Key elements for integrated permitting (from the point of view of national authorities)

Transcription

1 Key elements for integrated permitting (from the point of view of national authorities) Nicoletta Valeria Trotta Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea DG for the Environmental Assessments and Permits Rome, Italy Phone: Michael Suhr German Environment Agency (UBA) National Focal Point for the IED Dessau-Rosslau, Germany Phone:

2 Goals of permitting industrial installations Control/manage pollution sources to protect public health and the environment by defining in a transparent, accountable manner legally binding requirements for emission sources of significant environmental impact Balance growth in an environmentally sustainable way Engage public and regulated community in decision making Facilitate compliance

3 Provisions of the Industrial Emission Directive (IED) IED establishes the basis for permitting of industrial installations in Europe Prevention and control of pollution by use of BAT High level of protection of the environment as a whole Integrated permit for industrial activities with relevant environmental imapct Competent authorities of the EU-Member States grant permits that especially contain the following: emission limit values for all relevant pollutants technical and organisational measures, equivalent parameters provisions to protect soil and groundwater monitoring requirements Basis for permit requirements are best available techniques (BAT)

4 Key elements of an effective permitting system Public participation and access to information Integrated, i.e. comprehensive scope (all relevant aspects) Combined approach: ELVs = BAT/EQO Stakeholder involvement Transparent permitting procedure Elements of effective permitting Technical guidance (e.g. BREFs) Information of operators about obligations Clear responsibilities and sufficient staff of CA Long permit validity Enforceable permit obligations

5 What is an integrated permit? Protects the environment as a whole, i.e. integrated approach to prevent and control emissions into air, water and soil, to waste management, to energy efficiency and to accident prevention avoids shifting of pollution from one environmental medium to another rather Giving priority to intervention at source (process-integrated measures) but also include abatement techniques Cover main activities of the installation including directly associated activities carried out on the same site and which have a technical connection with the main activity and could have an effect on emissions Integration of major issues into one permit Site-specific issues are taken into account One face to the customer: one central contact person for the operator; full coordination of involved authorities; competent authority contacts all relevant authorities; permit includes requirements from all relevant areas

6 Challenges of the competent authority in integrated permitting approved consultants for difficult aspects Responsible authorities Departments of government authority Applicant Operator/owner application advice, permit Competent Authority Comments opinions, statements Local Administration Application disclosure Participation of the public NGO s

7 Cooperation with responsible authorities, consultants and NGO s Example from Germany: District Government of Düsseldorf City administration: Fire and civil protection agency Department 51 Nature protection Department 52: waste management Department Occupational safety NGO s, Competent authority Safety report (approved consultant) City administration: planning departement City administration: Building department City administration: Local health agency Department 54 Water and waste water Measures for noise abatement (approved consultant).

8 An effective permit requires compliance demonstration identifies permittee (applicant) lists emission units imposes recordkeeping and reporting requirements establishes monitoring requirements Elements of effective permitting identifies measurable standards specifies control technology

9 Permitting supervision- enforcement: an effective tool to protect human health and environement Self-monitoring of the operator Permit decision published Public consultation Permit for the installation Monitoring/supervision of permit conditions On-site inspections Public inspection report Application for a permit Enforcement Non-compliance is subject to fines by law Preparation of the permitting process

10 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits Experiences from Italy in IPPC Permitting: Step 1 Permit application The permit procedure needs an application (form) to be submitted by the operator to the CA, including, inter alia, the following: operator identity data detailed description/information of the installation concerned and the IPPC activities taking place at the site (as well as any other directly associated activity) to be permitted non technical executive summary payment of the predetermined application fees (e.g. ranging to 4000 up to 60000, depending installation complexity) If the permit application is considered complete the application is made available to the public via Internet and the CA starts permit procedure and technical assessment

11 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 2 Technical assessment of the application An in-depth technical assessments in a pre-defined time period is carried out by the CA focusing on: data/information provided with the permit application (i.e. check the whole performances of the installation, in order to define, in a transparent, accountable manner, legally binding conditions for individual sources of significant environmental impact, duly taking in account the relevant BAT Conclusions for the sector concerned as well as the sectorial minimum requirements for LCPs); the opinion of all other authorities concerned. Moreover: the need to request additional data to better clarify/qualify the site-specific contextual information; voluntary additional contributions provided by operator; comments/remarks submitted by the public concerned

12 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 2 Technical assessment of the application For permit issued at national level (i.e. by MATTM): the assessment is carried out by a Ministerial Commission, made up of 23 national experts, nominated by the Ministry (any 3 years) 5 of those experts coordinate the activities the other 18 experts operate in small working group (usually made up of 3 or 4 experts), integrated with experts of the local competent authorities (i.e. 1 from municipality, 1 from province, 1 from region). The WG carries out the technical assessment on the permit application The Italian national Institute for the environmental protection and research (ISPRA) provides technical and scientific support to the Commission (almost 20 people). 60% of application fees is reserved to the Commission (the payment is granted only when the procedure ends).

13 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 3 Definition of the permit conditions To define the permit conditions, the CA convenes a so called Conference of Services (CdS) in order to: obtain the opinion of all other authorities concerned (permit conditions shall be consistent with environmental QS, as well as sanitary and safety local requirements); gather the operators point of view on the pre-final outcome of the technical assessment (Step 2); allow the operator to provide more technical details and/or comparing its proposal with alternative solutions provide the possibility to the public concerned to explain comments/opinions submitted

14 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 4 Issue of the environmental permit On the basis of the final decisions reached during the Conference of Services (CdS) the integrated environmental permit is issued Descriptive section Prescriptive section Monitoring and Control plan

15 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 4 Issue of the permit Descriptive section Prescriptive section Monitoring and Control Plan Installation and its activities (primary or process-related techniques, secondary or endof-pipe techniques, ) ; Raw and auxiliary materials, Sources of emissions (e.g. stacks characteristics, ) Conditions of the site of the installation Comparative analysis of the actual performances of the installation with the relevant BAT and related BAT-AELs ELVs (or equivalent measures) for all the significant pollutants (determined in relation to the relevant BAT and related BAT-AELs); Conditions for assessing compliance with the ELVs Measures relating to other-thennormal conditions (e.g. start up/shut down operations, leaks, malfunctions, momentary stoppages, definitive cessation of operations) requirements concerning monitoring of soil and groundwater (in relation to relevant hazardous substances) Emission monitoring Requirements (e.g. measurement methodology, frequency and evaluation procedure) Obligation to supply the competent authority (annually) results of predefined selected monitoring and control data

16 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 4 Issue of the permit (e.g. for a LCP) Descriptive section Prescriptive section

17 Administrative procedure for granting IPPC/IED permits IPPC Permitting: Step 4 Issue of the permit (e.g. for a LCP) Monitoring and Control Plan (Self-) Monitoring activities to be performed by the operator Data reporting to the competent authority (annually) Routine environmemntal inspections to be performed by Control Authority (National/Local) IPPC Permitting: Step 5 Checking the compliance with the IPPC permit conditions Permit condition infringements drive the application of administrative or penal punishments The permit is reconsidered: under operator request (e.g. major changes in the installation), CA decision (review) or periodic renewal (10 years)

18 Access to information and public participation in the permit procedure Public access - Data/Info on IPPC permit procedure ongoing at national level (i.e. carried out by Ministry) (application, comments, additional information, Seveso II requirements, etc ) - IPPC permits issued at national level - Data base of IPPC permits issued at local level (i.e. Regions or Provinces) - Data base of land planning - news, FAQ, legislative references,. - Inspection reports (on IPPC permits issued at national levels)