Legal provisions of COM(1996)538 - Limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain industrial activities

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dossier COM(1996)538 - Limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain industrial activities.
document COM(1996)538 EN
date March 11, 1999


Contents

Article 1 - Purpose and scope

The purpose of this Directive is to prevent or reduce the direct and indirect effects of emissions of volatile organic compounds into the environment, mainly into air, and the potential risks to human health, by providing measures and procedures to be implemented for the activities defined in Annex I, in so far as they are operated above the solvent consumption thresholds listed in Annex IIA.

Article 2 - Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive:

1. installation shall mean a stationary technical unit where one or more activities falling within the scope defined in Article 1 are carried out, and any other directly associated activities which have a technical connection with the activities carried out on that site and which could have an effect on emissions;

2. existing installation shall mean an installation in operation or, in accordance with legislation existing before the date on which this Directive is brought into effect, an installation which is authorised or registered or, in the view of the competent authority, the subject of a full request for authorisation, provided that the installation is put into operation no later than one year after the date on which this Directive is brought into effect;

3. small installation shall mean an installation which falls within the lower threshold band of items 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 or 17 of Annex IIA or for the other activities of Annex IIA which have a solvent consumption of less than 10 tonnes/year;

4. substantial change

- for an installation falling within the scope of Directive 96/61/EC, shall have the definition specified in that Directive,

- for a small installation, shall mean a change of the nominal capacity leading to an increase of emissions of volatile organic compounds of more than 25 %. Any change that may have, in the opinion of the competent authority, significant negative effects on human health or the environment is also a substantial change,

- for all other installations, shall mean a change of the nominal capacity leading to an increase of emissions of volatile organic compounds of more than 10 %. Any change that may have, in the opinion of the competent authority, significant negative effects on human health or the environment is also a substantial change;

5. competent authority shall mean the authority or authorities or bodies responsible under the legal provisions of the Member States for carrying out the obligations arising from this Directive;

6. operator shall mean any natural or legal person who operates or controls the installation or, where this is provided for in national legislation, to whom decisive economic power over the technical functioning of the installation has been delegated;

7. authorisation shall mean a written decision by which the competent authority grants permission to operate all or part of an installation;

8. registration shall mean a procedure, specified in a legal act, involving at least notification to the competent authority by the operator of the intention to operate an installation or activity falling within the scope of this Directive;

9. emission shall mean any discharge of volatile organic compounds from an installation into the environment;

10. fugitive emissions shall mean any emissions not in waste gases of volatile organic compounds into air, soil and water as well as, unless otherwise stated in Annex IIA, solvents contained in any products. They include uncaptured emissions released to the outside environment via windows, doors, vents and similar openings;

11. waste gases shall mean the final gaseous discharge containing volatile organic compounds or other pollutants, from a stack or abatement equipment into air. The volumetric flow rates shall be expressed in m³/h at standard conditions;

12. total emissions shall mean the sum of fugitive emissions and emissions in waste gases;

13. emission limit value shall mean the mass of volatile organic compounds, expressed in terms of certain specific parameters, concentration, percentage and/or level of an emission, calculated at standard conditions, N, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time;

14. substances shall mean any chemical element and its compounds, as they occur in the natural state or as produced by industry, whether in solid or liquid or gaseous form;

15. preparation shall mean mixtures or solutions composed of two or more substances;

16. organic compound shall mean any compound containing at least the element carbon and one or more of hydrogen, halogens, oxygen, sulphur, phosphorus, silicon or nitrogen, with the exception of carbon oxides and inorganic carbonates and bicarbonates;

17. volatile organic compound (VOC) shall mean any organic compound having at 293,15 K a vapour pressure of 0,01 kPa or more, or having a corresponding volatility under the particular conditions of use. For the purpose of this Directive, the fraction of creosote which exceeds this value of vapour pressure at 293,15 K shall be considered as a VOC;

