What we don't do
SEPA often receives environmental event notifications for issues which are the statutory responsibility of other organisations. To help you get to the right place quickly select the issue below which provides a quick guide to a number of issues, together with how you can contact the right organisation.
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA):
- Identifying and controlling endemic and exotic diseases and pests in animal, plants, and bees
- Surveillance of new diseases
- Protecting endangered wildlife
- Regulating the safe disposal of animal by-product
- Development consent: Crown Estate Scotland
- Navigational consent: Scottish Government
- Fish health: Fish Health Inspectorate (part of Fisheries Research Service)
- Assuring the safety, quality, and effectiveness of veterinary medicine: Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD licences chemicals for marine use generally. SEPA issues site-specific permits.)
- Planning permissions: Your local authority
- Pollution form vessels: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Issues relating to the handling of fish mortalities: Your local authority
- Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
- Litter, public health, and facilities: Your local authority
- Shipping and offshore installations: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Offshore installations: Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
- Including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Areas of Conservation): Nature Scot
- Identifying and assessing sites: Your local authority (SEPA may provide information and advice on the water environment if requested).
- Arranging for sites to be cleaned up: Your local authority
- Public supplies: Scottish Water
- Checking private supplies: Your local authority
- Quality: Drinking water quality regulator
- Clears and repair watercourses: Your local authority
- Plans, implements, builds, and maintains flood protections measures: Your local authority
- Drainage of public highways and local roads: Your local authority
- Local Flood Risk Management Plans: Your local authority
- May provide property flood protection but have no responsibility to do do: Your local authority
- Overflowing or blocked sewers: Scottish Water
- Reporting: Your local authority
- Cleaning up: Your local authority or the occupier/landowner if private land.
- For more information on SEPAs remit see SEPAs webpage on fly tipping.
- Policy, support, and regulation: Scottish Forestry
- Managing Scotland's national forests and land: Forestry and Land Scotland
- Your local authority (SEPA works with harbour authorities to investigate pollution from onshore sources. SEPA also regulates many of the activities carried out within harbour areas.)
- Your local authority (except for noise from sites, or parts of sites, that have a Part A Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit from SEPA).
Responsibility for worker safety in relation to radioactive substances at premises other than at a nuclear licensed site: Health and Safety Executive
For all of the following contact Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR):
- Any activity involving radioactivity material carried on by the licensee at a nuclear licenced site.
- Transport of radioactive material or waste.
- Responsible for safety at nuclear licensed sites.
COMAH - Control of Major Accident Hazards.
- SEPA, together with the Health and Safety Executive
- Emptying: Scottish Water (some private businesses also offer this service)
- Odour: Your local authority
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Air pollution, sewage and garbage discharge from ships, shipwrecks, pollution from ships at sea.
- Your local authority (except for problems from sites, or parts of sites, regulated by SEPA)
- Your local authority (except for problems from sites, or parts of sites, regulated by SEPA)
- Collection: Your local authority
- Your area waste plan: Your local authority
See separate listings above for:
- Aquaculture
- Beaches and bathing water
- Canals
- Coastal pollution/protection
- Drinking water
- Flooding
- Harbour pollution
- Septic tanks/sewage
- Shipping