European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR)

KEY POINTS

The E-PRTR is available to the public free of charge on the internet. The information it contains can be searched using various criteria (type of pollutant, geographical location, affected environment, source facility, etc.).

Content of the E-PRTR

• The register contains information on releases of pollutants to air, water and land, as well as off-site transfers of pollutants present in waste-water and waste. The register covers 91 pollutants as listed in Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 166/2006, including greenhouse gases, heavy metals, pesticides, and chlorinated organic substances.
• Releases are required to be reported when they exceed a certain threshold and originate from one of the 65 activities listed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 166/2006. The majority of these activities are also regulated under Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (see summary) and comprise, in particular, the facilities covered by the following sectors:
  • energy production,
  • production and processing of metals,
  • mineral industry,
  • chemical industry,
  • waste and wastewater management,
  • paper and wood production and processing,
  • intensive livestock production and aquaculture,
  • animal and vegetable products from the food and beverage sector, and
  • other activities e.g. producing textiles, leather tanning.
• Where available, the register also provides information on releases from diffuse sources of air and diffuse sources of water.

How the E-PRTR works

• Amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1010 requires:
  • operators of each industrial facility to send their competent national authority information on their pollutant releases and transfers every year. This information covers pollutants to air, water and land, as well as off-site transfers of pollutants present in waste-water and waste;
  • EU countries at national level to collate and check this information;
  • national authorities to send this information by electronic transfer to the Commission within 11 months of the end of the reporting year;
  • the Commission, assisted by the European Environment Agency, to incorporate the information reported by the EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland into the E-PRTR within 1 month.

• Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1741:
  • specifies the electronic format to be developed by EU countries for this reporting process, as well as the information to be supplied by EU countries;
  • unless otherwise specified in the Annex to the decision, the information was to be first submitted for the reporting year 2019;
  • information in Sections 1 to 4 of the Annex must reach the Commission, at the latest, by 30 September of the following reporting year;
  • information in Sections 5 to 10 of the Annex must reach the Commission at the latest, by 30 November of the following reporting year;
  • is to be reviewed by 31 December 2024 to assess the feasibility of progressing towards the objective of earlier public availability of E-PRTR data.
• These amendments reduce from 16 months to 12 months the incorporation of the information reported by EU countries into the European PRTR, thus allowing the public more rapid access to this information.

Public participation

The regulation is a key instrument in delivering the requirements of the Aarhus convention as it provides the public with the opportunity to be involved in environmental decision making.