CROATIA Country Report IPPC Directive: implementation, problems, constraints, open questions,… Anita Pokrovac Patekar, B. Sc. Pharm. Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction CROATIA 3rd BERCEN Exchange Programme Prague, Cech Republic October, 19-22, 2004

WHAT?  EU set of common rules on permitting for industrial installations, called IPPC Directive (96/61/EC)  IPPC stands for Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control

WHAT? IPPC Directive  minimising pollution from various point sources throughout EU  all installations covered by Annex I of the Directive are required to obtain an authorisation (permit) from the authorities in the EU countries

WHAT?  the integrated permits must be based on the concept of Best Available Techniques (BAT), which is defined in Article 2 of the Directive  in many cases BAT means quite radical environmental improvements and sometimes it will be very costly for companies to adapt their plants to BAT

WHY?  current European production and consumption patterns are certainly not sustainable

HOW?  “ integrated” means that the permits must take into account the whole environmental performance of the plant: –emissions to air, water and land –generation of waste –use of raw materials –energy efficiency –noise –prevention of accidents –risk management

HOW?  EC organises an excange of information between experts from the EU Member States, industry and environmental organisations, co-ordinated by the European IPPC Bureau  European IPPC Bureau is devided into 30 sectors  for each sector it takes around two years to complete the work and to produce BREF (BAT reference document)

HOW?  policy-makers as well as the public at large need better information about the amount of pollution that different installations are responsible for  therefor, the Directive provides for the setting up of a European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER)

WHEN?  15 “old” EU MS had untill the end of October 1999 to adjust their national legislation in line with the Directive  from October 1999 the Directive applies to all new installations, as well as existing installations that intend to carry out changes that may have significant negative effects on human beings or the environment

WHERE?  same rules apply to all 25 EU countries  the candidate countries: –started their preparations to adapt national permitting systems to the Directive –some of them requested exemption periods in negotiations with the EU

WHO?  The principal players involved in IPPC activities are –Licensing authorities in the MS countries, which issuse permits based on BAT (national, regional or local) –EC and in particular the Environmental DG and its unit D.3. (“Industry and Implementation”) –MS experts from national environmental protection agencies or similar organisations; who participate in the exchange of information on BAT –Industry experts

WHO?  Environmental organisations that participate in the exchange of information on BAT  Information Exchange Forum, which together with the European Commission organises the exchange of information on BAT  European IPPC Bureau at the EU Joint Research Centre in Seville (Spain)  IPPC Experts Group and IMPEL network

WHO? and last (but not least):  Public (according to Article 15 of the Directive, the public shall have access to permit applications, permits, monitoring reports and the EPER)

EC aquis, Chapter 22: Environment

 “Regarding industrial pollution and risk management there is no system of integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC)”  “The enviromental administration will need to be strengthened to implement the aquis”

EC aquis, Chapter 22: Environment  “Overall, Croatia will have to make considerable and sustained effords to align its legislation with the aquis and to effectively implement and enforce it in the field of environment in the medium term”

June, Croatia – candidate country

 Republic of Croatia has partially harmonised its environmental legislation with EU Directives  IPPC Directives is not adopted as whole, but its provisions are incorporated in all laws concerning environmetal protection

New Law on Waste (OFFICIAL GAZZETTE 151/03):   enforced 1st January, 2004  partially harmonised with 75/442/EEC, 91/156/EEC, 91/692/EEC, 96/350/EEC, 1999/31/EC, 93/259/EEC, 91/689/EEC, 2002/96/EC 2000/53/EC 94/62/EC

Actually there are no existing IPPC installation in Croatia, but some provisions are incorporated in different kinds of permits that fall under laws:  By-Law on Environmetal Imapct Assessement (59/00)  LAW ON WASTE (O.G. 151/03)

FURTHER ACTION ( ):   national database for existing categories of industrial activities and installations   gap analysis   harmonization of national environmental legislation with EU legislation   adaptation of the structure of the state administration system   capacity building (national regional and local authorities)   better industrial sector awareness   further strengthening public rights in the context of permitting procedures

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!!!