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Document 52013DC0286
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants
/* COM/2013/0286 final */
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants /* COM/2013/0286 final */
TABLE OF CONTENTS REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken
under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial
emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion
plants................................... 3 1........... Introduction.................................................................................................................... 3 2........... Background to the reviews - the
IPPC review 2005-2007............................................... 4 2.1........ Intensive livestock rearing............................................................................................... 4 2.2........ Combustion installations below 50
MW.......................................................................... 5 2.3........ Combustion plants of 50 MW and
more.......................................................................... 5 3........... Options considered as part of
the reviews undertaken by the Commission........................ 6 3.1........ Emissions to the environment
resulting from intensive livestock rearing.............................. 6 3.1.1..... Intensive rearing of cattle
(Article 73(2)(b))..................................................................... 6 3.1.2..... Differentiated capacity thresholds
for the rearing of different poultry species, including the specific case of
quail (Article 73(3)(a))............................................................................................................ 8 3.1.3..... Capacity thresholds for the
simultaneous rearing of different types of animals within the same installation
('mixed farms') (Article 73(3)(b))................................................................................................ 8 3.2........ Emissions to air from the
combustion of fuels................................................................... 9 3.2.1..... Combustion of fuels in
installations with a total rated thermal input below 50 MW (Article
73(2)(a)) 9 3.2.2..... Combustion plants of 50 MW and
more (Article 30(9))................................................. 10 4........... Next steps.................................................................................................................... 10 5........... Conclusion................................................................................................................... 12 REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the
Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of
Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from
intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants (Text with EEA relevance) 1. Introduction Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council on industrial emissions[1]
(commonly referred to as the 'IED') was adopted on 24 November 2010 following
three years of inter-institutional negotiations on the Commission's original
proposal[2].
The IED recasts seven Directives related to industrial emissions into a single
comprehensive Directive[3]. The IED entered into force on 6 January 2011, requiring Member
States to transpose it within two years. It will come fully into effect in the
coming years as the existing legislation is phased out and replaced by the new
provisions. The IED covers approximately 50 000 industrial
installations across the EU including energy industries, the production and
processing of metals, the mineral industry, the chemical industry, waste
management and certain other activities such as the intensive rearing of pigs
and poultry. Installations covered by the IED
must be operated in accordance with permits which include conditions based on the best available techniques (BAT)
designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce
emissions to air, water and soil and the impact to the environment as a whole.
In addition, it incorporates strengthened sectoral EU-wide minimum requirements
for a number of key polluting activities. During the legislative process a significant
amount of time was dedicated to consideration of the scope of the Directive,
but in comparison to the Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention
and control (IPPC) the scope of the IED finally remained relatively unchanged.
However, it was concluded that a number of activities warranted further
scrutiny with regard to their potential to cause pollution and the possible
courses of action to address such pollution. This resulted in review clauses
being included, in particular in Article 30(9) and Article 73. This Report
addresses those reviews: (i) Intensive livestock rearing – Agricultural
activity in the EU impacts on the environment with regard to emissions to land,
water and air. In particular, agriculture accounts for over 90% of total EU
ammonia emissions, with a large proportion of such emissions arising as a
result of the breeding and rearing of livestock. Ammonia contributes to: ·
The formation of “secondary" particulate
matter and, consequently, health impacts ranging from minor effects on the
respiratory system to premature mortality; ·
Damaging ecosystems through acidification as
well as eutrophication, caused by excess nutrient nitrogen leaching into
freshwaters and disrupting plant communities, leading to a loss of
biodiversity. The existing thresholds under the IED capture
approximately 20 per cent of the total number of pigs and 60 per cent of the
total numbers of poultry in the EU. Cattle farms are not subject to the
Directive. (ii) Combustion activities – Combustion of
fuels in stationary installations contributes significantly to emissions of a
range of pollutants including sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and
particulate matter. Whilst IED covers a number of larger combustion plants,
gaps remain in the coverage and, furthermore, combustion of fuel in
installations with a rated thermal input less than 50MW is not covered by
existing EU legislation. 2. Background
to the reviews - the IPPC review 2005-2007 As part of the review of the legislation on
industrial emissions that took place during 2005-2007 and led to the IED
proposal, the Commission identified that emissions from certain activities were
contributing significantly to environmental pollution whilst not adequately
controlled under EU law. In particular, certain types of intensive livestock
farming and the combustion of fuels in installations below 50 MW were examined
in detail in order to consider whether such activities should be included within
the scope of the IED. Furthermore, the Commission re-evaluated the
EU-wide emission limit values established in the Large Combustion Plants (LCP)
Directive and found that many
of these limit values were insufficient to ensure the uptake of BAT. Therefore,
the Commission included in its IED proposal revised limit values in order to
align them with the emission levels associated with BAT as defined in the BAT
Reference Document (BREF) on Large Combustion Plants, as adopted in 2006[4].
