IED Principles -
BAT reference documents and exchange of information 1/2
Articles 13 to 16 of the Industrial Emissions Directive require that BAT reference documents are the reference for setting permit conditions and that emission limit values do not exceed the emission levels associated with the best available techniques as described in those BAT reference documents. This a clear step ahead compared to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive where the role of best available techniques was not defined in such a clear manner.
What constitutes BAT (Article 13) is unchanged compared to the IPPC Directive. Article 13 states that the exchange of information in best available techniques shall take place between the member states, industries concerned and environmental NGOs. This is the so called Sevilla Process, which helps to determine best available techniques. Furthermore, the Commission shall establish and regularly convene a forum composed of representatives of the member states, industries and environmental NGOs (Article 13 (3)).
This results in the adoption and publication by the Commission of the BAT conclusions and BAT Reference Documents (BREFs), Article 13 (6). A BREF is the vehicle through which BAT and emerging techniques are determined in a transparent manner, based on sound techno-economic information. Therefore, BAT conclusions are their key elements. BREFs give predictability to the process of determining conclusions on BAT and provide confidence in the quality of the end result. They are the main output of the Sevilla Process. The BREFs inform the relevant decision makers about what may be technically and economically available to industry in order to improve their environmental performance and consequently improve the whole environment.
This work is coordinated by the European IPPC Bureau of the Institute for Prospective Technology Studies at the European Union Joint Research Centre in Seville (Spain). Until the adoption of such new BAT conclusions, the old BAT reference documents are to apply as BAT conclusions for the purposes of the IED, with the exception of Articles 15(3) and (4).
