Directive 2001/80/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

Article 4 U.K.

1. Without prejudice to Article 17 Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that all licences for the construction or, in the absence of such a procedure, for the operation of new plants which in the view of the competent authority are the subject of a full request for a licence before 27 November 2002, provided that the plant is put into operation no later than 27 November 2003 contain conditions relating to compliance with the emission limit values laid down in part A of Annexes III to VII in respect of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.

2. Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that all licences for the construction or, in the absence of such a procedure, for the operation of new plants, other than those covered by paragraph 1, contain conditions relating to compliance with the emission limit values laid down in part B of Annexes III to VII in respect of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust.

3. Without prejudice to Directive 96/61/EC and Council Directive 96/62/EC of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality assessment and management(1), Member States shall, by 1 January 2008 at the latest, achieve significant emission reductions by:

(a) taking appropriate measures to ensure that all licences for the operation of existing plants contain conditions relating to compliance with the emission limit values established for new plants referred to in paragraph 1; or

(b) ensuring that existing plants are subject to the national emission reduction plan referred to in paragraph 6;

and, where appropriate, applying Articles 5, 7 and 8.

4. Without prejudice to Directives 96/61/EC and 96/62/EC, existing plants may be exempted from compliance with the emission limit values referred to in paragraph 3 and from their inclusion in the national emission reduction plan on the following conditions:

(a) the operator of an existing plant undertakes, in a written declaration submitted by 30 June 2004 at the latest to the competent authority, not to operate the plant for more than 20 000 operational hours starting from 1 January 2008 and ending no later than 31 December 2015;

(b) the operator is required to submit each year to the competent authority a record of the used and unused time allowed for the plants' remaining operational life.

5. Member States may require compliance with emission limit values and time limits for implementation which are more stringent than those set out in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 and in Article 10. They may include other pollutants, and they may impose additional requirements or adaptation of plant to technical progress.

6. Member States may, without prejudice to this Directive and Directive 96/61/EC, and taking into consideration the costs and benefits as well as their obligations under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants(2) and Directive 96/62/EC, define and implement a national emission reduction plan for existing plants, taking into account, inter alia, compliance with the ceilings as set out in Annexes I and II.

The national emission reduction plan shall reduce the total annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and dust from existing plants to the levels that would have been achieved by applying the emission limit values referred to in paragraph 3 to the existing plants in operation in the year 2000, (including those existing plants undergoing a rehabilitation plan in 2000, approved by the competent authority, to meet emission reductions required by national legislation) on the basis of each plant's actual annual operating time, fuel used and thermal input, averaged over the last five years of operation up to and including 2000.

The closure of a plant included in the national emission reduction plan shall not result in an increase in the total annual emissions from the remaining plants covered by the plan.

The national emission reduction plan may under no circumstances exempt a plant from the provisions laid down in relevant Community legislation, including inter alia Directive 96/61/EC.

The following conditions shall apply to national emission reduction plans:

(a) the plan shall comprise objectives and related targets, measures and timetables for reaching these objectives and targets, and a monitoring mechanism;

(b) Member States shall communicate their national emission reduction plan to the Commission no later than 27 November 2003;

(c) within six months of the communication referred to in point (b) the Commission shall evaluate whether or not the plan meets the requirements of this paragraph. When the Commission considers that this is not the case, it shall inform the Member State and within the subsequent three months the Member State shall communicate any measures it has taken in order to ensure that the requirements of this paragraph are met;

(d) the Commission shall, no later than 27 November 2002, develop guidelines to assist Member States in the preparation of their plans.

7. Not later than 31 December 2004 and in the light of progress towards protecting human health and attaining the Community's environmental objectives for acidification and for air quality pursuant to Directive 96/62/EC, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council in which it shall assess:

(a) the need for further measures;

(b) the amounts of heavy metals emitted by large combustion plants;

(c) the cost-effectiveness and costs and advantages of further emission reductions in the combustion plants sector in Member States compared to other sectors;

(d) the technical and economic feasibility of such emission reductions;

(e) the effects of both the standards set for the large combustion plants sector including the provisions for indigenous solid fuels, and the competition situation in the energy market, on the environment and the internal market;

(f) any national emission reduction plans provided by Member States in accordance with paragraph 6.

The Commission shall include in its report an appropriate proposal of possible end dates or of lower limit values for the derogation contained in footnote 2 to Annex VI A.

8. The report referred to in paragraph 7 shall, as appropriate, be accompanied by related proposals, having regard to Directive 96/61/EC.

(1)

OJ L 296, 21.11.1996, p. 55.

(2)

See p. 22 of this Edition of the Official Journal.