THE ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE IN CATALUNYA ON INDUSTRIAL WASTES
FERRAN G. RELEA1 and CARLES G. MARTIN2
1 Director Junta de Residus, Generalitat de Catalunya
2
Data Base Manager, Junta de Residus, Generalitat de CatalunyaPasseig de Grącia 94, 08008 Barcelona, Spain
SUMMARY
A general view of the industrial waste situation in Catalunya is given. Some statistical data on generation and management of waste, as well as how is organized the control system are also provided. The enforcement organization, namely inspection, analysis, penalty application are also illustrated with some statistical data.
1 INDUSTRIAL WASTE SITUATION IN CATALUNYA
1.1 Administrative framework
Catalunya is the Northeastern Region of Spain, having 32000 Km2 and 6000000 people, being also the most industrialized of the country. Environmental concern and industrial pollution have moved the Regional Government (Generalitat de Catalunya) to create a Cabinet Department only on environment (the single case in Spain).
Industrial waste concern moved the Catalan Parliament to approve an Industrial Wastes Act in 1983, creating a specific autonomous administrative body, Junta de Residus. The Spanish countrywide Act came in 1986. New modifications on the Catalan law were enacted by the Parliament in 1991. Junta de Residus, nowadays attached to the Department of Environment, whose President is the Cabinet Minister on Environment, has the overall responsibility to enforce the Industrial Waste Act.
The Junta de Residus has a Council of member that dictates its policy. Those members are representatives of the Regional Government (8), of the Catalan municipalities (6), of the trade unions (2) and of industries (2).
The Junta de Residus objectives are:
Control all industrial wastes flows occurring in Catalunya.
Let the permits for transportation agents.
Verify the yearly declaration on waste made by generators.
Keep alive all data bases on industrial waste managed in Catalunya.
Prevent wild dumping of wastes.
Promote incentives for waste reduction, process modifications and waste quality improvements through technical and economical instruments.
Promote direct or indirectly waste management facilities through waste management planning.
Clean and enforce to clean old dirty sites. Generally speaking, Junta de Residus, by law, has the double objective of promotion and prevention.
1.2 Sizing the problem
1.2.1 Definition and classification of waste
Industrial wastes are classified in two basic categories, according to Catalan regulations (4.10.84 Regulation). In Spain the situation is very similar.
a) Inert industrial wastes and domestic type wastes (included in the same group). A specific list is included in the regulation.
b) Special industrial wastes.
EEC Directive on industrial wastes is adopted to identify hazardous wastes. Notwithstanding a battery of tests is used to classify a waste as non special, even if a substance of EEC list is present.
Basic features of those tests are:
a) Flash point over 23oC.
b) Corrosivity.
c) Reactivity.
d) Explosive.
e) Non carcinogenic (content less than 0,1% of IARC lists).
f) Toxicity.
g) Leacheability and toxicity of leachates.
1.2.2 Some statistical data
Through the yearly self-report system, Junta de Residus has a fair knowledge of what is produced in Catalunya. This declaration includes waste production, raw materials used and products made by each industrial activity.
Since 1984, the strategy in waste generation self-reporting has been to request directly the document to an increasing number of industries, as seen in figure 1 and 2. Every request has been selected according to the following criteria.
a) Industrial sectors potentially producers of special wastes, with bigger members of employees.
b) Progressively include smaller companies of those sectors and new sectors apparently non-producers of special wastes.
c) Final target will be all industrial activities.
The wastes declared, according to the present regulated classification, are shown in fig. 3. The waste generation ratios (tonnes waste/year per worker) have been during those years, the following as showed in fig. 4a, 4b and 4c.
According to those figures, and by industrial sectors, the results have been the ones displayed in fig. 5. The distribution of final destinations has been the one showed in fig. 6a, 6b and 6c. Data on treatment facilities show a great shortage of capacity, specially related to thermal treatments. Figure 7 gives the general numbers. Taking into account the generation figures, shortage is evident.
2 THE FRAMEWORK FOR ENFORCEMENT
2.1 Basic features of the control system in Catalunya.
2.1.1 Waste flow control
Waste generators have to declare every year the waste produced, the way how they have managed them as well as their final destinations.
A trip-ticket system has been implemented for waste flows in Catalunya. An agreement sheet between generator and the treatment facility is also established.
All participants in the waste cycle have to be registered officially. All documents (trip-tickets, agreement sheets, transportation permits) are only delivered to those registered, each document is precoded and Junta de Residus knows to whom it has been delivered. A cross-checking system of trip-tickets and generators declarations has been computer implemented.
The inspection team has to let the permit for a waste towards its destination or treating system.
A sampling and analysis procedure through its own control laboratory is being used and some agreed laboratories are being used as cooperative teams too. Moreover, mobile analytical labs are used by the inspectors. Quick tests and special samplers, some of them designed by our own team, are usually performed.
The Inspection team works often with the cooperation of a specialized Brigade of the Regional Police (Mossos d'Esquadra) or National Police (Guardia Civil) for specific investigations. (For example following up of truck, illegal operation of treatment facilities, controlling wild dumping, following up of illegal importation of wastes, etc.)
