Transposition of the industrial emissions directive in Scotland: consultation

Activities not subject to the IED

‘Legacy’ activities

74. Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the PPC Regulations lists industrial activities, with those in Part A subject to IPPC whilst those in Part B are generally subject only to controls upon emissions to air. As well as covering all the activities specified in Annex I of the IED, Part A also includes a number of activity descriptions which have no foundation in EU requirements. They originate from the system of integrated pollution control which was set up under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (and which was influential upon the making of the IPPC Directive in 1996). For the purposes of this consultation they are referred to as ‘legacy activities’.

75. An assessment of these legacy activities has been carried out., In summary, four categories have been identified:

• There are 15 instances of moribund descriptions meaning that no extant Part A permits contain them and that it is considered very unlikely that any instances of these activities un-associated with other IED Annex I activities will arise in future. These descriptions are tabulated in Appendix B.
• There are 23 instances of descriptions which are superfluous because they are in fact covered by IED Annex I activities for which a permit is needed in any case. These descriptions are separately tabulated in Appendix B.
• There may be a case for removal of controls under PPC Schedule 1 Part A from seven activity descriptions, currently accounting for 8 permits. These descriptions, together with a short commentary, are listed in Appendix D. In some cases it is proposed that the activity would still be regulated in another way.
• In 14 cases, involving 31 permits, the activities are not covered in IED Annex I, but there are considered to be sound environmental protectionreasons for maintaining Part A regulation. These descriptions, together with a short justification for retention, are listed in Appendix C. The justifications for retention are informed by SEPA, drawing upon its regulatory experience and concerns about the risks which might arise if Part A regulation ceased. It is of course not possible to quantify what would happen if that regulation were removed.

76. The draft Regulations therefore omit the descriptions tabulated in Appendices B and C and adjust the descriptions tabulated in Appendix D.

77. Q13: Do you consider that any of the descriptions proposed for deletion or adjustment should in fact be retained? If so, please provide reasons.

78. Please note that, if consultation responses support deletions of activity descriptions which are included in extant Part A permits, suitable transitional arrangements will be provided.

79. Please note that the Climate Change Agreement ( CCA ) scheme ^[11] relies upon the current Part A activity descriptions set out in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 for defining the industry sectors for which CCAs are available. While those Regulations do not apply to Scotland, for the purposes of CCA those activity descriptions are used UK-wide, even though similar descriptions are to be found in the PPC Regulations. There are 40 sectors whose eligibility for Climate Change Agreements ( CCAs) is based on such processes. Defra’s analysis suggests that, on this basis, their proposals to delete various activity descriptions would result in one sector (slag grinders - described in Section 3.1 A(2) (a) and (b) of the Schedule 1 to the Environmental Permitting Regulations) no longer remaining eligible for a CCA and associated climate change levy discount. Additionally, there may be a number of facilities holding CCAs in a small number of other sectors which may be at risk of losing eligibility. If these facilities do not also undertake another Part A activity, they would not be able to hold a Climate Change Agreement in the future. Any changes made to the Scottish PPC Regulations will not affect the CCA scheme.

80. The draft Regulations are such that the descriptions tabulated in Appendix D are be retained within Part A regulation.

81. Q14: Do you agree that the retention of the ‘legacy’ descriptions tabulated in Appendix D is justified? Have you any evidence which either supports or refutes the need for retention?

82. The assessment of legacy activities has concentrated on Part A activities. Most of the activities listed in Part B, like the legacy activities described above, have their origins in the integrated pollution control regime under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.We have taken the opportunity to remove gas odorisers, currently covered by Section 1.2 B (a). Q15: Are there any other Part B activities that are similarly moribund, superfluous or otherwise unnecessary, and which should be considered for removal?

Mobile plant

83. The PPC Regulations currently require the application of IPPC to any mobile plant carrying out Part A activities. But the IED applies only to installations which, by the definition in its Article 3(3), are stationary. In practice, there are no instances of Part A mobile plant permits in Scotland. The draft Regulations therefore remove any reference to Part A mobile plant. The Regulations will continue to apply to mobile plant carrying out Part B activities. Q16: Do you agree with the proposal to remove reference to Part A mobile plant?