Where information supplied in accordance with the requirements provided for in Directive 85/337/EEC or a safety report prepared in accordance with Directive 96/82/EC or other information produced in response to other legislation fulfils any of the requirements of paragraph 1, that information may be included in, or attached to, the application.

In order to draw up, review and, where necessary, update BAT reference documents, the Commission shall organise an exchange of information between Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection and the Commission.

The Commission shall obtain and make publicly available the opinion of the forum on the proposed content of the BAT reference documents and shall take into account this opinion for the procedures laid down in paragraph 5.

Decisions on the BAT conclusions shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 75(2).

After the adoption of a decision in accordance with paragraph 5, the Commission shall without delay make the BAT reference document publicly available and ensure that BAT conclusions are made available in all the official languages of the Union.

Pending the adoption of a relevant decision in accordance with paragraph 5, the conclusions on best available techniques from BAT reference documents adopted by the Commission prior to the date referred to in Article 83 shall apply as BAT conclusions for the purposes of this Chapter except for Article 15(3) and (4).

For the purpose of paragraph 1(a), emission limit values may be supplemented or replaced by equivalent parameters or technical measures ensuring an equivalent level of environmental protection.

BAT conclusions shall be the reference for setting the permit conditions.

Without prejudice to Article 18, the competent authority may set stricter permit conditions than those achievable by the use of the best available techniques as described in the BAT conclusions. Member States may establish rules under which the competent authority may set such stricter conditions.

Where an activity or a type of production process carried out within an installation is not covered by any of the BAT conclusions or where those conclusions do not address all the potential environmental effects of the activity or process, the competent authority shall, after prior consultations with the operator, set the permit conditions on the basis of the best available techniques that it has determined for the activities or processes concerned, by giving special consideration to the criteria listed in Annex III.

For installations referred to in point 6.6 of Annex I, paragraphs 1 to 6 of this Article shall apply without prejudice to the legislation relating to animal welfare.

The emission limit values for polluting substances shall apply at the point where the emissions leave the installation, and any dilution prior to that point shall be disregarded when determining those values.

With regard to indirect releases of polluting substances into water, the effect of a water treatment plant may be taken into account when determining the emission limit values of the installation concerned, provided that an equivalent level of protection of the environment as a whole is guaranteed and provided this does not lead to higher levels of pollution in the environment.

Without prejudice to Article 18, the emission limit values and the equivalent parameters and technical measures referred to in Article 14(1) and (2) shall be based on the best available techniques, without prescribing the use of any technique or specific technology.

The competent authority may grant temporary derogations from the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article and from Article 11(a) and (b) for the testing and use of emerging techniques for a total period of time not exceeding 9 months, provided that after the period specified, either the technique is stopped or the activity achieves at least the emission levels associated with the best available techniques.

The monitoring requirements referred to in Article 14(1)(c) shall, where applicable, be based on the conclusions on monitoring as described in the BAT conclusions.

The frequency of the periodic monitoring referred to in Article 14(1)(e) shall be determined by the competent authority in a permit for each individual installation or in general binding rules.

Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, periodic monitoring shall be carried out at least once every 5 years for groundwater and 10 years for soil, unless such monitoring is based on a systematic appraisal of the risk of contamination.

When adopting general binding rules, Member States shall ensure an integrated approach and a high level of environmental protection equivalent to that achievable with individual permit conditions.

General binding rules shall be based on the best available techniques, without prescribing the use of any technique or specific technology in order to ensure compliance with Articles 14 and 15.

Member States shall ensure that general binding rules are updated to take into account developments in best available techniques and in order to ensure compliance with Article 21.

General binding rules adopted in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 3 shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the operator informs the competent authority of any planned change in the nature or functioning, or an extension of the installation which may have consequences for the environment. Where appropriate, the competent authority shall update the permit.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that no substantial change planned by the operator is made without a permit granted in accordance with this Directive.

The application for a permit and the decision by the competent authority shall cover those parts of the installation and those details listed in Article 12 which may be affected by the substantial change.

Any change in the nature or functioning or an extension of an installation shall be deemed to be substantial if the change or extension in itself reaches the capacity thresholds set out in Annex I.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the competent authority periodically reconsiders in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 5 all permit conditions and, where necessary to ensure compliance with this Directive, updates those conditions.

At the request of the competent authority, the operator shall submit all the information necessary for the purpose of reconsidering the permit conditions, including, in particular, results of emission monitoring and other data, that enables a comparison of the operation of the installation with the best available techniques described in the applicable BAT conclusions and with the emission levels associated with the best available techniques.

When reconsidering permit conditions, the competent authority shall use any information resulting from monitoring or inspections.

Where an installation is not covered by any of the BAT conclusions, the permit conditions shall be reconsidered and, if necessary, updated where developments in the best available techniques allow for the significant reduction of emissions.