2.1.2 Waste treatment facilities
The permitting procedure includes a technical evaluation by Junta de Residus technical experts, a public communication through the official Gazette and a final decision through Junta de Residus Council.
The permits for waste treatment facilities contain a caution to be delivered by the promoter to the Public Administration, and civil responsibility insurance to cover third-part harms.
A manual of Reference is also established through the permit. It includes running procedures, identification systems, self record-keeping conditions and features to be checked by inspectors during their visits.
Some regulations are being periodically implemented and/or revised, that relates to waste acceptability in the facilities (e.g. wastes banned in landfills), analytical identification tests on procedural conditions.
For facilities specifically promoted by Public Administration the permitting procedure requires an independent environmental impact statement (reference to the modification of the 2/91 Law and its working out) whose conclusions are compulsory for the Junta de Residus Council in order to avoid non-defense to those affected.
2.2 Violations
Present status in industrial waste management enforcement is based in two sets of penalties for law violations: administrative penalties and criminal judicial enforcement.
2.2.1 Administrative penalties
The administrative penalties include a wide range of monetary penalties and the obligation of soil and landscape reclamation if needed. Penalties until 200 million pesetas (2 million dollars) are foreseen.
The law allows the temporal or final closure of the industrial activity or plant as well as the removal of the licenses for an activity.
It is also established the possibility of a enforcement penalty for those cases in which a enforcement time is dictated. Those enforcement penalties cannot be bigger than 1/3 of the maximum penalty for the violation.
2.2.2 Criminal judicial enforcement
The Spanish Constitution, in its article 45, sets that environmental violations can be prosecuted criminally.
The Penal Law, in developing this article, sets monetary penalties and the possibility of imprisonment if the violation is judicially considered as "environmental violation".
That way is a parallel instrument of the administrative one. It is the judge's privilege to decide if the facts are a criminal or administrative violation.
The Penal Law is being revised actually and in the future the monetary and personal penalties against violations will be increased.
3 THE PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF ENFORCEMENT
3.1 Public resources
Junta de Residus has 50 people, normally divided in promotion and enforcement activities. Twelve people are involved in the trip-ticket system, self reporting control and data base maintenance. Six full time and two part time high technical staff are devoted to inspection. Ten analysts (6 of them, chemists) work on waste analysis and testing in our own labs. Mobile sampling and quick testing are routinely used. The 1991 Junta de Residus' budget was 60 millions dollars, 12% of which is directly spent on enforcement.
3.2 Control of activities.
An overall amount of 750.000 tones of industrial wastes has been controlled by the trip-tickets system during 1991 in Catalunya, showing a 22% increase in relation to 1990 data.
Our data base has registered 11000 agreement sheets between generators and treatment plants.
The number of trip-tickets used during the last three years, 1989-91. which are included in our data base are:
YEAR 1989 1990 1991 NUMBER OF TRIP TICKETS 40.000 95.000 115.000 3.3 Enforcement activity
More than 300 cases have been revised by the technical services in 1991. Technical services have performed 600 visits to waste generators, to treatment plants and to wild dumps. More than 18000 analytical tests have been performed by our laboratories. Some agreements with external laboratories are established for more sophisticated analysis (dioxines, etc.).
3.4 Administrative procedures against violators
Junta de Residus enforcement activities are either directly promoted or induced by request. The number of procedures has increased steadily since 1985. In figure 8 it is shown the number of requested actions, administrative procedures, penalties as well as the economic size of monetary penalties.
It should be pointed that the size of sanctions until the 2/1991 Act were much lower than those showed in 2.2.1.
4 FUTURE PROSPECTS
The experience during the last 8 years gives us the feeling that although a lot has been done, it is only since 2 years ago that industry and waste agents have realized the need of a real change of attitude.
The enforcement system that we have designed is rather involving and hard to have it fully implemented.
It is highly important the availability of the computer data base to be able to have a real cross checking of the information reported.
We think that the trip-ticket system based on a public administration delivery is a powerful tool to make wastes appear.
High technical level inspection is of great importance although is quite expensive.
A better coordination with other inspectorates is highly desirable. This is a project that our Department of Environment has decided already to promote.
A new and growing difficulty for a better waste management enforcement is the classification and definition of wastes, as well as the dicotony waste-by-product.
In the Catalan regulations, by-products and wastes are included (no exemption is legally accepted), and only the sophistication or complexity of administrative procedures are different.
The legal difference between domestic waste and industrial waste (and the different authorities that rule their management) give opportunities to potential violators to "hide" some special wastes in the municipally ruled domestic wastes. And, for this reason, a unique control authority is highly desirable.
How to deal with packaging wastes is also a challenge. Our regulations shall be revised to establish clean responsibilities.
Irrespective to all that has been said above, a clear conclusion can be extracted from our experience.
Some success is only possible if the technical and professional qualifications of the inspectorate are high enough, meaning by that a good knowledge of the problems of industry, technical and organizational, as well as a big dose of environmental "common sense".
It is not a question of the compliance of a figure (a concentration level, a % of efficiency, etc.) but a real understanding of the overall process industry waste-neighborhood-environment.
How to incentivate those professionals and how to involve them in the overall environmental strategy are the clue of an efficient work.