However, such alignment was not possible for some specific types of combustion
plants which were not, or insufficiently, covered by that or other BREFs.
Sections 2.1 to 2.3 provide more details on these specific reviews in the
context of the Commission's original IED proposal. 2.1. Intensive
livestock rearing The IPPC Directive covers the following types
of livestock rearing: ·
Intensive rearing of poultry with more than 40
000 places for poultry; ·
Intensive rearing of pigs with more than 2 000
places for production pigs (over 30 kg); ·
Intensive rearing of pigs with more than 750
places for sows. The Commission undertook two specific studies[5],[6]
to determine the most cost-effective measures to reduce ammonia emissions in
the agricultural sector. These studies identified options to clarify and extend
the scope of the IPPC Directive resulting in the Commission proposing the
following in its 2007 IPPC Recast proposal: i) Changes to the thresholds for poultry farms
to take account of the different types of birds and the differences in environmental
impacts thereof; and ii) The inclusion of a rule based on
equivalent nitrogen excretion factors for determining whether farms with
different poultry species or mixed pig and poultry farms, are subject to the
IPPC Directive. The co-legislators considered that the
revisions proposed by the Commission should not be incorporated within the
final legislative text at that time but that further reviews should be
undertaken to determine what, if any, action should be taken. Such reviews were
to be all-encompassing i.e. considering all of the environmental impacts of
such agricultural activities. 2.2. Combustion
installations below 50 MW Annex I of the IPPC Directive covers combustion
installations with a rated thermal input exceeding 50 MW. However, the contribution
of smaller combustion installations to the overall EU emissions of the key air
pollutants (SO2, NOx and particulate matter) was assessed
as part of the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution[7]
as being quite significant. Therefore, the IPPC Directive review in
2005-2007 considered several options for reducing emissions from combustion
installations between 20 and 50 MW. It was concluded that, for a range of
scenarios, applying different EU-wide emission limitations, the estimated
health benefits of regulating the emissions from this group of plants would
outweigh the economic compliance costs[8].
Accordingly, in its proposal for the IED, the
Commission proposed to lower the capacity threshold within the IED in order to
cover all combustion installations with a rated thermal input of 20 MW or more.
However, the co-legislators did not agree with this and reverted back to the 50
MW threshold of the IPPC Directive. Acknowledging the significance of emissions
from these installations, a requirement for the Commission to review the need
to establish the most suitable controls on emissions from combustion
installations below 50 MW was included within Article 73(2)(a) of the IED.
These reviews were to focus most effort on emissions to air given the identified
impacts on air quality of such activities. 2.3. Combustion
plants of 50 MW and more The emission limits for sulphur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides and dust for combustion plants with a rated thermal input of 50
MW or more established under the LCP Directive are "minimum
standards" and are without prejudice to the requirements of the IPPC
Directive. In particular, the application of BAT may lead to stricter emission
limit values being included in permits. However, it was found during the review
of the IPPC Directive in 2005-2007 that those limits were often applied as the
“default” levels for determining the permit conditions, even though in many
cases they were significantly higher than the emission levels associated with
BAT. Therefore, relying on the LCP Directive limit values could not ensure that
BAT is applied and this practice caused a deficit in the uptake of BAT within
this sector. Given the significant amount of SO2, NOx and
dust emitted by large combustion plants, this has had serious consequences in terms
of environmental and health impacts, which could be strongly reduced if BAT
would be implemented to the full extent[9]. In the IED the EU-wide emission limit values
have been aligned with the BAT-levels from the LCP BREF while the role of these
limit values as “minimum” requirements was clarified. However, for some types
of large combustion plants no BAT associated emission levels had been defined
in the BREFs. As a result, for the relevant categories (listed below and in
