Environment Law Update: Air pollution and integrated pollution control 1

United Kingdom

Climate change

The DETR has published its response to the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee's Report, "UK Climate Change Programme". The Government is satisfied that the Committee has recognised the steps it has taken in the fight against climate change. Some of the Committee's individual recommendations are dealt with point by point in the Government's response. Points include: the Government agrees with the Committee's recommendation that the use of the "Precautionary Principle" does not lead to policies that have an excessive cost to the economy and to industry; the Government is keen to maintain UK competitiveness; the Committee recommended that the Government continue pressing for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to which the Government agrees. Overall, the Government welcomed the Select Committee's report as a constructive contribution to the development of a UK climate change programme. Further to the draft programme published in March 2000, a final programme should be published towards the end of 2000.
(DETR, 8 August 2000).

Emissions trading

The Government has announced it will be funding £30 million towards an emissions trading scheme to be run by the Emissions Trading Group. The announcement coincided with the latest quarterly meeting of the Group which now numbers over 100 companies and trade associations. Participating companies take on binding limits for their emissions of greenhouse gases and are allocated emission permits to correspond to these targets. Companies must then ensure that their actual emission levels fall within the targets on the permits that they hold. Companies may buy or sell permits to allow them to cover the actual level of emissions. The UK scheme is led by the Confederation of British Industry and is looking to attract as many members as possible. This contrasts with schemes already set-up in Norway and Denmark where the focus has been on a limited number of companies. Trading is hoped to commence in 2001 with targets adopted from 2002 onwards. The Government has also allocated £140 million for business investment in low carbon technologies. Some of the funding will be used to set up a Carbon Trust which will amalgamate a number of incentives including tax incentives for low carbon investments, a business energy auditing and advice service and a research and development programme to promote and demonstrate new low carbon technologies.
(The Financial Times, 25 July 2000)

VOCs

The DETR has published a consultation paper for England and Wales on the implementation of EC Directive 99/13/EC on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Directive aims to reduce emissions of organic solvents which are currently used in paints, inks, adhesives and cleaning materials. Through their volatility, these substances contribute to the formation of photo-chemical oxidants including ground-level ozone which is a Greenhouse gas. The DETR is considering two legislative options for implementing the Directive, either implementing a National Plan or controlling emissions through the Pollution Prevention and Control regime. This second option would not need primary or secondary legislation, enforcing authorities would simply need to ensure that the conditions attached to PPC permits were at least as stringent as the requirements of the Directive.
(DETR, July 2000)

PPC

The Pollution Prevention and Control regime finally entered into force in England and Wales on 1 August 2000 and will progressively replace the existing Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime and Local Authority Air Pollution (LAPC) regime. The Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations (SI 2000 No. 1973) have come a year after the Pollution Prevention and Control Act received Royal Assent implementing the EC Directive on integrated pollution prevention and control (96/61/EC). Existing installations will be phased into the new regime on a sector role basis from now until 2007. New installations must apply for a permit under the new regime before they begin operation. The Regulations define installations as: "Part A(1)", which will have emissions to air, land and water regulated by the Environment Agency; "Part A(2)", which will have emissions to air, land and water regulated by local authorities and "Part B" installations which will have their emissions to air only regulated by local authorities.
(SO, July 2000)

To accompany the new regime, the DETR has published "Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control - A Practical Guide". The Guide is targeted at those covered under the new regime and outlines the legal framework, an overview of the regulatory process, gives guidance for obtaining and applying for permits, explains the principles behind the "best available techniques", outlines environmental quality standards and many other issues. Specific statutory guidance to regulators will be issued by the Government at a later date.
(DETR, August 2000)

PPC – Scotland

The PPC regime finally entered into force in Scotland on 28 September 2000. The regime mirrors that introduced in England and Wales on 1 August and implements the EC Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC). New installations will need to register immediately for a PPC permit to operate. Existing installations are under a transitional period to 2007 where they are already regulated under the Integrated Pollution Control Regime. The regulatory authority for all installations covered by the new regime is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). To accompany the new regime, SEPA and the Scottish Executive have produced in draft for consultation a "Practical Guide". Comments on the Guide are invited until 10 November 2000.
(The Scottish Executive, September 2000)

Air quality – Wales

The Air Quality (Wales) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No 1940(W138)) came into force on 1 August 2000 following equivalent Regulations that were introduced in England and Scotland earlier this year. Under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995, local authorities are required to review the quality of air within their areas and assess the likely future air quality during the "relevant period". These Regulations prescribe the "relevant period" and set out the air quality objectives to be achieved by the end of that period. Where any of the prescribed objectives are not likely to be met within any part of a local authority's area within the relevant period, the authority concerned will have to designate that part as an "Air Quality Management Area". The Regulations cover benzene, 1, 3-butadiene, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulates and sulphur dioxide.
(SO, July 2000)