18. organic solvent shall mean any VOC which is used alone or in combination with other agents, and without undergoing a chemical change, to dissolve raw materials, products or waste materials, or is used as a cleaning agent to dissolve contaminants, or as a dissolver, or as a dispersion medium, or as a viscosity adjuster, or as a surface tension adjuster, or a plasticiser, or as a preservative;

19. halogenated organic solvent shall mean an organic solvent which contains at least one atom of bromine, chlorine, fluorine or iodine per molecule;

20. coating shall mean any preparation, including all the organic solvents or preparations containing organic solvents necessary for its proper application, which is used to provide a decorative, protective or other functional effect on a surface;

21. adhesive shall mean any preparation, including all the organic solvents or preparations containing organic solvents necessary for its proper application, which is used to adhere separate parts of a product;

22. ink shall mean a preparation, including all the organic solvents or preparations containing organic solvents necessary for its proper application, which is used in a printing activity to impress text or images on to a surface;

23. varnish shall mean a transparent coating;

24. consumption shall mean the total input of organic solvents into an installation per calendar year, or any other 12-month period, less any VOCs that are recovered for reuse;

25. input shall mean the quantity of organic solvents and their quantity in preparations used when carrying out an activity, including the solvents recycled inside and outside the installation, and which are counted every time they are used to carry out the activity;

26. reuse of organic solvents shall mean the use of organic solvents recovered from an installation for any technical or commercial purpose and including use as a fuel but excluding the final disposal of such recovered organic solvent as waste;

27. mass flow shall mean the quantity of VOCs released, in unit of mass/hour;

28. nominal capacity shall mean the maximum mass input of organic solvents by an installation averaged over one day, if the installation is operated under conditions of normal operation at its design output;

29. normal operation shall mean all periods of operation of an installation or activity except start-up and shut-down operations and maintenance of equipment;

30. contained conditions shall mean conditions under which an installation is operated such that the VOCs released from the activity are collected and discharged in a controlled way either via a stack or abatement equipment and are therefore not entirely fugitive;

31. standard conditions shall mean a temperature of 273,15 K and a pressure of 101,3 kPa;

32. average over 24 hours shall mean the arithmetic average of all valid readings taken during the 24-hour period of normal operation;

33. start-up and shut-down operations shall mean operations whilst bringing an activity, an equipment item or a tank into or out of service or into or out of an idling state. Regularly oscillating activity phases are not to be considered as start-ups and shut-downs.

Article 3 - Obligations applying to new installations

Member States shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that:

1. all new installations comply with Articles 5, 8 and 9;

2. all new installations not covered by Directive 96/61/EC are registered or undergo authorisation before being put into operation.

Article 4 - Obligations applying to existing installations

Without prejudice to Directive 96/61/EC, Member States shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that:

1. existing installations comply with Articles 5, 8 and 9 no later than 31 October 2007;

2. all existing installations must have been registered or authorised by 31 October 2007 at the latest;

3. those installations to be authorised or registered using the reduction scheme of Annex IIB notify this to the competent authorities by 31 October 2005 at the latest;

4. where an installation:

- undergoes a substantial change, or

- comes within the scope of this Directive for the first time following a substantial change,

that part of the installation which undergoes the substantial change shall be treated either as a new installation or as an existing installation, provided that the total emissions of the whole installation do not exceed those that would have resulted had the substantially changed part been treated as a new installation.

Article 5 - Requirements

1. Member States shall take the appropriate measures, either by specification in the conditions of the authorisation or by general binding rules to ensure that paragraphs 2 to 12 are complied with.

2. All installations shall comply with:

(a) either the emission limit values in waste gases and the fugitive emission values, or the total emission limit values, and other requirements laid down in Annex IIA;

or

(b) the requirements of the reduction scheme specified in Annex IIB.