Article 30(8) and (9) of the IED), either no EU-wide minimum emission limit
values were defined in Annex V of the IED, or the limits set out in the LCP
Directive were maintained: (a)
diesel engines; (b)
recovery boilers within installations for the
production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials; (c)
combustion plants within refineries firing the
distillation and conversion residues from the refining of crude-oil for own
consumption, alone or with other fuels; (d)
combustion plants firing gases other than
natural gas; (e)
combustion plants in chemical installations
using liquid production residues as non-commercial fuel for own consumption. (f)
For these types of plants, Article 30(9) of the
IED requires the Commission to review, on the basis of BAT, the need to
establish EU-wide emission limit values or to amend the emission limit values
set out in Annex V. 3. Options
considered as part of the reviews undertaken by the Commission. Since the adoption of the IED, the Commission
has completed the reviews required building on newly collected information as
well as data collected as part of the original IPPC Directive review. In
addition, the Commission has reviewed the situation concerning the large
combustion plants referred to in Article 30(9). The results of this work are
summarised below. 3.1. Emissions
to the environment resulting from intensive livestock rearing 3.1.1. Intensive
rearing of cattle (Article 73(2)(b)) The Commission has identified that
approximately 90 million cattle are presently reared in the EU. This covers
dairy cattle (27%), heifers (7%) and bovine / other cattle (66%). Cattle are
spread amongst a very large number of businesses, approximately 3.5 million
farms, ranging in size from large centralised farms to smallholdings of only
one cow. Cattle rearing, covering all aspects of the raising of cows including
feeding and manure management, presently leads to air emissions of about
1 500 kt/year of ammonia (41% of total EU) and
7 000 kt/year methane (2% of total EU). Cattle rearing is also an
important factor in the pollution of ground and surface waters by nitrates,
with EU action to tackle such pollution taken through the Nitrates Directive[10]. The Commission's review has considered both the
control measures which can be applied to reduce emissions in the most
cost-effective way, and the regulatory/legislative options for implementing
those measures. For control measures, the Commission investigated the types of
techniques that exist in the EU at present, drawing conclusions on the basis of
existing Member State legislation that has defined BAT at a national level for
reduction of ammonia emissions. This includes measures relating to ensuring use
of good agricultural practice in overall farm management, the application of
feeding strategies, design of cattle housing, storage and treatment of manure
and slurry, and land spreading of manure and slurry. For the policy implementation, the Commission
assessed a number of options that might be applied to reduce air emissions from
cattle across the EU including: ·
Working with Member States and with the farming
industry to develop or build on existing voluntary schemes encouraging the
uptake of measures designed to limit emissions; ·
Including cattle farms within the scope of the
IED; ·
Developing specific legislation specifically
targeting emissions from the intensive rearing of cattle; ·
Cross-compliance measures under the Common
Agricultural Policy of the EU; and ·
Amendments to other legislation such as
Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution
caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. Note that BAT in the context of control
measures does not relate to the IED implementation option only, but considers
how BAT might be applied under all of the options examined. Three different scenarios were developed based
on the application of low, moderate and high levels of ambition for the
application of BAT to reduce ammonia emissions. On this basis reductions of
ammonia emissions of 109 to 188 kt/year could be achieved in comparison to
the baseline scenario for dairy farms with greater than 50 cattle. For other
cattle farm types with greater than 50 cattle, the emission reduction potential
ranges from 59 to 108 kt/year. An examination of the administrative and
compliance costs indicates that for all farm sizes the benefits of applying BAT
outweigh the costs to farmers. However, it is noted that benefits increase at a
greater rate than costs as farm size increases and the benefit/cost ratio is
more pronounced in the dairy sector in comparison to other cattle farms.
