The Environment Agency has published its Chief Regulator's report for 2024-25, summarising regulatory performance across water, agricultural and waste sectors in England. Chief Regulator Dr Jo Nettleton has outlined a vision for environmental regulation by 2030, calling for a data-driven, transparent and adaptable system supported by clearer standards. The report details significant enforcement expansion, including funding for 500 new roles focused on water industry regulation and a tripling of inspections at wastewater treatment works to over 4,650 during 2024-25. The Agency conducted 4,767 targeted inspections at non-permitted farms, up from 4,675 in 2023, and aims to deliver 10,000 inspections by March 2026. In August, a consultation was launched on plans for a modernised environmental permitting regime, which could introduce a new registration approach for low-risk installations to help industries embrace future technologies more quickly. The report indicates serious incidents have risen to the highest number since 2013, with the Agency using digital intelligence and enhanced enforcement to hold businesses to account while supporting sustainable growth.

The Environment Agency has published guidance for projects funded through the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) investment programme, covering benefit area development, the properties benefitting metric and environmental improvement metrics. The benefit area guidance requires certain project types—including defence, asset refurbishment, asset replacement, study, strategy and habitat compensation and restoration—to maintain a benefit area shapefile. A benefit area must represent the area that could plausibly benefit from the intervention and must not include areas not at flood or coastal erosion risk. Guidance is tailored to different project types, including sustainable drainage systems, natural flood management and property flood resilience. The properties benefitting metric comprises six output measures: OM:2.1 to OM:2.4 for flood risk and OM:3.1 to OM:3.2 for coastal erosion. Only existing residential and non-residential buildings qualify, and each property must be counted only once. Environmental metrics cover OM:4A (number of hectares of qualifying habitat created or enhanced) and OM:4B (kilometres of rivers enhanced). The Agency has also updated its existing guidance on defining FCERM benefit areas, adding new sections 2.7, 2.8 and 2.9 on strategies and studies, habitat creation and restoration and recording properties benefitting.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published its National Waste Crime Survey 2025, revealing only 27% of waste crimes are reported. The survey found 57% of landowners and farmers have been affected by waste crime, with organised crime groups estimated to be responsible for 35% of incidents. Under the government's Plan for Change, new legislation will introduce prison sentences of up to five years for illegal waste operators. The survey estimates 20% of all waste produced is illegally managed at some point in the supply chain, with 52% of affected waste industry respondents reporting losses exceeding £50,000 from illegal waste sites.

The Environment Agency has published finalised guidance outlining appropriate measures for permitted facilities that store or treat separate collections of waste batteries, following the conclusion of its consultation. The guidance establishes standards for the design and operation of facilities regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations and incorporates relevant requirements from the waste treatment  Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions under the European Industrial Emission Directive (2010/75/EU). The finalised guidance addresses general management measures, waste pre-acceptance and tracking, storage and handling procedures, treatment processes, emissions control and monitoring, as well as process efficiency requirements for regulated facilities with environmental permits for waste battery treatment or transfer.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published guidance outlining a national natural flood management (NFM) benefits method and calculator for standalone projects in England. This guidance explains when and how to use the method and calculator to assess projects that aim to reduce the risk of surface water and river flooding. Developed to accelerate project delivery, the benefits method and calculator enable quicker evaluation and progression of NFM projects. The EA’s guidance provides essential details for effective implementation, ensuring that projects can promptly move into the delivery phase.

The Environment Agency has published guidance on its voluntary remediation advice service for contaminated land and groundwater where contamination has affected controlled waters in England. The service provides site-specific regulatory advice where land contamination affects controlled waters and is available only for sites that are not subject to a planning application or discharge of condition consultation, are not regulated under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154 and are not subject to a Part 2A determination, an environmental damage regulations remediation notice or an anti-pollution works notice. The guidance also sets out the advice that can be provided, including regulatory and technical review of work undertaken by competent environmental consultants to assess whether there is an acceptable or unacceptable risk of pollution to the water environment, as well as the advice that cannot be provided, the applicable fees and the process for requesting advice.

The Environment Agency has published forms and guidance for farmers on how to apply for a screening study to assess and rank water resource options for farming. The screening study aims to aid in improving water resource resilience for groups of farmers using potential water resources and will screen them based on hydrology, costs, yield and sustainability for the required water use. The screening study will however not be used to provide legal contracts between group members to establish a water-sharing business or remove requirements for any applications for abstraction licenses or planning permits in order to create and carry out the local water resources options. Applications for screening will close on 16 June 2024.

The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales have published detailed guidance for water companies on mandatory Pollution Incident Reduction Plans (PIRPs) under the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025. The plans, previously voluntary, are now legally required and must be made public, with the first batch due in April 2026. Failure to publish compliant plans constitutes a criminal offence for both companies and their chief executives. The guidance specifies that plans must identify root causes of pollution incidents and set out specific actions including improved monitoring, clearing blockages and customer awareness campaigns. From 2027, companies must also produce annual Implementation Reports demonstrating progress in reducing pollution incidents. The guidance accompanies new transparency requirements following Environment Agency ratings showing the lowest water company environmental performance since 2011, with 2,801 reported pollution incidents in England during 2024, including 75 classified as serious.

The Environment Agency has updated its Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM) guidance, which will now extend its application to Scotland from 12 June 2025. Supported by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and Natural Resources Wales, the revised guidance mandates that users in Northern Ireland follow the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs' practice guide, while users in Scotland refer to SEPA's contaminated land guidance.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published its modern slavery report covering the period from September 2022–March 2025, prepared in accordance with section 54(5) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015). The report highlights the EA's partnership with the Slave-Free Alliance which marks the first collaboration between a public sector organisation and the social enterprise. Notable developments include the implementation of enhanced procurement requirements following Procurement Policy Note PPN 02/23, aimed at tackling modern slavery in government supply chains.

The Environment Agency has published guidance on nature-based solutions (NbS) for water resources in England. The handbook addresses the planning, design, construction, monitoring and maintenance of NbS projects, covering the selection of appropriate NbS measures by location, appraisal of design options and the role of the principal contractor in construction. It also addresses the use of monitoring data to determine whether maintenance or adaptive management is required.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published comprehensive guidance outlining the framework for waste exemptions in England. The guidance details the conditions under which waste management activities can be exempt from environmental permit requirements, including information on exemption selection criteria, registration procedures, and associated charges. The framework is supported by a new waste exemption service for registration and payment processing and notably, charities and entities registering T28 exemptions are exempt from charges and must register through direct contact with the EA.