goal of ‘clean and plentiful water’. There are three main elements to the abstraction plan – addressing unsustainable abstraction; building a stronger catchment focus; and modernising the abstraction service to support reform. The Abstraction Plan sets out how we will use existing legislation to deliver some of the principles of abstraction reform