Purpose

This notice sets out how the Industrial Emissions Best Available Technique (BAT) regime would be affected from 1 January 2021.

There is a large body of existing EU industrial emissions law which aims to protect the environment and human health. The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) recasts seven earlier pieces of industrial emissions legislation into one integrated framework.

The seven earlier pieces of legislation are:

• the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive
• the Large Combustion Plants Directive
• the Waste Incineration Directive
• the Solvents Emissions Directive
• three Directives on titanium dioxide

It takes an integrated approach to controlling pollution to air, water and land, and sets challenging industry standards for the most polluting industries. The IED aims to prevent and reduce harmful industrial emissions, while promoting the use of techniques that reduce pollutant emissions and that are energy and resource efficient.

Larger industrial facilities undertaking specific types of activity are required to use Best Available Techniques (BAT) to reduce emissions to air, water and land. BAT means the available techniques which are the best for preventing or minimising emissions and impacts on the environment. ‘Techniques’ include both the technology used and the way the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned.

The European Commission produces public BAT reference documents (BREFs). BREFs include BAT Conclusions that contain emission limits associated with BAT, which must not be exceeded unless agreed by the relevant competent authority.

Standards from 1 January 2021

The UK is committed to maintaining environmental standards after the UK leaves the EU and will continue to apply the existing successful model of integrated pollution control. The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 maintains established environmental principles and ensures that existing EU environmental law will continue to have effect in UK law, including the IED and BAT Conclusion Implementing Decision made under it.

The UK government is introducing secondary legislation under the EU Withdrawal Act 2018, and further legislation in the devolved administrations where required, to ensure the domestic legislation that implements the IED (including the Transitional National Plan) can continue to operate after exit. This will amend current legislation to correct references to EU legislation, transfer powers from EU institutions to UK institutions and ensure we meet international agreement obligations.

The European Commission holds a power to establish BAT Conclusions for the purpose of environmental permitting for activities within the scope of the IED, which are based on BREFs developed through the EU-level Sevilla process. From 1 January 2021, the UK will no longer be part of the Sevilla process.

The UK government would make secondary legislation to ensure the existing BAT Conclusions continue to have effect in UK law after we leave the EU, to provide powers to adopt future BAT Conclusions in the UK and ensure the devolved administrations maintain powers to determine BAT through their regulatory regimes.

The UK government will put in place a process for determining future UK BAT Conclusions for industrial emissions. This would be developed with the devolved administrations and competent authorities across the UK. The UK government’s Clean Air Strategy for England sets out actions for determining future UK Best Available Techniques for industrial emissions.

It is the government’s aim to ensure that the future UK BAT regime continues to endorse the collaborative approach of the current system and industry will be a part of that approach.

The UK BAT system would also consider the effects of the EU approach.

More information

This notice is meant for guidance only. You should consider whether you need separate professional advice before making specific preparations.

Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and participate in other EU arrangements. As such, in many areas, these countries adopt EU rules. Where this is the case, these technical notices may also apply to them, and EEA businesses and citizens should consider whether they need to take any steps to prepare.