Annual environmental report guide for EPA licensees in Ireland
Ireland's annual environmental report covers a site's yearly performance. Learn the EPA deadline, EDEN submission steps and how AER differs from EPR.
An annual environmental report (AER) summarises an EPA-licensed facility's environmental performance over the previous calendar year. Ireland's industrial emissions (IE), IPC and waste licensees must submit it through EDEN by 31 March the following year. Use the EPA's AER template and guidance.
Urban wastewater discharge licence holders have a separate AER deadline: 28 February. Intensive agriculture and dumping-at-sea activities also have specific guidance. Check the guidance for your licence type before using the industrial and waste filing steps below.
Who needs an annual environmental report?
The EPA describes AERs as public summaries of environmental performance and developments at licensed sites. Its explanation covers most EPA-licensed activities, including industry, waste, wastewater and dumping at sea. The obligation should not be read as a reporting duty for every Irish company. Start with your licence and the relevant EPA reporting guidance.
For IE, IPC and waste licensees, annual performance reporting has two components: the AER and the Environmental Performance Report (EPR). The EPA's standing deadline is 31 March of the year after the reporting year. Applying that rule, a report covering the 2026 calendar year is due by 31 March 2027.
A facility AER covers one licensed site's performance. It is not the EPA's national state-of-environment report.
What goes in the report?
Use the official template as the starting point. The EPA's AER content guidance identifies the following areas to prepare:
- Describe the facility's activities, environmental objectives and targets achieved. Include improvement and compliance goals.
- Gather information on power, water and resource efficiency.
- Summarise complaints and incidents during the reporting year.
- Prepare monitoring summaries for air, water, sewer, noise, odour and dust, as applicable to the site.
- Record waste transferred off-site for recovery or disposal. Waste management sites also report waste accepted and treated.
- Confirm financial provision for unexpected incidents and, where applicable, closure, decommissioning and remediation.
Treat this as a preparation checklist, not a substitute for the template or your licence. Financial provision requirements do not mean every site needs the same amount or arrangement.
There is a separate licence check to make. The EPA notes that licences can require reports such as bund integrity, hydrogeological, toxicity, closure or firewater retention reports. Its guidance explains their submission as Licensee Returns. Do not assume each is a universal annual AER attachment.
How to submit through EDEN
EDEN is the EPA gateway for licensing, monitoring and reporting applications. For an industrial or waste AER, follow the EPA's submission sequence:
- Download the AER template and associated guidance from the EPA's AER page.
- Prepare the report using that guidance and your licence requirements.
- Submit it through EDEN as a Licensee Return.
- Select Document Type "Annual Environmental Report" and Document Subtype "AER".
- Await confirmation of upload.
An AER upload does not complete the separate EPR submission. Both use EDEN, but the filing routes differ. Track each submission separately in your reporting plan.
How AER differs from EPR and PRTR
The AER is the site's environmental performance summary. The EPR is a structured online return covering PRTR, large combustion plant reporting and annual waste management statistics, as explained in the EPA's EPR guidance.
| Reporting item | Purpose and route |
|---|---|
| AER | Environmental performance summary, uploaded as an EDEN Licensee Return. |
| EPR | Structured data return completed in the EDEN EPR application. |
| PRTR | Pollutant release and transfer reporting, completed within EPR. |
The EPA says the EPR webform opens on 1 January for the previous calendar year. Completed submissions are due by 31 March. Use the relevant tabs in the EPR module and its Submission tab, rather than treating the AER document upload as the data submission.
PRTR does not cover every EPA licensee. Its scope depends on covered activities and applicable capacity, pollutant and waste reporting thresholds. Those thresholds are not permitted emission limits. A facility's appearance in PRTR is not, by itself, evidence of a breach. Check the EPA's PRTR scope guidance when assessing reporting coverage.
The EU framework is changing, but the old PRTR regulation remains applicable to reporting for 2026. Regulation (EU) 2024/1244 applies from 1 January 2028. Continue to follow the EPA's filing guidance for the Irish submission route and deadline.
Where to find an existing AER
For a public copy, the EPA directs readers to the site's Licence Details Page and "View Enforcement Documents". Its annual reporting overview provides that access route. This is useful when you need a particular facility's report rather than national EPA data.
RegAffairs AI's answer about what goes in an Irish AER offers another explanation of the reporting contents.
For the underlying public records, use LEAP. It provides access to application documents and compliance correspondence, including licensee returns, inspection reports, incidents and compliance investigations.