To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to reduce the (a) length and (b) complexity of the registration application for the integrated pollution prevention and control permit by the Environment Agency. (98761)

The Environmental Permitting Programme, launched by DEFRA in partnership with the Environment Agency and Welsh Assembly Government, seeks to combine the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and waste management licensing systems into a common permitting and compliance system.

The proposed integrated permit, planned for implementation in 2008, is set out in the second of two consultations. This aims to streamline and simplify the mechanics of the permitting and compliance systems for waste and IPPC. The new system, consisting of fewer, simpler rules and clearer guidance, would result in a more unified approach allowing industry, regulators and the public to focus more on environmental outcomes and less on how they are achieved.

More information is available at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/epp.