Integrated Pollution Control and Waste Minimization

D. SLATER

1 An Introduction to Integrated Pollution Control

The introduction of the system of Integrated Pollution Control (IPC), proposed by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) in their Fifth Report and embodied in the Environmental Protection Act (EPA 90) 1990, marked an important milestone in the development of the legislative philosophy and framework in the UK. The Act is of major importance since it largely established Britain's strategy for pollution control and waste management for the foreseeable future. The Act itself is divided into nine main parts. However, only Part I is relevant to the theme of this article.

Before the introduction of IPC under the Act in April 1991, emissions from major polluters to the three environmental media of air, water, and land were subject to individual and distinct control regimes. IPC provides a mechanism and a legal basis for looking at the impact which a process as a whole has on the environment as a whole. IPC takes a holistic approach, ensuring that substances which are unavoidably released to the environment are released to the medium to which they will cause the least damage. It embodies the precautionary principle: prevention is better than cure. As the saying goes: prevent, minimize, and render harmless. Also, the regulatory process, from application, through authorization, to regular returns of monitoring releases to the environment, and, where appropriate, to the enforcement action by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP), is open to public scrutiny and comment.

Since the Act was first enacted in 1990, twelve Regulations have been made to specify and, at times, to vary the original requirements which it established in Part I. Typical, and perhaps the most important of these Regulations, are the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991 (Statutory Instrument SI/1991/472), and it is useful to examine these as an example of the purpose of the Regulations. As described above, Part I of the Act makes provision for integrated pollution control (IPC). It also makes provision for the control of air pollution by local authorities.

Regulations SI/1991/472 also provide a framework for the implementation of a substantial number of EC Directives relating to air pollution from industrial plants. It should be noted that since SI/1991/472 came into force in April 1991 in England and Wales, and in 1992 in Scotland, it has been modified six times. These amended Regulations, in general, extend (or at least redefine) the prescribed processes covered by the original Regulations and the dates for their authorization.

IPC applies to all processes in England, Wales, and Scotland falling within any descriptions of processes prescribed for the purpose by the Secretary of State for the Environment. The Act provides that no prescribed process may be operated without an authorization from HMIP after the date specified in the regulations for that description of process.

In setting the conditions within an authorization for a prescribed process, Section 7 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places HMIP under a duty to ensure that certain objectives are met. The conditions should ensure:

(i) that the best available techniques not entailing excessive cost (BATNEEC) are used to prevent or, if that is not practicable, to minimize the release of prescribed substances into the medium for which they are prescribed, and to render harmless both any prescribed substances which are released and any other substances which might cause harm if released into any environmental medium;

(ii) that releases do not cause or contribute to the breach of any direction given by the Secretary of State to implement European Community or international obligations relating to environmental protection, or any statutory environmental quality standards or objectives, or other statutory limits or requirements; and

(iii) that when a process is likely to involve releases into more than one medium (which will probably be the case in many processes prescribed for IPC), the best practicable environmental option (BPEO) is achieved (i.e. the releases from the process are controlled through the use of BATNEEC so as to have the least effect on the environment as a whole).

HMIP is also charged with delivering the National Plan for reduction of SO2 and NOx emissions by means of the authorizations which it grants under Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This translates a blanket concept, which takes no account of the pollution potential of an individual plant, into a site-specific allocation, the use of which can be accounted for by the operator, audited by HMIP, and enforced against if necessary.

The processes covered by the National Plan can broadly be grouped under three headings: first, the electricity supply industry ; second, the petrochemical industry, comprising the refineries; and third, other industry, which picks up the power-generating combustion processes of 50 MW input or more.

There is often confusion about whether the National Plan takes precedence over BATNEEC and BPEO, or vice versa? The answer is simple. All objectives have to be achieved, so effectively it is the most stringent which will prevail. If BATNEEC standards are the tighter, then BATNEEC is pre-eminent. If BATNEEC would allow greater releases than the National Plan allocation, then National Plan prevails.

2 Process Regulation

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires an 'Authorization' to be issued by the 'Enforcing Authority' which, in the case of IPC, is Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution. 'Authorization' means an authorization for a process (whether on premises or by means of mobile plant) granted under Section 6 of EPA 90.

The main goal, therefore, of an authorization is to specify the limits and conditions which are important to achieving the objectives of IPC in a particular circumstance. These are in the main likely to comprise limits and conditions on feed materials, operating parameters, and release levels. In turn, the detail of these, particularly of the latter, such as the period over which they apply, will need to take into account what constitutes BATNEEC, environmental impact, e.g. concentration or load-dependent process characteristics, e.g. cyclic variations, fluctuations, and practical considerations.

The operator must provide a strong, detailed justification of his process. Particularly where it is new or modifications are proposed, then all the options must be explored and justified. He must list the substances which might cause harm, that are used in or result from the process. He must identify the techniques used to prevent, minimize, or render harmless such substances....