Without prejudice to Directive 2000/60/EC, Directive 2004/35/EC, Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration31 and to relevant Union law on soil protection, the competent authority shall set permit conditions to ensure compliance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article upon definitive cessation of activities.

Upon definitive cessation of the activities, the operator shall assess the state of soil and groundwater contamination by relevant hazardous substances used, produced or released by the installation. Where the installation has caused significant pollution of soil or groundwater by relevant hazardous substances compared to the state established in the baseline report referred to in paragraph 2, the operator shall take the necessary measures to address that pollution so as to return the site to that state. For that purpose, the technical feasibility of such measures may be taken into account.

Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, upon definitive cessation of the activities, and where the contamination of soil and groundwater at the site poses a significant risk to human health or the environment as a result of the permitted activities carried out by the operator before the permit for the installation is updated for the first time after 7 January 2013 and taking into account the conditions of the site of the installation established in accordance with Article 12(1)(d), the operator shall take the necessary actions aimed at the removal, control, containment or reduction of relevant hazardous substances, so that the site, taking into account its current or approved future use, ceases to pose such a risk.

Where the operator is not required to prepare a baseline report referred to in paragraph 2, the operator shall, upon definitive cessation of the activities, take the necessary actions aimed at the removal, control, containment or reduction of relevant hazardous substances, so that the site, taking into account its current or approved future use, ceases to pose any significant risk to human health or the environment due to the contamination of soil and groundwater as a result of the permitted activities and taking into account the conditions of the site of the installation established in accordance with Article 12(1)(d).

Member States shall set up a system of environmental inspections of installations addressing the examination of the full range of relevant environmental effects from the installations concerned.

Member States shall ensure that operators afford the competent authorities all necessary assistance to enable those authorities to carry out any site visits, to take samples and to gather any information necessary for the performance of their duties for the purposes of this Directive.

Member States shall ensure that all installations are covered by an environmental inspection plan at national, regional or local level and shall ensure that this plan is regularly reviewed and, where appropriate, updated.

Non-routine environmental inspections shall be carried out to investigate serious environmental complaints, serious environmental accidents, incidents and occurrences of non-compliance as soon as possible and, where appropriate, before the granting, reconsideration or update of a permit.

Following each site visit, the competent authority shall prepare a report describing the relevant findings regarding compliance of the installation with the permit conditions and conclusions on whether any further action is necessary.

The report shall be notified to the operator concerned within 2 months of the site visit taking place. The report shall be made publicly available by the competent authority in accordance with Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information33 within 4 months of the site visit taking place.

Without prejudice to Article 8(2), the competent authority shall ensure that the operator takes all the necessary actions identified in the report within a reasonable period.

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall apply subject to the restrictions laid down in Article 4(1) and (2) of Directive 2003/4/EC.

Member States shall determine at what stage the decisions, acts or omissions may be challenged.

What constitutes a sufficient interest and impairment of a right shall be determined by Member States, consistently with the objective of giving the public concerned wide access to justice.

To this end, the interest of any non-governmental organisation promoting environmental protection and meeting any requirements under national law shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of paragraph 1(a).

Such organisations shall also be deemed to have rights capable of being impaired for the purpose of paragraph 1(b).

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not exclude the possibility of a preliminary review procedure before an administrative authority and shall not affect the requirement of exhaustion of administrative review procedures prior to recourse to judicial review procedures, where such a requirement exists under national law.

Any such procedure shall be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive.

Member States shall ensure that practical information is made available to the public on access to administrative and judicial review procedures.

Where a Member State is aware that the operation of an installation is likely to have significant negative effects on the environment of another Member State, or where a Member State which is likely to be significantly affected so requests, the Member State in whose territory the application for a permit pursuant to Article 4 or Article 20(2) was submitted shall forward to the other Member State any information required to be given or made available pursuant to Annex IV at the same time as it makes it available to the public.

Such information shall serve as a basis for any consultations necessary in the framework of the bilateral relations between the two Member States on a reciprocal and equivalent basis.

Within the framework of their bilateral relations, Member States shall ensure that in the cases referred to in paragraph 1, the applications are also made available for an appropriate period of time to the public of the Member State likely to be affected so that it will have the right to comment on them before the competent authority reaches its decision.

The results of any consultations pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be taken into consideration when the competent authority reaches a decision on the application.

The competent authority shall inform any Member State which has been consulted pursuant to paragraph 1 of the decision reached on the application and shall forward to it the information referred to in Article 24(2). That Member State shall take the measures necessary to ensure that that information is made available in an appropriate manner to the public concerned in its own territory.

Member States shall, where appropriate, encourage the development and application of emerging techniques, in particular for those emerging techniques identified in BAT reference documents.

The Commission shall establish guidance to assist Member States in encouraging the development and application of emerging techniques as referred to in paragraph 1.