IPPC Directive

Introduction

The aim of the IPPC Directive was to minimise pollution (including emissions of greenhouse gases and acidyfying substances, wastewaster emissions and waste) from various industrial sources throughout the European Union. Operators of industrial installations operating activities covered by Annex I of the IPPC Directive were required to obtain an Environmental Permit from each of their respective Regulatory Authorities.

The IPPC Directive was based on several principles (1) an integrated approach, (2) best available techniques, (3) flexibility and (4) public participation.

1. The integrated approach meant that the Environmental Permit must take into account the whole environmental performance of the plant, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The purpose of the Directive was to ensure a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole.
2. The permit conditions including emission limit values (ELVs) must be based on Best Available Techniques (BAT) , as defined in the IPPC Directive.
3. The IPPC Directive contained elements of flexibility by allowing the regulatory authorities, in determining permit conditions, to take into account:

(a) the technical characteristics of the installation, (b) its geographical location and (c) the local environmental conditions.

1. .The Directive ensured that the public had a right to participate in the decision making process, and be informed of its consequences, by having access to

(a) permit applications in order to give opinions, (b) permits, (c) results of the monitoring of releases and (d) the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). In E-PRTR, emission data reported by Member States are made accessible in a public register, which is intended to provide environmental information on major industrial activities. E-PRTR has replaced the previous EU-wide pollutant inventory, the so-called European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER).

Directive 96/61/EC

Directive 96/61/EC was the original Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive which was amended four times during its lifetime. The first amendment reinforced public participation in line with the Aarhus Convention; the second amendment clarified the relationship between the permit conditions established in accordance with the IPPC Directive and the EU greenhouse gas emission trading scheme; and the final two amendments related to changes regarding Comitology procedures and the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER).

The 1996 IPPC Directive was transposed into legislation via the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 as amended.

Directive 2008/1/EC

In 2008 the IPPC Directive was codified to bring together each of the previous four amendments. Directive 2008/1/EC was enacted into legislation by the Environmental Permitting regime.

The IPPC Directive was repealed on the 7 January 2014 by the introduction of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).