Furthermore, were a full IED permitting regime to be applied to all such farms
then approximately 12% of all dairy cattle farms and 23% of other cattle farms
would require a permit resulting in over 400 000 farms falling under IED for
the first time. This would still leave a majority of cattle installations
outside of an IED permitting regime and consequently fail to address emissions
from the majority of cattle across the EU. 3.1.2. Differentiated
capacity thresholds for the rearing of different poultry species, including the
specific case of quail (Article 73(3)(a)) The Commission has examined three possible
approaches for differentiating capacity thresholds for the rearing of different
poultry species: (1)
Livestock Units (LU) – a LU is used to compare
or aggregate numbers of animals of different species or categories based on the
food requirements of the animals, with 1 LU being equivalent to a cow weighing
600 kg and producing 3 000 litres of milk per year; (2)
Equivalent Nitrogen Excretion Factors (ENEF) –
comparison on the basis of the mean annual nitrogen excretion per animal; and (3)
Animal equivalence – a weighted approach based
on nitrogen and phosphorous excretion factors as well as other variables that
is currently applied in one Member State. These approaches have been considered for
changing the thresholds for poultry farms subject to the IED. As there is a
broad environmental equivalence between 2 000 place pig farms and 40 000
place broiler farms, the thresholds for other poultry types have been
calculated based on a 40 000 place broiler farm threshold. The application of
the three approaches shows considerable variations in the thresholds that may
be set for different poultry species under IED. For birds that are typically
smaller than broilers the thresholds could rise significantly, up to
85 000 – 320 000 places for quail. For birds that are typically
larger than broilers thresholds would be lowered, for turkey farms for example,
it would range from 9 200 to 21 000 places depending on the approach
used. Given the nature of different poultry farms
across the EU, it is apparent using all three calculation methods that the
modified thresholds would always lead to a net increase in the number of IED
poultry farms. Calculations of the costs and benefits of making such changes indicate
that between 900 and 3 200 installations would be included. Whilst in all
cases the costs of compliance would be significantly outweighed by the
environmental benefits of reduced ammonia, this would lead to limited ammonia
emissions reductions of between 4 and 35 kt/yr. Net annual benefits are
estimated as falling between €30 million to €1 billion per year. Furthermore,
additional benefits due to reduced dust and odour emissions would result from
the application of BAT. 3.1.3. Capacity
thresholds for the simultaneous rearing of different types of animals within
the same installation ('mixed farms') (Article 73(3)(b)) The review under Article 73(3)(b) of the IED
concerning mixed farms has similarities to the review under Article 73(3)(a)
concerning differentiated capacity thresholds for the rearing of different
poultry species in that the three main approaches identified for weighting
emissions for deriving thresholds are LU, ENEF and animal equivalence. The
Commission's review has identified that a number of Member States already
regulate mixed farms through the application of one of these three approaches.
The Commission has derived indicative farm emission reductions from the
application of BAT, an assessment of the costs and benefits of applying a rule
for mixed farms under Annex I of the IED and an estimate of the total number of
farms that might be affected across the EU. The results indicate that the
inclusion of mixed farms under the IED would result in ammonia emission
reductions of around 1 - 20 kt/yr. Furthermore, the cost of
compliance would be significantly outweighed by the benefits of ammonia
reduction, as well as other environmental benefits that would be achieved
including reduced methane emissions and releases of dust and odour. The net
annual benefits are estimated as falling between €5 - 540 million per
year. Approximately 600 to 1 800 farms would likely be affected by such
changes. The exact manner of calculating relevant
thresholds for mixed farms has also been examined. It is clear that for such an
approach to work, the exact manner of weighting environmental impacts from pigs
and poultry would have to be explained or even included within the legislation
itself to enable consistency in the calculations made at a Member State level. 3.2. Emissions
to air from the combustion of fuels 3.2.1. Combustion
of fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input below 50 MW
(Article 73(2)(a)) Extending on the work undertaken during the
IPPC Review, the Commission compiled additional information on the numbers,
capacity, fuel consumption and emissions of combustion plants between 1 and 50
MW. By filling the remaining data gaps through extrapolation, a sufficiently
complete dataset could be compiled to assess possible control options, albeit that
certain data limitations are acknowledged. The data set shows that combustion
installations between 1 and 50 MW are operated in a variety of sectors and are
used i.a. for heating, for generating electricity, as well as for generating
energy within a broad range of industrial activities. It was confirmed that many Member States
already regulate these plants to some extent, and a consideration of the
applicable legislation in Member States has helped to identify where
environmental benefits may be highest as a result of implementing EU wide
minimum emission limits. The following control options have been subject
to a preliminary assessment for the 1 - 50 MW combustion installations: 1.
regulating them as if this were a new activity
in Annex I of the IED, subject to EU wide emission limits for air emissions
(two different ambition levels were assessed); 2.
regulating them without a full permitting regime
but being subject to EU wide emission limits for air emissions. A distinction was made between three categories,
according to the rated thermal input of the plants: 1 – 5 MW,
5 - 20 MW and 20 - 50 MW. In addition, an option was explored based on
the use of product standards for new, 'off-the-shelf' plants within the
smallest capacity group, but its impacts could not be fully assessed. The preliminary assessment considered the
monetised environmental and health benefits as well as the economic impacts in
terms of compliance costs and administrative costs. This showed that in nearly
all scenarios the benefits significantly exceed the costs, showing the
potential gains of regulating these combustion plants at EU level.
