New Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) regulations enforced by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) to ‘tackle industrial pollution in Scotland’ came into force on Monday (7 January), replacing the PPC 2000 regulations.
The new 2012 regulations seek to ‘implement the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)’ and serve to consolidate the old regulations, which had been amended 25 times.
According to SEPA, ‘the regulations aim to remove ambiguities and inconsistencies, ensure clearer environmental benefits, promote cost-effectiveness and encourage technological innovation.’
Changes to the regulations include, but are not limited to:
- Restructured and reworded regulations;
- ‘Increased status’ for European Commission Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Documents;
- Increased availability of information for the public;
- Small alterations to monitoring and reporting protocols, site condition reporting and SEPA’s powers of enforcement.
Food and drink, waste and wood preserving sectors will now also be incorporated into the PPC regime under the 2012 regulations.
Companies will now have to be in line with the new regulations, however, those companies that already hold an existing permit need not obtain a new one until 7 July 2015 . The PPC 2000 regulations will continue to apply until 7 January 2014.
According to SEPA, changes to the regulations largely affect installations with Part A permits (covering ‘the direct or indirect release of a substance, a vibration, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in an installation into the air, water or land’).
Installations with a Part B permit (covering ‘the direct release of a substance or heat from individual or diffuse sources in an installation into the air) will remain largely unaffected.
Speaking of the new regulations, PPC specialist at SEPA, Wendy Thornton, said: “Following changes to European legislation, the new regulations were essential to help Scotland meet the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive. It was important to establish an integrated way of dealing with environmental issues, and these new regulations will help us protect the environment to the best of our abilities.
The changes will impact on different businesses in different ways, so we would encourage anyone who is uncertain of how they may be affected, or would like further information, to get in touch.”
Read more about PPC 2012.
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