The Large Combustion Plants (Transitional National Plan) Regulations 2015

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations form part of the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (Recast) in the United Kingdom. Article 32 of the Directive allows Member States to exempt combustion plants which are specified in a Transitional National Plan from the requirement to comply with emission limit values for certain pollutants in Article 30(2) during the period from 1st January 2016 to 30th June 2020. The United Kingdom has produced a Transitional National Plan which was submitted to the European Commission on 20th October 2015 and these Regulations give effect to the exemptions permitted under Article 32 in relation to the plants specified in it.

Regulation 3 requires the Secretary of State to provide to the Environment Agency certain information within one month of the date specified in regulation 1(2) (which is the date on which regulation 3 comes into force). It provides that the Secretary of State may notify the Environment Agency of variations to that information from time to time, having consulted the Devolved Administrations.

Regulation 4 requires the Environment Agency to establish and maintain a register which contains the information identified in Schedule 1. The Environment Agency must record on the register any information received from the Secretary of State under regulation 3. The register must be available on the internet, and the national environmental regulators for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must include on their own websites links to the register.

Regulation 5 requires the national environmental regulators to exercise their functions so as to ensure that the operator of a participating plant to which the Transitional National Plan applies does not exceed the emission allowance for that plant as recorded in the register (which allowance may have been adjusted to reflect transfers of emission allowances between participating plants under regulation 7).

Regulation 6 requires the national environmental regulators to require operators of participating plants to submit quarterly reports of emissions, which information is to be published on the register (subject to any adjustments for accuracy made by the national environmental regulator).

Regulation 7 provides that emission allowances for individual calendar years may be transferred between participating plants, and transfers must be notified to the Environment Agency for the purpose of recording them on the register. A transfer which is not notified correctly is void.

Regulation 8 provides that where a participating plant is to close or to reduce in size so as to no longer be a large combustion plant (and so fall outside the scope of the Directive) the national environmental regulator must determine the appropriate emission allowance for that plant in respect of the calendar year in which the change will take effect, and this must be recorded on the register.

Regulation 9 allows the Environment Agency to share the costs incurred in relation to the register with the national environmental regulators for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Regulation 10 and Schedule 2 provide for consequential amendments to other statutory instruments.

Regulation 11 revokes the Large Combustion Plants (National Emission Reduction Plan) Regulations 2007, subject to a saving in respect of certain definitions in paragraph (2).

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from the Better Regulation Programme, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.