Does your mining or quarrying business require a PPC permit?

Your business may require a pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit from your environmental regulator or local council. For example, you will need a permit if your business has a production capacity above a certain level or if you use certain hazardous substances.

If your business is an installation or mobile plant you will need a pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit from your environmental regulator.

An installation is a stationary technical unit, such as a self-contained building, permanent structure or fixed plant, used for listed activities.

A mobile plant is plant that can be moved and is used for listed activities.

Listed activities

These are industrial, waste or intensive farming activities that have an impact on the environment and are listed in the PPC regulations. They are split into categories:

  • Part A, B and C in Northern Ireland
  • Part A and B in Scotland

Listed activities that might be carried out by mining or quarrying businesses include:

Permit Categories

Listed activity

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Refining mineral oils

Part A

Part A

Heat treating coal (apart from drying), lignite or other carbon-rich material such as charcoal, coke, peat, rubber and wood

Part A

Part A

Producing, melting or refining metal ores from extracted materials, eg roasting or sintering metal ore

Part A

Part A

Producing and grinding cement clinker

Part A

Part A

Producing lime:
in kilns or furnaces with a capacity of more than 50 tonnes per day, or
if you are likely to heat 5,000 or more tonnes of calcium carbonate or calcium magnesium carbonate or both in a year

Part A

Part A

Melting mineral substances in plant with a melting capacity of more than 20 tonnes per day

Part A

Part A

Manufacturing roofing tiles, bricks, stoneware or porcelain in kilns, where the kiln capacity is more than:
• 75 tonnes per day, or
• 4m3 and the settling density is more than 300kg/m3

Part A

Part A

Storing, loading or unloading cement or cement clinker in bulk before it is transported in bulk

Part C

Part B

Blending or using cement in bulk other than at a construction site, including bagging cement, batching ready-mixed concrete and manufacturing concrete blocks and other cement products

Part C

Part B

Producing lime where you are not likely to heat 5,000 or more tonnes of calcium carbonate or calcium magnesium carbonate or both in a year

Part B

Part B

The crushing, grinding or other size reduction, with machinery designed for that purpose, of bricks, tiles or concrete

Part C

Part B

Screening the product of crushing, grinding or other size reduction, with machinery designed for that purpose, of bricks, tiles or concrete

Part C

Part B

Coating road stone with tar or bitumen

Part B

Part B

Crushing, grinding or otherwise breaking up and screening, grading or mixing of coal. Loading or unloading (except unloading on a retail site) of coal or any other coal product

Part C

Part B

Crushing, grinding or other size reduction or the grading, screening or heating of any designated mineral product

Part B

Part B

What you must do

If your installation or mobile plant carries out listed activities you will need a permit from your environmental regulator.

Permits and regulators for listed activities

Activity category

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Part A

PPC permit regulated by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

PPC permit regulated by SEPA

Part B

PPC permit regulated the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

PPC permit regulated by SEPA

Part C

PPC permit regulated by local council

N/A

Contact your environmental regulator

You should contact your environmental regulator or local council for further information about listed activities. NetRegs does not provide detailed guidance on Part A activities.

If you are unsure whether you are affected by PPC, contact your environmental regulator or local council.

Contact your environmental regulator

Contact your local council

How to apply for a permit

NIEA: Apply online

SEPA: Application forms

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