The purpose of this paper is to highlight the considerations applied to the development of the wastewater treatment sections of the enquiry specification for the limestone gypsum flue gas desulphurisation plant being installed at Drax power station in South Yorkshire. Effluents from both prescrubber and absorber only systems are considered. Interaction with the licensing authorities is discussed and comparisons are drawn between consent legislation in Europe to illustrate the stringent and wide scope of the consent granted for Drax.