26-Jun-2006
- More businesses who have a low environmental
impact are set to benefit from lower charges following
a guidance review by the Environment Agency.
"Many businesses under
Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) have a genuinely
low environmental impact potential, so need minimal
regulatory effort from the Environment Agency.
The existing ‘low impact installation’ qualifying
criteria was difficult for such operators to meet
and so following a review, the Environment Agency
has amended the criteria to provide a broader
approach," said Martin Bigg, the Environment
Agency’s Head of Industry Regulation.
The PPC regulations are enforced
by the Environment Agency and set limits on how
much a company is permitted to emit in pollution
into the environment.
"The ‘low impact installation’
guidance and charging scheme was introduced voluntarily
by the Environment Agency in 2000, although it
is under no legal obligation to do so. Following
a recent consultation with a number of trade bodies
and in agreement with Defra, more installations
will potentially be classified as ‘low impact
installations’, allowing them to benefit from
reduced PPC charges," he added.
Waste production, emissions
of polluting substances and energy consumption
are just some of the changes to the criteria.
For example, under the previous guidance to be
classified as a low impact installation, one condition
was that an installation could not release more
the 20m³ of waste water per day. Both operators
and Agency specialists agreed this limit was set
too low and so this has now been revised to 50m³
under the new guidance.
"These changes, which came
into force on 26 June 2006, do not pose a risk
on the environment. It ensures a fairer charging
scheme for good environmental performers in industry
and is in keeping with the Environment Agency’s
commitment to a proportionate, risk-based approach
to modern regulation," added Dr Bigg.
Head Office Press Office
