Legislation – Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025

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Part 3Development and nature recovery

The nature restoration levy

72Commitment to pay the nature restoration levy

(1)

A developer may make a request in writing to Natural England to pay the nature restoration levy in relation to a development to which an EDP applies.

(2)

If a development to which a request relates has already commenced, Natural England must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State in deciding whether to accept the request.

(3)

If Natural England accepts the request, the developer is committed to pay the nature restoration levy (see also section 74(4)).

(4)

Schedule 3 sets out how a commitment by a developer to pay the nature restoration levy in relation to a development results in—

(a)

an environmental impact of development on a protected feature of a protected site being disregarded for the purposes of obligations under the Habitats Regulations 2017, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009;

(b)

a developer being treated as having been granted a licence under regulation 55 of the Habitats Regulations 2017, section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or section 10 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

(5)

An EDP may provide, in relation to a kind of development and kind of environmental impact on an identified environmental feature, that payment of the levy is mandatory, and if it does so—

(a)

in a case where the feature is a protected feature of a European site or a Ramsar site, the developer does not have the option of ensuring that any actions relating to the development comply with Part 6 of the Habitats Regulations instead of paying the levy;

(b)

in a case where the feature is a protected feature of an SSSI, the developer does not have the option of—

(i)

getting Natural England’s consent under section 28E of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for operations mentioned in that section, to the extent that the operations have that kind of environmental impact on the identified environmental feature, or

(ii)

ensuring that any actions relating to the development comply with section 28H or 28I of that Act,

instead of paying the levy;

(c)

in a case where the feature is a protected feature of a marine conservation zone, the developer does not have the option of satisfying the public authority determining an application relating to the development of the matters mentioned in section 126(6) or (7) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 instead of paying the levy;

(d)

in a case where the feature is a protected species, the developer does not have the option of applying for a licence directly under regulation 55 of the Habitats Regulations 2017, section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or section 10 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (as the case may be) instead of paying the levy.

(6)

If an EDP makes provision as mentioned in subsection (5), it must set out the reasons why Natural England considers that to be necessary.