Environmental Delivery Plans and the Nature Restoration Fund

 

An Environmental Delivery Plan, usually shortened to EDP, is a new statutory way of dealing with some environmental effects of development at a strategic scale rather than one planning application at a time. Different EDPs can cover different environmental impacts, development types and areas.

They sit at the heart of the Nature Restoration Fund created by Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Where an EDP has actually been made and applies to a development, a developer may be able to meet specified environmental obligations by committing to pay the nature restoration levy instead of providing the relevant project-specific mitigation itself.

There is an important timing point here. The statutory framework exists, but that does not mean every proposed EDP is already operational. Natural England prepares a draft, consultation takes place, and the Secretary of State must approve and make the EDP before it takes effect. Until then the existing environmental rules continue to apply in the normal way.

 

What is an Environmental Delivery Plan?

 

An EDP is a statutory plan prepared by Natural England, or another delivery body if regulations provide for one, for specified environmental effects of specified development within a defined area.

Under section 59 of the 2025 Act, an EDP sets out the environmental features it is dealing with, the conservation measures to be delivered, the nature restoration levy needed to fund those measures and the environmental obligations that are modified where the levy route is used.

The environmental feature can be a protected feature of a protected site, including a European site, SSSI or Ramsar site, or a protected species. That makes EDPs directly relevant to subjects Planning Geek already covers such as Habitats Regulations Assessment, nutrient neutrality and protected species.

 

How does the Nature Restoration Fund work?

 

The Nature Restoration Fund is not a general planning charge like CIL. It is the mechanism through which developer levy payments fund the conservation measures contained in an EDP.

Each EDP will contain one or more charging schedules. The amount can vary with the type and scale of development and with the environmental impact being addressed. Once a developer has committed to use an applicable EDP, the relevant obligations are altered in the way set out by the Act and the EDP.

The Government describes the aim as moving from fragmented development-by-development mitigation to strategic conservation at a scale capable of producing a better result for nature. The legislation builds that ambition into an overall improvement test: the conservation measures must materially outweigh the negative effects of the development covered by the EDP on the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature.

 

An EDP is not automatic just because the Act is in force

 

This is the point most likely to cause confusion during rollout.

1. Natural England prepares a draft EDP for a defined environmental impact, area and amount or type of development
2. the draft must contain the evidence, conservation measures, maps and proposed charging schedule
3. the Act sets a 28-day statutory consultation period, with scope for a longer period in specified circumstances; the Government’s implementation plan says the first EDP consultations will run for a minimum of 28 working days
4. Natural England considers the responses and sends the final draft to the Secretary of State
5. the Secretary of State may only make the EDP if satisfied that the statutory tests are met
6. only once the EDP has been made does it come into effect

So a developer cannot simply point to the existence of the Nature Restoration Fund and assume an existing HRA, species licensing or other environmental requirement has disappeared.

 

Will using an EDP be compulsory?

 

Usually not. The Government’s implementation plan says the overwhelming majority of EDPs are expected to be voluntary. A developer may choose to use the EDP or continue through the ordinary regulatory route where that remains available.

The 2025 Act does allow an EDP to make use of the levy mandatory in exceptional circumstances, but Natural England has to justify why that is necessary and the Secretary of State must approve the plan.

This distinction matters for land valuation and planning strategy. The existence of an EDP in a catchment does not necessarily mean every scheme must use it, nor does it mean every environmental issue on the site is covered by it.

 

What will the first EDPs cover?

 

The Government’s implementation plan says the first EDPs are being prepared around nutrient pollution. Natural England identified a series of catchments where nutrient neutrality has delayed development and where a strategic solution may be suitable.

The list includes areas such as the Solent, Stodmarsh, Somerset Levels and Moors, the Broads and a number of river catchments. Existing Natural England nutrient mitigation schemes are expected to transition to the relevant EDP when it becomes available, while third-party and bespoke mitigation may continue where the rules allow.

Natural England’s 2026 to 2027 Action Plan, published on 11 August 2026, confirms that implementing EDPs and preparing for Nature Restoration Fund rollout are active priorities.

 

What does the 2026 NPPF change?

 

The August 2026 NPPF now recognises the EDP route within national policy for internationally and nationally important nature sites. In practical terms, where a made EDP addresses the relevant protected feature and the developer has committed to the levy, national policy can recognise that strategic route rather than requiring the same impact to be resolved again through a parallel project-by-project solution.

The key words remain made EDP and relevant impact. An EDP is not a general environmental passport. Matters outside its scope still have to be addressed through the ordinary planning and environmental regimes.

 

Does an EDP replace Biodiversity Net Gain?

 

No. Biodiversity Net Gain is a separate statutory regime. An EDP may interact with wider nature recovery work and Local Nature Recovery Strategies, but it should not be treated as a blanket substitute for every ecological requirement applying to a development.

Likewise, if an EDP covers nutrient effects on a European site, it does not automatically resolve an unrelated impact on ancient woodland, a separate protected species or on-site BNG delivery.

 

How does a developer actually use the nature restoration levy?

 

Government guidance published on 1 September 2026 turns the Nature Restoration Fund into a practical application-stage process. A developer first obtains a levy quote, but the quote does not reserve capacity in the EDP.

1. Get a quote. The quote uses the development details and the EDP charging schedule, but does not reserve capacity.
2. Request to use the levy before applying. Natural England checks eligibility and the remaining EDP capacity.
3. Receive a commitment certificate. If the request is accepted, Natural England allocates EDP capacity to the development. The certificate should be submitted with the planning application.
4. Use the commitment within six months. If the certificate is not used for a planning application in that period, the commitment expires and the capacity is released.
5. Assume liability after permission. The person intending to pay the levy normally assumes liability and Natural England issues a liability notice.
6. Pay before commencement. The statutory pre-commencement condition requires the levy, or the first instalment where instalments apply, to be paid before development begins.

For an environmental impact covered by the EDP and a valid commitment, the planning authority does not need to deal with that covered impact through the usual project-level process, such as an appropriate assessment. This is deliberately narrow: environmental effects outside the EDP remain subject to the normal planning and environmental regimes.

See the Government’s Nature Restoration Fund guidance and guidance on using the nature restoration levy.

 

What should a developer check?

 

• whether an EDP covering the site and the relevant environmental effect has actually been made
• the development area, type and maximum development capacity covered by it
• whether use of that EDP is voluntary or mandatory
• the charging schedule and payment timetable
• any planning conditions specified by the EDP
• which environmental obligations are modified and which remain outside its scope
• whether separate matters such as BNG, flood risk, landscape, trees or other species still need their own evidence and mitigation

Our Nature Restoration Fund guidance update explains why the commitment and capacity point matters in practice.

For schemes in nutrient-affected areas, the practical starting point remains our nutrient neutrality guide, followed by checking whether a made EDP has superseded or supplemented the local mitigation route.

 

Key sources

 

• Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, Part 3
• Understanding the Nature Restoration Fund
• Using the nature restoration levy
• Environmental Delivery Plans collection
• Nature Restoration Fund implementation plan
• Natural England Action Plan 2026 to 2027
• National Planning Policy Framework

Conservation, Heritage & Protected Sites

 

Environmental Delivery Plans Page Added: 28th August 2026 | Updated: 3rd September 2026