Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals - Ammonia ... - ammk-rks.net

PrefacePREFACE1. Status of this documentUnless otherwise stated, references to “the Directive” in this document means the CouncilDirective 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control. As the Directive applieswithout prejudice to Community provisions on health and safety at the workplace, so does thisdocument.This document forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of informationbetween EU Member States and industries concerned on best available technique (BAT),associated monitoring, and developments in them. It is published by the European Commissionpursuant to Article 16(2) of the Directive, and must therefore be taken into account inaccordance with Annex IV of the Directive when determining “best available techniques”.2. Relevant legal obligations of the IPPC Directive and the definition of BATIn order to help the reader understand the legal context in which this document has been drafted,some of the most relevant provisions of the IPPC Directive, including the definition of the term“best available techniques”, are described in this preface. This description is inevitablyincomplete and is given for information only. It has no legal value and does not in any way alteror prejudice the actual provisions of the Directive.The purpose of the Directive is to achieve integrated prevention and control of pollution arisingfrom the activities listed in its Annex I, leading to a high level of protection of the environmentas a whole. The legal basis of the Directive relates to environmental protection. Itsimplementation should also take account of other Community objectives such as thecompetitiveness of the Community’s industry thereby contributing to sustainable development.More specifically, it provides for a permitting system for certain categories of industrialinstallations requiring both operators and regulators to take an integrated, overall look at thepolluting and consuming potential of the installation. The overall aim of such an integratedapproach must be to improve the management and control of industrial processes so as to ensurea high level of protection for the environment as a whole. Central to this approach is the generalprinciple given in Article 3 that operators should take all appropriate preventative measuresagainst pollution, in particular through the application of best available techniques enablingthem to improve their environmental performance.The term “best available techniques” is defined in Article 2(11) of the Directive as “the mosteffective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operationwhich indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle thebasis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generallyto reduce emissions and the impact on the environment as a whole.” Article 2(11) goes on toclarify further this definition as follows:“techniques” includes both the technology used and the way in which the installation isdesigned, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned;“available” techniques are those developed on a scale which allows implementation in therelevant industrial sector, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking intoconsideration the costs and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used or producedinside the Member State in question, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the operator;“best” means most effective in achieving a high general level of protection of the environmentas a whole.Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals – Ammonia, Acids and Fertilisersxi