3. (a) For fugitive emissions, Member States shall apply fugitive emission values to installations as an emission limit value. However, where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the competent authority that for an individual installation this value is not technically and economically feasible, the competent authority can make an exception for such an individual installation provided that significant risks to human health or the environment are not to be expected. For each derogation, the operator must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the competent authority that the best available technique is being used;

(b) activities which cannot be operated under contained conditions may be exempted from the controls of Annex IIA, when this possibility is explicitly mentioned in that Annex. The reduction scheme of Annex IIB is then to be used, unless it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the competent authority that this option is not technically and economically feasible. In this case, the operator must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the competent authority that the best available technique is being used.

Member States shall report to the Commission on the derogation concerning paragraphs (a) and (b) in accordance with Article 11.

4. For installations not using the reduction scheme, any abatement equipment installed after the date on which this Directive is brought into effect shall meet all the requirements of Annex IIA.

5. Installations where two or more activities are carried out, each of which exceeds the thresholds in Annex IIA shall:

(a) as regards the substances specified in paragraphs 6, 7 and 8, meet the requirements of those paragraphs for each activity individually;

(b) as regards all other substances, either:

(i) meet the requirements of paragraph 2 for each activity individually; or

(ii) have total emissions not exceeding those that would have resulted had point (i) been applied.

6. Substances or preparations which, because of their content of VOCs classified as carcinogens, mutagens, or toxic to reproduction under Directive 67/548/EEC (10), are assigned or need to carry the risk phrases R45, R46, R49, R60, R61, shall be replaced, as far as possible and by taking into account the guidance as mentioned in Article 7(1), by less harmful substances or preparations within the shortest possible time.

7. For discharges of the VOCs referred to in paragraph 6, where the mass flow of the sum of the compounds causing the labelling referred to in that paragraph is greater than, or equal to, 10 g/h, an emission limit value of 2 mg/Nm³ shall be complied with. The emission limit value refers to the mass sum of the individual compounds.

8. For discharges of halogenated VOCs which are assigned the risk phrase R40, where the mass flow of the sum of the compounds causing the labelling R40 is greater than, or equal to, 100 g/h, an emission limit value of 20 mg/Nm³ shall be complied with. The emission limit value refers to the mass sum of the individual compounds.

The discharge of VOCs referred to in paragraphs 6 and 8 shall be controlled as emissions from an installation under contained conditions as far as technically and economically feasible to safeguard public health and the environment.

9. Discharges of those VOCs which, after the entry into force of this Directive, are assigned or need to carry one of the risk phrases mentioned in paragraphs 6 and 8, shall have to comply with the emission limit values mentioned in paragraphs 7 and 8 respectively, within the shortest possible time.

10. All appropriate precautions shall be taken to minimise emissions during start-up and shut-down.

11. Existing installations which operate existing abatement equipment and comply with the following emission limit values:

- 50 mg C/Nm³ in the case of incineration,

- 150 mg C/Nm³ in the case of any other abatement equipment,

shall be exempt from the waste gases emission limit values in the table in Annex IIA for a period of 12 years after the date referred to in Article 15, provided the total emissions of the whole installation do not exceed those that would have resulted had all the requirements of the table been met.

12. Neither the reduction scheme nor the application of paragraph 11 nor Article 6 exempt installations discharging substances specified in paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 from fulfilling the requirements of those paragraphs.

13. Where a risk assessment is carried out in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 (11) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 (12) or Council Directive 67/548/EEC and Commission Directive 93/67/EEC (13) of any of the substances causing the labelling R40, R60 or R61 which are controlled under this Directive, the Commission shall consider the conclusions of the risk assessment and shall take the necessary measures as appropriate.

Article 6 - National plans

1. Without prejudice to Directive 96/61/EC, Member States may define and implement national plans for reducing emissions from the activities and industrial installations covered by Article 1, excluding activities 4 and 11 of Annex IIA. None of the other activities may be excluded from the scope of this Directive by means of a national plan. These plans shall result in a reduction of the annual emissions of VOCs from existing installations covered by this Directive by at least the same amount and within the same time frame as would have been achieved by applying the emission limits under Article 5(2) and (3) and Annex II, during the validity period of the national plan. The national plan, if necessary updated, will be resubmitted to the Commission every three years.

