Introduction
1. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are reviewing the guidance notes published during 2004 and 2005 which set pollution control standards for 9 industry sectors (listed in paragraphs 7 and 8 below). These sectors are regulated under the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 by local authorities, and are commonly known as Local Authority IPPC or “Part A(2)” installations.

2. Defra would welcome any information from the environmental technology sector which might assist this so-called “two year review” covering the matters specified in paragraph 4 below.

Background
3. The rationale for the review is that the published contain a considerable amount of detail and specific provisions relating to the control of air emissions, and Defra would like to explore the scope for increasing the amount of detail as regards the other impacts addressed by IPPC. It is intended that the two-year review should draw on the following sources of information:

• applications made and permits issued for A2 installations
• local authority and industry experience over the initial period of IPPC’s introduction
• emerging and published sector and cross-sectoral BREF notes
• other sources of technical information, eg Envirowise, Biowise, environmental technology industry, developments in waste and resource management, etc (including opportunities for business savings)
• experience and information from regulation of A1 installations
• information from overseas: internet searches, contact with regulators in other countries etc.

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4. The sections of each note most likely to warrant adding to or amending are:

• releases to water
• point source emissions to surface water and sewer
• point source emissions to groundwater
• fugitive emissions to surface water, sewer and groundwater
• raw materials
• waste minimisation
• water usage
• waste handling
• waste re-use, recovery, recycling, disposal
• accidents
• noise and vibration
• monitoring of non-air emissions

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5. Issues potentially to be explored include the possibilities (and existing/emerging techniques) for raw material control, minimisation and substitution in each sector, in particular so as to guide LAs as to what to expect and require when they receive inventory information and annual reviews.

This may lead to more sector-specific introductory/descriptive material (eg the main sources of noise or waste arisings or water discharges, or the main areas where accidents may occur, at a typical installation) and more sector-specific BAT-box provisions.

The revised guidance may provide the opportunity to give more advice on basic good practice measures, which may already be operated by some not all firms within a sector. The review will be set within the cost-benefit balance that is BAT.

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6. It should be noted that any guidance emerging from this exercise which specifies additional measures to be taken, will in the usual way be accompanied by an upgrading timescale for existing installations. The review will in the usual way include consultation by the Local Authority Unit of the Environment Agency.

Guidance notes under review
7. The review is in progress for the following Secretary of State (SoS) sector guidance:

• SG1 - SoS's Guidance for the Particleboard, Oriented Strand Board and Dry Process Fibreboard Sector.
• SG2 - SoS's Guidance for Glass Manufacturing Activities with Melting Capacity More than 20 Tonnes per Day
• SG4 - SoS's Guidance for A2 Activities in the Non-ferrous Metals Sector
• SG5 - SoS's Guidance for the A2 Galvanizing Sector

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8. The following notes will be reviewed over the next two years:

• SG6 - SoS's Guidance for Surface Treatment Sector
• SG7 - SoS's Guidance for Ceramics
• SG8 - SoS's Guidance for the Rendering Sector
• SG9 - SoS's Guidance for Roadstone Coating Sector
• SG10 - SoS's Guidance for Animal Carcase Incineration Sector

9. The published guidance can be found at the following web address:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/ppc/laippc/laippc.htm

Who to send information to
10. All information should be sent to Nick Bettinson in the Environment Agency’s Local Authority Unit, who is co-ordinating all the reviews on behalf of Defra, using the email address
LAU@environment-agency.gov.uk .
Nick can be reached on 029 2046 6482 if you would like to discuss the reviews.

11. All emails should be headed “2-year review” followed by the sector or sectors to which the comments apply, eg “glass and ceramics”.

What information to send
12. Information is sought in particular about abatement techniques, clean technology and monitoring equipment.

13. No information will be considered which does not contain all of the following essential elements. This is required to enable an assessment to be made of whether particular techniques or equipment represent the Best Available Techniques (BAT) as defined in the legislation and explained in chapter 12 of the Manual at

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/ppc/manual/index.htm :

• evidence of the proven capability of the techniques or equipment
• the standards demonstrated to have been met
• the cost to potential purchasers.

Related ISDB projects
EIForum East Midlands - www.eiforum.org.uk

Further Information
For any more information about the study contact Bob Pick using the details below..