CLA Consultation Response on changes to the regulatory framework for abstraction and impounding licensing in England

The EA is consulting on moving abstraction and impoundment licencing into the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR). This change affects anyone in England who holds one of the following licences or may apply for a new one in the future: abstraction licences, groundwater investigation consents, or impoundment licences. Currently, abstraction and impoundment licencing is covered by the Water Resources Act 1991. Reform to the abstraction and impoundment licencing regime has been planned since the Natural Environment White Paper in 2011. The Abstraction Plan published in 2017 proposed that the regime is modernised by combining into the EPR.