A Member State which defines and implements national plans may exempt existing installations from implementation of the emission limit values laid down in Article 5(2) and (3) and Annex II. A national plan may under no circumstances exempt an existing installation from the provisions laid down in Directive 96/61/EC.

2. A national plan shall include a list of the measures taken or to be taken to ensure that the aim specified in paragraph 1 will be achieved, including details of the proposed plan monitoring mechanism. It shall also include binding interim reduction targets against which progress towards the aim can be measured. It shall be compatible with the relevant existing Community legislation, including the relevant provisions of this Directive, and shall include:

- an identification of the activity or activities to which the plan applies,

- the reduction in emissions to be achieved by those activities which corresponds to that which would have been achieved by applying the emission limits as specified in paragraph 1,

- the number of installations affected by the plan and their total emissions and the total emission of each of the activities.

The plan shall also include a full description of the range of instruments through which its requirements will be achieved, evidence that these instruments will be enforceable and details of the means by which compliance with the plan will be demonstrated.

3. The Member State shall submit the plan to the Commission. The plan must be accompanied by supporting documentation sufficient to verify that the aim of paragraph 1 will be achieved, including any documentation specifically requested by the Commission. Existing installations undergoing a substantial change shall remain within the scope of the national plan, provided that they were part of this plan before undergoing such substantial change.

4. The Member State shall designate a national authority for the collection and evaluation of the information required by paragraph 3 and for the implementation of the national plan.

5. (a) The Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 13 of the criteria for assessing national plans, one year after the entry into force of this Directive at the latest.

(b) If the Commission, in considering the plan, the resubmitted plan, or in considering the progress reports submitted by the Member State under Article 11, is not satisfied that the objectives of the plan will be achieved within the prescribed period, it shall inform the Member State and the committee referred to in Article 13 of its opinion and of the reasons for reaching such an opinion. It shall do so within six months of receipt of the plan or report. The Member State shall then notify the Commission and inform the committee, within three months, of the corrective measures it will take in order to ensure that the objectives are achieved.

6. If the Commission decides within six months of the notification of the corrective measures that those measures are insufficient to ensure that the objective of the plan is achieved within the prescribed period, the Member State shall be obliged to satisfy the requirements of Article 5(2) and (3) and Annex II within the period specified in this Directive in the case of existing installations. The Commission shall inform the committee referred to in Article 13 of its decision.

Article 7 - Substitution

1. The Commission shall ensure that an exchange of information between Member States and the activities concerned on the use of organic substances and their potential substitutes takes place. It shall consider the questions of:

- fitness for use,

- potential effects on human health and occupational exposure in particular;

- potential effects on the environment, and

- the economic consequences, in particular, the costs and benefits of the options available,

with a view to providing guidance on the use of substances and techniques which have the least potential effects on air, water, soil, ecosystems and human health. Following the exchange of information, the Commission shall publish guidance for each activity.

2. Member States shall ensure that the guidance referred to in paragraph 1 is taken into account during authorisation and during the formulation of general binding rules.

Article 8 - Monitoring

1. Member States shall introduce an obligation for the operator of an installation covered by this Directive to supply the competent authority once a year or on request with data that enables the competent authority to verify compliance with this Directive.

2. Member States shall ensure that channels to which abatement equipment is connected, and which at the final point of discharge emit more than an average of 10 kg/h of total organic carbon, are monitored continuously for compliance.

3. In the other cases, Member States shall ensure that either continuous or periodic measurements are carried out. For periodic measurements at least three readings shall be obtained during each measurement exercise.

4. Measurements are not required in the case where end-of-pipe abatement equipment is not needed to comply with this Directive.

5. The Commission shall organise an exchange of information on the use of solvent management plans in Member States based on the data for the implementation of this Directive in the three years following the date referred to in Article 15.