Administrative costs – although generally much lower than the actual compliance
costs - may be restricted by opting for a regime without full permitting
requirements, in particular for the smaller capacity classes, such as already
exists for certain smaller installations under the IED. 3.2.2. Combustion
plants of 50 MW and more (Article 30(9)) The revision of several BREFs through the
information exchange under Article 13(3) of the IED is currently on-going. This
process will result in BAT conclusions[11] defining BAT and the
associated emission levels. The types of combustion plants listed in Article
30(9) will all be covered by one of the following BAT conclusions: Pulp and Paper, Mineral Oil and Gas Refineries, Manufacturing of
Large Volume Organic Chemicals and Large Combustion Plants (LCP). The IED has significantly strengthened the role
of the BAT conclusions in the setting of permit conditions and, in particular,
emission limit values. Article 15(3) requires that using the BAT-levels for
setting limit values has to be the rule, while Article 15(4) provides for the
possibility to derogate from this rule, albeit only for specific cases where
justified on the basis of a cost-benefit assessment. For combustion plants
being granted such derogations, the emission limit values in the permit shall,
however, not exceed the limit values set out in Annex V to the IED. The IED has also clarified the role of the EU-wide
limit values as "minimum" requirements. As foreseen in Article 73,
setting EU wide emission limit values for particular categories of
installations provides a "safety net" to ensure that no excessive
derogations from the BAT-levels are granted. However, the Commission considers
it important to allow Member States the opportunity to fully implement the upcoming
BAT conclusions via an update of the permits before concluding on the need for
such a safety net for certain categories of installations. For the particular
types of combustion plants mentioned in Article 30(9), in the absence of BAT
conclusions, let alone information about their eventual implementation, it is
not possible to assess at this stage the added benefits that new or amended EU
wide emission limit values would bring. Once the BAT conclusions for these plants have
been adopted, the reporting on their implementation by Member States under
Article 72 will allow the Commission to identify the need for additional
minimum safety net provisions. This will be reported by the Commission to the
European Parliament and to the Council under Article 73(1). 4. Next
steps In considering the possible actions to be taken
on the basis of the results of the reviews the Commission has given due
consideration to the costs and benefits that would arise. The links with other
initiatives must also be acknowledged and in particular: i) the Commission's proposal for the reform of
the Common Agricultural Policy[12]
allows for support to mitigation action to limiting emissions to air in
agriculture and forestry from key activities such as livestock production and
fertilizer use; ii) the recent revision of the Gothenburg
Protocol under the UNECE Convention on long-range transboundary air pollution
to abate acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone includes revised
ceilings for annual emissions of ammonia for the year 2020, as well as a review
clause for future action to curb ammonia emissions from the agricultural sector;
and iii) the Commission's review of the EU air
quality policy, scheduled for 2013, will look at the cost-effectiveness of a
range of further control options to reduce the health and environmental impacts
of air pollution, including from agriculture and combustion. Consequently, the Commission will take the
following actions with regard to the results of the reviews covered by this
Report. Action 1 – Emissions from cattle and
capacity thresholds for intensive livestock rearing under IED The results gathered from the review on the
control of emissions from the intensive rearing of cattle give a clear
indication of the benefits of taking action to reduce emissions of ammonia from
this sector. However, it is clear that emissions from the cattle sector should
not be considered in isolation from other animal farm types. Consequently,
recognising that the largest emission reductions relate to manure management
the Commission considers that a further in-depth examination of the
possibilities for reducing emissions from the spreading of manure for all farm
types should identify those aspects that offer the highest benefit-to-cost
ratio in tackling emissions, paying particular attention to potential
compliance and administrative burden costs for the farming sector and the need
for such costs to be proportionate to the potential benefits. Such a study will
be undertaken in 2013 and, as well as considering actions at an EU level, will
examine how individual Member States may look to tackle emissions at a national
level in order to comply with other EU legislation such as the National
Emission Ceilings Directive[13].
