The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) approved by the European Parliament on 7 July recasts seven existing Directives, including the Large Combustion Plant Directive and the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive, related to industrial emissions into a single clear and coherent legislative instrument.
This e-bulletin analyses the new Directive, which will affect a large number of organisations throughout Europe, ranging from refineries to pig farms.
The Directive includes a derogation to the limitation on the life time of combustion plants which will allow installations that would have been forced to close in 2016 to continue generating until 31 December 2023 provided operational restrictions are complied with.
The IED recasts the following directives:
- The IPPC Directive (2008/1/EC of 15 January 2008) concerns integrated pollution prevention and control. It sets out the main principles for the permitting and control of installations with a high pollution potential based on an integrated approach and the application of best available techniques.
- The LCP Directive (2001/80/EC) on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants.
- Directive 200/76/EC on the incineration of waste.
- Directive 1999/13/EC on the limitation of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations).
- Three different directives relating to the production of titanium dioxide: (i) Council Directive 78/176/EEC; (ii) Council Directive 82/883/EEC; and (iii) Council Directive 92/112/EEC.
Why the recast?
As emissions from industrial installations have been subject to EU-wide legislation since the 1970s, European legislators felt that a recast was necessary to update and streamline existing legislation to bring it into line with technological and policy developments, and to minimise distortions of competition within the EU.
To receive a permit to operate, installations covered by IPPC rules must currently apply best available techniques (BAT) to optimise their all-round environmental performance. One of the main reasons for the recast of the IPPC Directive was the inadequate and incoherent implementation of BAT across the EU.
In addition, the fact that relevant provisions are spread across seven different legal instruments was deemed to place unnecessary administrative burdens on companies, particularly those with operations spanning several Member States. As the BAT regime can only be effective if the rules in relation to BATs are constantly adapted to follow technological developments, the rules need to be adjusted to provide greater adaptability.
What does the IED cover?
Broadly speaking, the IED will apply strict limits on air pollution and lays down rules on the integrated prevention and control of pollution resulting from industrial activities. It also sets rules designed to prevent, or where that is not practicable to reduce, emissions into air, water and land and to prevent the generation of waste. In particular, it sets stricter limits on pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and dust, which are responsible for acid rain and smog and cause respiratory diseases like asthma.
In addition, the IED:
- improves and clarifies the concept of BAT to create a more coherent application of the current IPPC directive and requires decisions allowing permit conditions outside the scope of BAT to be justified and documented;
- tightens current minimum emission limit values in some sectors (eg, large combustion plants) to progress the EU's objectives regarding the reduction of air pollution;
- introduces minimum standards with regard to the inspection and review of permit conditions and compliance reporting;
- provides incentives for eco-innovation and support for the creation of lead markets;
- extends the scope of the IPPC Directive to cover additional installations (eg, combustion plants between 20 and 50 MW) and clarifies its scope for certain sectors (eg, waste treatment) to increase the consistency and coherence of current permitting practices; and
- requires Member States to adopt general binding rules on the basis of BATs, without prescribing the use of any technique or specific technology. Member States must also ensure that these rules are kept up to date in light of future developments in the BATs.
Member States will, under certain circumstances, have some leeway to ease these rules as long as a high overall standard of environmental protection is maintained and that it can be shown that the costs associated with the rules that would otherwise apply would, due to technical reasons or local circumstances, be disproportionate relative to their environmental benefits.
Application of the IED
The following industries and activities will be subject to the provisions of the IED:
- The energy industry, including activities such as the combustion of fuels in installations with a total thermal input of 50 MW or more; the refining of mineral oil and gas; the production of coke; and the gasification or liquefaction of coal or other fuels in installations with a total thermal input of 20 MW or more.
- The production and processing of metals, including metal ore roasting or sintering; the production of pig iron or steel - primary or secondary fusion - including continuous casting with a capacity exceeding 2.5 tonnes per day; the processing of ferrous metals; the operation of ferrous metals foundries with a production capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day; the processing of non ferrous metals; and the surface treatment of metals or plastic materials using an electrolytic or chemical process where the volume of treatments vats exceeds 30 cubic metres.
- The mineral industry, including the production of cement, lime and magnesium oxide; the production or manufacture of asbestos-based products; the manufacturing of glass, including glass fibre, with a melting capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day; the melting of mineral substances, including the production of mineral fibres, with a melting capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day; and the manufacture of ceramic products.
- The chemical industry, including the industrial scale production, using chemical or biological processes, of specific substances listed in the IED. The list of substances includes the production of: organic chemicals such as alcohol, plastic materials dyes and pigments; inorganic chemicals such as gas, acids and salts; fertilisers; plant protection products; pharmaceuticals; and explosives.
- Waste management, including the disposal or recovery of hazardous waste by facilities with a capacity exceeding 10 tonnes per day.
- Other activities, including the production of paper; the pre-treatment or dying of textile fibres; the tanning of hides and skins where production exceeds a certain threshold; operating slaughterhouses with processing facilities which exceed a certain capacity; and the treatment or processing of raw animal or vegetable materials.
The IED does not apply to research activities, development activities or the testing of new products and processes.
The new emission limits
As a general rule, installations will have until 2016 to comply with the stricter limits.
The IED provides that Member States may draw up and implement "transitional national plans" which can allow large combustion plants an extension until 30 June 2020 to meet the new requirements, provided that:
- they were granted their first permit, or submitted a complete application, before 27 November 2002; and
- the plant became operational no later than 27 November 2003.
Newer power stations must still meet the applicable 2012 deadline.
The limited life time derogation
Operators of combustion plants will welcome the derogation, which whilst limiting the number of hours plants can operate, affords them an opportunity to continue generating beyond 2016.
The derogation grants combustion plants an exemption from the revised emissions limits (which replace those applicable under the LCP Directive) and from inclusion in transitional national plans (which, going forward, will replace National Emission Reduction Plans) provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
- by 1 January 2014 the operator gives a written declaration to the relevant competent authority that it will not operate the plant for more than 17,500 hours between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2023;
- the operator submits a record of operating hours since 1 January 2016 to the competent authority each year;
- the emission limits for sulphur dioxides, nitrogen oxides and dust applying to the plant on 31 December 2015 are maintained, and in the case of combustion plants with a thermal input of over 500MW firing solid fuels which were granted a permit after 1 July 1987, the emission limits for nitrogen oxides set out in Part 1 of Annex V to the Directive are complied with; and
- the plant has not already been granted an exemption from the old LCP Directive emission limits or from inclusion in a National Emission Reduction Plan under article 4(4) of the LCP Directive.
The impact of the derogation will vary according to the particular generation mix of a Member State and its future energy policy plans, but it will help to allay any concerns over security of supply pending the construction of new generation capacity.
What is the intended effect of the IED?
The European Commission believes that the recast IED, designed to streamline permitting, reporting and monitoring requirements, renew co-operation between Member States and simplify implementation will lead to administrative cost savings of between €105 and €255 million per year.
Next steps
At its second reading, the European Parliament approved the amended wording agreed with the European Council. The Council is expected to officially approve the text at its next meeting. As the IED is a recast of existing directives, the obligation to transpose the IED into national law is confined to those provisions which represent a substantive change when compared with the earlier directives.
The obligation to transpose the unchanged provisions arises under the earlier directives, and the time limit for the transposition of those directives has expired. Article 80 of the IED lists the provisions that have to be transposed, but does not provide a transposition deadline which is expected to be announced after the formal adoption of the draft IED by the Council.