Article 9 - Compliance with emission limit values

1. Compliance with the following shall be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the competent authority:

- emission limit values in waste gases, fugitive emission values and total emission limit values,

- the requirements of the reduction scheme under Annex IIB,

- the provisions of Article 5(3).

Guidance is provided in Annex III on solvent management plans serving to demonstrate compliance with these parameters.

Gas volumes may be added to the waste gas for cooling or dilution purposes where technically justified but shall not be considered when determining the mass concentration of the pollutant in the waste gas.

2. Following a substantial change, compliance shall be reverified.

3. In the case of continuous measurements the emission limit values shall be considered to be complied with if:

(a) none of the averages over 24 hours of normal operation exceeds the emission limit values, and

(b) none of the hourly averages exceeds the emission limit values by more than a factor of 1,5.

4. In the case of periodic measurements the emission limit values shall be considered to be complied with if, in one monitoring exercise:

(a) the average of all the readings does not exceed the emission limit values, and

(b) none of the hourly averages exceeds the emission limit value by more than a factor of 1,5.

5. Compliance with the provisions of Article 5(7) and (8) shall be verified on the basis of the sum of the mass concentrations of the individual volatile organic compounds concerned. For all other cases, compliance shall be verified on the basis of the total mass of organic carbon emitted unless otherwise specified in Annex IIA.

Article 10 - Non-compliance

Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, if it is found that the requirements of this Directive have been breached:

(a) the operator informs the competent authority and takes measures to ensure that compliance is restored within the shortest possible time;

(b) in cases of non-compliance causing immediate danger to human health and as long as compliance is not restored under the conditions of paragraph (a), operation of the activity is suspended.

Article 11 - Information systems and reporting

1. At intervals of three years, Member States shall send information to the Commission on the implementation of this Directive in the form of a report. The report shall be drawn up on the basis of a questionnaire or outline drafted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6 of Directive 91/692/EEC (14). The questionnaire or outline shall be sent to the Member States six months before the start of the period covered by the report. The report shall be made to the Commission within nine months of the end of the three-year period covered by it. Member States shall publish the reports produced at the same time as they are transmitted to the Commission, subject to the restrictions laid down in Article 3(2) and (3) of Directive 90/313/EEC (15). The first report shall cover the period of the first three years after the date referred to in Article 15.

2. The information submitted under paragraph 1 shall, in particular, include sufficient representative data to demonstrate that the requirements of Article 5 and as the case may be, the requirements of Article 6 have been complied with.

3. The Commission shall draw up a report on the implementation of this Directive on the basis of the data provided by the Member States at the latest five years after the first reports are submitted by the Member States. The Commission shall submit this report to the European Parliament and the Council, accompanied by proposals if necessary.

Article 12 - Public access to information

1. Without prejudice to Directive 90/313/EEC, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that at least applications for authorisation for new installations or for substantial changes of those installations requiring a permit under Directive 96/61/EC are made available for an appropriate period of time to the public, to enable it to comment on them before the competent authority reaches a decision. Without prejudice to Directive 96/61/EC, no obligation to reformat the information for the public is implied.

The decision of the competent authority, including at least a copy of the authorisation, and any subsequent updates, must also be made available to the public.

The general binding rules applicable for installations and the list of registered and authorised activities shall be made available to the public.

2. The results of emission-monitoring as required under the authorisation or registration conditions referred to in Articles 8 and 9 and held by the competent authority must be made available to the public.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply, subject to the restrictions regarding grounds for refusal by public authorities to provide information, including commercial and industrial confidentiality, laid down in Article 3(2) and (3) of Directive 90/313/EEC.

Article 13 - Committee

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an advisory nature composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.

The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes.

The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform the committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

Article 14 - Sanctions

Member States shall determine the sanctions applicable to breaches of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all necessary measures for their implementation. The sanctions determined must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member States shall notify these provisions to the Commission at the latest by the date mentioned in Article 15, and shall notify any subsequent modification of them as soon as possible.

Article 15 - Transposition

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than . . . April 2001. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 16 - Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 17 - Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.