New EU legislation adopted today will bring down industrial
emissions from large combustion plants across the EU, bringing several
environmental and health benefits to Europe's citizens, like an expected
reduction in premature deaths of 13,000 per year.
The stricter legislation on industrial emissions was proposed
by the European Commission in December 2007. The new rules will also lead to
significant savings through the reduction of administrative burden and provide
a more level playing field for industry.
EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "The
vote by the Council to adopt the new Directive on industrial emissions is a
milestone in industrial pollution control in the European Union. It will help
ensure the level of protection from industrial pollution that EU citizens
deserve. It will substantially strengthen the current legal framework further
reducing air and other environmental pollution and become an important driver
for eco-innovation."
Application of Best Available Techniques strengthened
The
Directive on industrial emissions updates and merges seven pieces of existing legislation.
At the core of the new Directive is the strengthening of the application
of Best Available Techniques (BAT), making BAT Conclusions the reference point
in the permitting process. The proposal revises the minimum emission limits
that apply to large combustion plants across the EU to bring them in line with
BAT.
These requirements should ensure that operators of
industrial installations apply BAT in a more uniform manner and that
consequently a more level playing field for industry is achieved.
The Commission believes that BAT Conclusions are essential
in delivering implementation of BAT in a clear, enforceable and transparent
manner across all Member States.
Stimulating eco-innovation and reducing unnecessary burden
for operators
The
strengthened role of BAT will give clear signals to industry to ensure strives
to deliver the high environmental performance described in BAT Conclusions at
the lowest costs. Furthermore, the Directive also requests Member States
to actively promote emerging techniques, thereby fuelling a virtuous cycle of
continuous improvement of EU industry's environmental performance.
Recognising that unnecessary administrative burden is
harmful to European industry and its competitiveness in the global market the
Directive reduces such administrative burden by €32 million per year at the EU
level. The Commission will also continue to work with Member States to try and tackle
unnecessary administrative burden at the national level in their implementation
of the Directive over the coming years.
Reducing emissions from the largest combustion plants
Despite the
significant emission reductions achieved over the past two decades, fossil fuel
firing combustion plants used in the energy sector are still a major source of
air pollutant emissions. The Directive sets stricter emission limits for
the largest plants across the EU to ensure that they apply BAT. The resulting
benefits of emission reductions run to €7-28 billion per year including the
reduction of premature deaths by 13 000 per annum. This represents the savings
in terms of reduced health impacts of pollutants from large combustion plants
on EU citizens once the costs of implementation such as the fitting of
abatement equipment have been taken into account for operators. The Directive
makes sure that these plants will substantially reduce their harmful emissions
whilst providing sufficient flexibility guaranteeing the short and long term security
of energy supply within the EU.
Improving the tools for checking and enforcing compliance
The new
Directive includes a number of improved mechanisms for Member States to check
and enforce compliance with the new legislation. Provisions related to emission
monitoring and reporting and to environmental inspections have been strongly
enhanced. Improvements have also been made regarding public access to information.
The clearer implementation requirements for Member States will facilitate the
Commission's task of ensuring the full application of the Directive.
Next steps
The Directive will enter into force 20 days after its
publication in the Official Journal, which is expected before the end of 2010.
Member States will then have 2 years to transpose the Directive into their
legislation and to start implementing the new legislation. For further details,
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