Information on techniques for the land spreading of manure and slurry from the
BAT Reference document for the intensive rearing of poultry and pigs will be
considered as part of this work and co-benefits in relation to reduction of
emissions other than ammonia will also be included. Furthermore, the results of the Commission's
review identify that whilst varying the capacity thresholds between different
poultry species and mixed species farms based on their environmental impact may
be beneficial in terms of environmental outcome, the emission potential
reduction is very limited. This conclusion supports the Commission's original
review undertaken under the IPPC Directive. However, given the recent adoption
of the IED, a further change to the relevant Annex I activity descriptions
would lead to a period of uncertainty for farmers whilst the outcome of the
ordinary legislative procedure was being negotiated. Therefore, the Commission
considers that the existing thresholds for poultry farms subject to the IED
should remain unchanged. Action 2 – Combustion of fuels in
installations with a total rated thermal input below 50 MW The Commission’s review has confirmed that
emissions of the key atmospheric pollutants from combustion installations below
50 MW can be controlled and substantially reduced at EU level in such a way
that the environmental and health benefits outweigh the compliance costs for
operators. Care needs to be taken in assessing potential options for a regulatory
approach in order to avoid excessive administrative costs, which could be the
result of an extensive permitting regime for the smaller installations, whilst
ensuring that potential co-benefits are considered. Given the significant
uncertainties identified, further elaboration and comparison of the impacts of
a selection of options is needed before robust conclusions can be drawn on
their merits. Therefore, a further deepening of the
assessment of the most promising options for controlling emissions from
combustion installations between 1 and 50 MW will be undertaken in the context
of the air pollution policy review. Action 3 – Combustion plants of 50 MW and
more The Commission considers that it would be
premature to set or modify EU-wide emission limit values in the IED for the
large combustion plants mentioned in Article 30(9). First of all, it is
foreseen that by the end of 2014, the Commission has adopted the BAT
conclusions covering these plants. After this, Member States will have four
years to reconsider and where necessary update the permits to ensure that BAT
is correctly implemented. Where the reporting on the implementation of
the IED by Member States would lead to the identification of a deficit in BAT
uptake for the installations concerned, the Commission will report thereon as
part of its tri-annual report to the EP and the Council foreseen under Article
73(1) and may initiate the establishment or updating of the EU-wide minimum
requirements. 5. Conclusion The reviews undertaken by the Commission under
Article 73(2)(a) and (b) and 73(3) have identified potential environmental
benefits that could be achieved as a result of either amending existing EU law
or the development of new instruments to tackle emissions from agricultural and
combustion activities. In the case of intensive livestock rearing, the
Commission does not intend to propose changes to Annex I of the IED at this
time for the activities listed in point 6.6 (intensive rearing of poultry
and/or pigs) or to include cattle farms given that these changes would deliver somewhat
limited environmental benefits while potentially imposing significant costs in
respect of administration and compliance to a large number of farms. However, it
is clear that emissions from spreading of manure are significant and further
studies should be completed with a view to determining if and how ammonia
emissions should be controlled at EU level, in particular through revisions to the
National Emission Ceilings Directive, a review of which is expected to be
completed in 2013 as part of the wider review of the Thematic Strategy on Air
Pollution and associated legislation. For the combustion of fuels in plants with a
rated thermal input less than 50 MW, a clear potential for cost-effective
abatement of air emissions was demonstrated and in a next step options for
potential regulatory action will be further assessed in an impact assessment
which will support the on-going review of the Thematic Strategy on Air
Pollution. For the large combustion plants listed in
Article 30(9) of the IED, the Commission considers that there is no need to
amend existing or establish new EU-wide emission limit values at this stage
given that the relevant BAT conclusions will continue to be published and incorporated
into the operating permits of installations as these are progressively updated. [1] OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p.17 [2] COM(2007) 844 final [3] Directive 2008/1/EC concerning integrated pollution
prevention and control (IPPC), Directive 1999/13/EC on solvents emissions, Directive
2000/76/EC on waste incineration, Directive 2001/80/EC on large combustion
plants (LCP) and Directives 78/176/EEC, 82/883/EEC and 92/112/EEC related to
the titanium dioxide industry [4] OJ C 253, 19.10.2006, p. 5 [5] Measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emission,
Final report to the Commission, IIASA, June 2007 [6] Impact assessment of a possible modification of the
IPPC Directive as regards intensive livestock rearing (part of a project on
integrated measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emissions carried out by
the consortium Alterra, Wageningen UR, EuroCare, University of Bonn and
A&F) June 2007 [7] COM(2005) 446 final [8] Assessment of the benefits and costs of the potential
application of the IPPC Directive (96/61/EC) to industrial combustion installations
with 20-50 MW rated thermal input, report for the European Commission, AEA
Technology, October 2007 [9] Evaluation of the costs and benefits of the
implementation of the IPPC Directive on Large Combustion Plant, AEA Technology,
July 2007 [10] Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of
waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. [11] ‘BAT conclusions’ means a document containing the parts
of a BAT reference document laying down the conclusions on best available
techniques, their description, information to assess their applicability, the
emission levels associated with the best available techniques, associated
monitoring, associated consumption levels and, where appropriate, relevant site
remediation measures [12] COM(2011) 627 final/2 [13] Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain
atmospheric pollutants (OJ L 309, 27.11.2001, p. 22)