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IED, BAT and Derogations. Richard Wood URS Leeds 22 nd May 2013. Industrial Emissions Directive. Industrial Emission Directive. Merges the IPPC Directive, Large Combustion Plant Directive, Waste Incineration Directive and others
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IED, BAT and Derogations Richard Wood URS Leeds 22nd May 2013
Industrial Emission Directive Merges the IPPC Directive, Large Combustion Plant Directive, Waste Incineration Directive and others Sets out the basis of the application of BAT (Best Available Techniques) to prevent and, where not possible, minimise environmental impacts from specified activities BAT is set at a European level through the BREF documents and formally adopted ‘BAT Conclusions’ Implemented in the UK through the Environmental Permitting Regulations
IED – Application in UK Law The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 The Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (NI) 2012 These Regulations transpose the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)
Basic compliance requirements IED applies to all new installations, or new plant immediately All existing Installations will be the subject of IED from 7 January 2014 Operators of newly listed activities must be compliant with IED by 7 July 2015 Large combustion plants must comply by 1 January 2016 To implement IED requirements the existing environmental permitting regimes should require only administrative changes for the majority of extant permits Major changes to operations may be expected in implementing BAT ELVs and Conclusions
Waste Activities – Key Changes Specific changes to certain waste activity definitions – several new activities: Hazardous waste recovery activities - solvent reclamation/regeneration, biological treatment and physico-chemical treatment Disposal of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 50 tonnes per day Recovery, or a mix of recovery and disposal, of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 75 tonnes per day Temporary storage of hazardous waste with a total capacity exceeding 50 tonnes where the waste was not generated on site Independently operated waste water treatment plants which receive effluent from Part A(1) or Part A(2) activities are now a listed Activity
Site Condition Assessments • Site condition assessments will need detailed baseline data where a risk of contamination of soils or groundwater exist • EA will be reviewing all Existing Site Condition Assessments and baselines to ensure that sufficient depth of information is present to allow effective review of site closure documents prior to permit surrender • Key gaps • Site history • Suitability of monitoring determinands in relation to the risk posed by the installation • Robustness of baseline data – Insufficient number of samples
What is BAT? BAT = Best Available Techniques Set out in the BAT Reference Documents (BREF), covering all sectors identified within the IED including combustion Sets target Emission Limit Values for pollutants depending on plant type and size EA base their Sector Guidance (e.g. EPR 1.01, EPR 5.01) upon the outcomes of this document BREFs are reviewed after around 6-8 years, and adoption following revision is normally around 2 years following initiation of review BAT is not prescriptive – operators can put forward alternatives that achieve at least an equivalent level of environmental protection, but requires rigorous justification Justifications will be appended to Permits and be visible in the public domain and available to scrutiny Also take into account cost, energy use, accident risk, waste generation and other cross-media effects when considering options
BAT in the IED BAT definitions are being revised to provide BAT Conclusions and Associated Emission Limits (AELs) documents BAT-AELs are emission limits that should be achievable with the application of the recognised techniques for controlling pollution Regulator will now look to set permit limits based on BAT-AELs Installations must comply with these requirements within 4 years of publication of BAT conclusions Presumed compliance with BAT Derogations to BAT can be achieved, but require very robust justifications, and will be available to public and European Union scrutiny Many clients are undertaking BAT compliance reviews to develop on-going compliance and investment strategies
Derogations • Some scope to deviate from BAT-AELs – known as derogations • To consider derogation regulator must be provided with a justification that meeting the BAT-AEL would lead to disproportionally higher costs compared to the environmental benefits due to:- • the geographical location of the installation; • the local environmental conditions of the installation; or • the technical characteristics of the installation • To justify the disproportionate costs the operator must address the extra costs in a transparent and systematic manner • Operators should attempt to place a monetary value on the environmental benefits which would result from preventing the excess emission • Cannot apply for derogation on ELVs that are explicitly set within the IED e.g. Large Combustion Plant or Waste Incineration
Case study – Container Glass Sector • Revised BREF adopted March 2012 – Have until March 2016 to implement new BAT AELs • Slight tightening of NOx limits, plus lower SO2 and dust limits • Abatement plant updates could cost millions of pounds dependent upon techniques applied • URS has reviewed application of primary and secondary control techniques for compliance with the revised BREF using options appraisal and cost-benefit assessment (CBA)
Options Appraisals and CBAs for derogation • Review options available under BREF to achieve new BAT-AELs e.g. • Primary measures (control at source) • Secondary measures (abatement e.g. Selective Catalytic Reduction for NOx) • Assess environmental impact of current and potential options • EA H1 Assessment • Detailed dispersion modelling • Determine cross-media effects; e.g. high energy use, generation of hazardous waste or other emissions • Establish capital and annual operating costs for each option • Derive Equivalent Annual Costs (EAC) for each option to allow comparison • Review against improvement in environmental impact (e.g. £/te or kg pollutant removed)
Example CBA – Glass Sector • Capital costs include cost for installation, including civils etc • Operating costs cover gas & electricity use, cost of ammonia for SCR, replacement of SCR catalyst etc • Other issues include: • H&S risks from ammonia storage; and • Indirect emissions from ammonia production & additional electricity use
Derogation Application • No fixed approach as yet, and can be dealing with EA/SEPA/NIEA/Local Authorities depending upon regulator • DEFRA guidance available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-permitting-regulations-guidance-on-part-a-installations • Need to submit a proposal for derogation with robust justification, including consideration of effect of excess emission on the locality (e.g. effects on ambient air concentrations or impact upon receiving waters) • Regulator will assess to ‘ensure that no significant pollution is caused and that a high level of protection of the environment is achieved’ • Derogation is attached as an annex to the Permit, including the justification for the derogation. • Will be reviewed as part of the permit periodic review • Can get temporary (<9 months) derogation for testing ‘emerging techniques’
Summary • IED applies to new installations now, and existing installations from Jan 2014 • Any changes to existing installations will be subject to the changes implemented by IED • BAT justification against the sector BREF is a key component of any installation change • Even if no change at installation – expectation is for environmental control to meet BAT set out in the BREF within 4 years of BREF adoption • Be aware of the BREF revision process for your sector • Plan in environmental assessment against BAT early, as part of any change process
Contact Details Richard Wood MA (Cantab), MSc Principal Consultant, Transactions & Compliance Environmental Liabilities Management URS Infrastructure and Environment UK Limited West One, Wellington Street, Leeds. LS1 1BA. United Kingdom Direct: +44 (0)113 204 5130 Fax: +44 (0)113 204 5001 Mobile: +44 (0)7766 250 434 richard.wood@urs.com