The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (‘Amendment Regulations’) came into force on 27th February amending the existing Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (‘EP Regulations’) and transposing the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive (“IED”).
The IED seeks to consolidate 7 existing directives which regulate a wide range of industrial installations above particular capacity thresholds; namely these are installations under the Prevention Pollution and Control regime, combustion plants, waste incineration plants, activities using organic solvents and installations that produce titanium oxide.
The changes brought about by the IED and Amendment Regulations are being implemented in phases. Any new installations in England and Wales caught by the IED are obliged to comply from 7th January 2013 with the Amendment Regulations. Existing permitted installations will be subject to the requirements from 7th January 2014.
There is a significant increase in the number of activities in the waste industry which will now require a permit under the EP Regulations. These newly listed activities include:
• Hazardous waste recovery activities including solvent reclamation/regeneration, biological treatment and physico-chemical treatment;
• Disposal of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 50 tonnes per day;
• Activities involving recovery, or a mix of recovery and disposal, of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 75 tonnes per day
• Waste treatment through anaerobic digestion with a capacity threshold of 100 tonnes per day;
• Temporary storage of hazardous waste with a total capacity exceeding 50 tonnes (excluding temporary storage, pending collection, on the site where the waste is generated).
Therefore some waste installations that were previously exempt or regulated as waste activities are now required to apply for an environmental permit under the EP Regulations. The newly listed activities must have permits in place by 7th July 2015.
There are however a number of activities that will no longer fall within the scope of the permitting regime as they were listed in the EP Regulations but not the IED, for example mobile plant.
Large Combustion Plants (‘LCPs) will have to comply with stricter Emission Limit Values (ELVs). New LCPs are required to comply with these requirements immediately, whereas existing LCPs will have until 1st January 2016 to comply.
The biggest impact of the Amendment Regulations is the requirement for operators to meet new Best Available Technniques (BAT) standards and the tightening of permit limits. This could result in abatement plant upgrades to meet the lower emission limits.
BAT represents the most effective techniques to achieve a high level of environmental protection, taking into account the costs and benefits. The IED sets out a new, EU-wide process by which the BAT Reference Documents (BREFs) are introduced for specific sectors and then BAT Conclusions are published.
The first BAT Conclusions being published are in relation to glass, iron and steel production installations. Permit holders must comply with BAT Conclusions within 4 years.
There is currently scope for the Environment Agency to set permit conditions and emission limit values (ELVs) to deviate from BAT. However, under the Amendment Regulations any deviation from BAT must be recorded in an annex to the permit and made available through an electronic public register creating additional public scrutiny of an operator’s activity. This is likely to result in operator’s having to invest heavily to ensure that they have sufficient control and measures to meet the BAT Conclusions requirements.
Permit holders can apply for a Derogation from the BAT Conclusions if a detailed technical analysis shows “disproportionally higher costs compared to the environmental benefits”. A temporary Derogation is available for 9 months if an operator is testing emerging techniques.
The IED also introduces direct public involvement in the permit application procedure, therefore operators making a permit application will have to engage with local community groups to minimise any potential objections which may delay the processing of (or even prove fatal to) the application.
DEFRA has released an updated ‘Core Guidance’ document to assist those affected by these changes.
It is advised that businesses which are to be affected by the Amendment Regulations should start planning for budgeting for any required changes to their systems and procedures.
ELM Law can recommend expert consultants to undertake a BAT compliance review.