Southwest Environmental Limited

What is OPRA?

OPRA = Operational Risk Appraisal Scheme.

OPRA is the Environments Agency's system for deciding which operations carry the highest risks. It also determine the fees you pay if you operate under or intend to operate under a bespoke permit.

Higher Risk Activities will be more of of priority for the Environment Agency, they will allocate more resources to Permitted Activities with High Operational Risk to ensure that they are run correctly. If you are applying for a bespoke permit the you OPRA score will also determine your application fee. The higher your OPRA score, the more you will pay.

Will OPRA apply to my Operation?

There are three tires with regards to operations:

Tier-1 – Generally applies to exemptions. OPRA is generally not a requirement for these operations.

Tier-2 – Generally applies to Standard Environmental Permits. OPRA is used to gauge operational risk, but not the application fee as standard permits have a fixed application fee. Activities with low operational risk will have less environment agency time allocated to observing their activities.

Tier-3 - Generally applies to Bespoke Environmental Permits. OPRA is used to gauge operational risk, and the application fee as bespoke permits have a variable application fee. Activities with low operational risk will have less environment agency time allocated to observing their activities. A good OPRA scoring is also important for the procurement of contracts.

Which parts of OPRA are relevant to your operation?

Annex A Opra scheme for installations *

Annex B Opra scheme for waste facilities

Annex C Opra scheme for mining waste operations

Annex D Opra for permits with fixed charges

*For installations you will likely be required to carry out a H1 risk assessment, before you can complete OPRA.

Read More (EA Guidance on OPRA)