PR3 SITES REQUIRING INTEGRATED POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PERMITS
THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT INDICATORS 2009
POLICY RESPONSES
Key policy question: What is the status of permitting of IPPC sites?
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The environmental permitting of particular operations is a key tool
for ensuring the achievement of environmental quality standards.
The environmental permitting system ensures that certain types
of activities are obliged to obtain operational permits, due to their
nature, scale or environmental impact. Permits are granted on the
basis of achievement of particular environmental standards, and
are underpinned by regular environmental audits. The Integrated
Pollution and Prevention Control (IPPC) Directive and its corresponding
national legislation50 provide the legal basis for this. Permitting
legislation takes an integrated approach, taking into consideration
the entire environmental performance of the plant, and obliging
operators to use best available techniques. The IPPC process also
includes public participation, by means of which citizens have
access to applications, permits, and the results of releases
monitoring. As of end 2009, 9 of the 13 installations requiring an IPPC
permit had been permitted, improving on the situation in 2008, when
6 of the 14 installations requiring a permit had been permitted.51
Various types of operations require environmental permits, and the
current list of IPPC installations includes operations in the chemical
and energy sector, and certain waste management facilities. In
addition as of end 2009, 72 environmental permits were given to
non-IPPC sites.
Source: MEPA