European Union

Large combustion plants

The amended proposal for a Directive amending Directive 88/609/EEC on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants has been published in the Official Journal. Emission limit values for NOx, SO2 and dust from new combustion plants with a capacity of greater than 50MW are covered by the proposals. It also looks likely that older plants, i.e. pre-1987, will also be covered by the scope of the legislation when it finally comes into force.
(OJ C 212, 25 July 2000)

Vehicle emissions

An EC Decision (1753/2000/EC) establishing a scheme to monitor the average specific emissions of carbon dioxide from new passenger cars has been published in the Official Journal. The Decision sets out, with a number of Annexes, information and calculations that Member States shall determine each calendar year with regards to new vehicle emissions. The first submission of information must be completed by 1 July 2001, subsequent submissions must be completed by 1 April for the monitoring data collected in the preceding calendar year. Member States shall designate a competent authority for the collection and communication of the monitoring information no later than 6 months after entry into force of the Decision. The Decision was made with a view to contributing towards the achievement of the targets committed to by the EC under the Kyoto Protocol.
(OJ, L202, 10 August 2000)

Air quality

Further to the amended proposal for a Directive on limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air agreed upon earlier this year, the Council has published its Common Position (EC No 29/2000) on the proposals, the European Parliament has put forward amendments to the Common Position and the Commission has published its Opinion on the Parliament's amendments. The Common Position attempted to add a series of provisions to strengthen, clarify or streamline the Directive to bring it more into line with Directive 99/30/EC, relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and nitrogen dioxide, particulate matters and lead in ambient air, the first daughter Directive of the Framework Directive on ambient air quality assessment and management (96/62/EC). Parliament only included one amendment which the Commission has accepted. This is to take air pollution in enclosed spaces as well as outside air into account in the review due in 2004. The Directive should now be adopted before the end of the year.
(OJ, C 195, 11 July 2000, COM(2000) 525, _4 August 2000)

Ozone depletion

A new Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer was adopted at the end of June and came into force on 1 October 2000. The new Regulation replaces the existing Regulation 3093/94 and applies to a range of substances with widespread applications including CFCs, halons and HCFCs. The new Regulation also introduces a faster phase-out schedule for the pesticide methylbromide. The provisions of the Regulation are more stringent than that agreed under the Montreal Protocol, with the phase-out of the production and consumption of HCFCs brought forward and the use of these materials prohibited within 4 years except for maintenance of existing equipment. The new Regulation is yet to be published in the Official Journal.
(European Commission, July 2000)

A proposal for a Regulation amending the Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (yet to enter into force) as regards metered dose inhalers and medical drug pumps has been published. Although the Regulation is in the final stages of adoption, it has emerged that there are inconsistencies in the text which have necessitated an amending Regulation. The first refers to the export of metered dose inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons to developing countries and the second to the export of medical drug pumps containing CFCs. Where such products are still needed in these countries for health reasons, they may still be exported. It was never the intention of the Commission or Council and Parliament to ban the export of these products. Similarly, a proposal for a Regulation amending the Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer as regards the base year for the allocation of hydrochlorofluorocarbons has emerged as necessary because the date currently contained in the Regulation for determining the allocation of quotas of HCFCs is inappropriate and could result in the Community being open to legal challenge.
(COM (2000 426 & 427) 6 July 2000)

IPPC

An EC Decision at the end of July has led to the creation of a European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER), fulfilling a requirement of the EC Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC). Member States will be required to submit reports to the Commission every three years covering information on emission levels of 50 pollutants from around 20,000 industrial facilities. The first report will be required in June 2003 covering data from 2001. The European Commission will then be responsible for collating all of the information and making it freely available on the internet.
(OJ L 192, 28 July 2000)

International

Climate change

Two weeks of international talks aimed at developing the detailed rules for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol ended in September in Lyon, France, with little progress reported on the key political issues that continue to delay progress. It had been hoped that the talks would resolve some of the issues that have divided countries prior to the sixth Conference of the Parties to the Protocol to be held in the Hague in November (see below).
(Lycos News Release, 15 September 2000)

The Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Climate Change Convention is to be held in the Hague in November. Negotiations will focus on agreeing on and finalising the detailed rules of how emission reductions will be achieved and credited. It has emerged that a major stumbling block exists between the European Union and the US over whether to allow credit for "carbon sinks" i.e. forests and agricultural land which absorbs carbon dioxide. European Ministers _are concerned that allowing carbon sinks _will deter countries from implementing _carbon dioxide emission reduction policies. Developing countries are also against carbon sinks, expressing a preference for clean technology rather than reforestation. The US however has threatened not to ratify the Protocol unless carbon sinks are recognised.
(The Financial Times, 3 August 2000)