The European Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) released a report on waste permitting in the European Union (EU) that calls for EU-wide guidelines that define waste-related terms and place greater emphasis on waste minimization.

Waste generated by large industrial installations, along with waste incineration and disposal, are governed by two European Council Directives (75/442/EEC and 96/61/EC on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)). The report is the product of an IMPEL project aimed at improving waste minimization and management, under the Directives, through the exchange of good practices for applications, permits, monitoring, and reporting. In addition, the project aims to improve inspection and enforcement by networking permitting and supervising authorities.

The project began by analyzing questionnaire responses from fourteen jurisdictions ( Austria, Belgium - Brussels Capital Region, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom ).

These findings were presented at a seminar that discussed shared challenges faced by authorities. The seminar participants also adopted good practices and developed model permit conditions with reference to the following: minimization of waste; measures to minimize the amount of waste; substituting raw material; records of waste, audits, and assessments; plans and programmes; recycling or recovery; and storage, handling, and disposal. The seminar's recommendations were summarized in the project report and include the following:

• EU-wide guidelines should be adopted to define waste, waste prevention, waste handling, waste recovery and waste disposal, having regard to, inter alia , the judgments of the European Court of Justice.
• Annex IIA and IIB of the Waste Framework Directive should be revised; codes for disposal and recovery activities should be harmonized; and more focus should be placed on practical implementation of the directives.
• Application documents, along with resource consumption and waste data, should be stored in a common electronic format.
• Material accounting on a process-line basis and cross-media issue should be required in permitting. The operator should be encouraged to either consider product impact or the producer responsibility mechanism. The permit decisions should be in electronic format. The comparison and evaluation of permits for the same kind of industry should be done throughout the country.
• Best Available Techniques Reference Document (BREF) should incorporate more waste issues, especially in bullets 1–3 of Annex IV to the IPPC Directive. In addition, cross-media and monitoring BREFs should also give more consideration to waste issues. The specific waste BREF should include guidance for permit writers on industrial waste handling and storage.
• An integrated monitoring system, in which emissions to air, discharges into water, noise and wastes are considered at the same time, should be developed. Self-monitoring by operators should be encouraged, if the authorities can maintain oversight. Other good practices include ensuring reliable book-keeping, developing special minimum criteria for the inspection of waste, and the improving of monitoring criteria, such as the amount of waste per production unit.
• An annual plan of inspections for the environmental authorities according to the minimum criteria of inspections should be created. In determining the frequency of inspections, the type, size, and risk of the installation should be taken into account. In addition, the previous performance of the plant should be considered. An inspection should be done immediately after an accident has occurred.

Dutch Launch Compliance Assistance Program
By Dr. C.P. Boekel, Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment. Email: kees.boekel@minvrom.nl.

The Dutch Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment (VROM) recently launched a year-long special project to develop a compliance assistance program. The program will look beyond traditional “command-and-control” policies to develop new instruments that stimulate compliance in the regulated community (citizens, companies, and local authorities) in a more effective and efficient way.

Through INECE, the Inspectorate learned of a 10-year-old compliance assistance program at the United State Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and sent representatives to Washington and Philadelphia to learn from the US experience. They concluded that compliance assistance, as a method of influencing behavior, could be a used in the Netherlands to supplement or replace existing instruments within the framework of the Inspectorate's overall Compliance Strategy. This means that the most effective and efficient intervention method will be chosen based on an analysis of the target group and the reasons of non-compliance (“smart enforcement”).

Initially, the compliance assistance program will be aimed at educating the Inspectorate's staff through meetings, training, workshops, and publications. Additionally, several areas were selected where the new policies will be used in daily work (“learning by doing”), often in cooperation with other organizations, such trade associations and local governments. The illegal export of waste (e.g., electronics waste to non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries; illegal shipment of hazardous waste as identified by the Trans-frontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste (TFS) project) is one such example.

The special project will operate with a central project leader working with representatives of the Inspectorate's regional offices. Ultimately, compliance assistance will be integrated into the entire Inspectorate.

Netherlands Task Force Addresses Pipelines Safety
By Henk Ruessink, Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment, The Netherlands . Email: henk.ruessink@minvrom.nl.

The Dutch government recently created a task force on pipeline safety in response to a growing consensus that shortcomings exist. The gas pipeline accident of July 2004 in Ghislenghien , Belgium caused 24 fatalities, numerous injuries, and substantial property damage. It served as the impetus for an in-depth look at pipeline safety in the Netherlands .

A small team of investigators, chaired by a former director-general of one of the Ministries, made an assessment of the current situation. The investigators made the following observations:

• A clear policy and vision concerning pipelines as means of transportation and their importance for the economy is lacking.
• The legal framework with respect to construction of pipelines is rather weak. Self-regulation of the private owners is the prevailing mechanism.
• Essential data on pipelines (location, characteristics, transported products) are scattered and poorly accessible for relevant parties.
• Required safety distances from pipelines are, in cases, insufficiently respected when planning spatial developments in the vicinity of the pipelines.
• Incidents and accidents affecting the integrity of pipelines do occur, predominantly caused by third parties that undertake construction activities in the near vicinity of pipelines and by corrosion.
• The security of pipelines as a vital part of the (energy) infrastructure needs more attention.
• The emergency response in cases of accidents with pipelines is not very well organized.
• Authorities in many cases lack specific expertise on the subject of pipelines.
• Control and enforcement by competent authorities are either missing or are lacking clarity with respect to responsibilities, organization, and management.

The government endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of the investigators and created the task force to make improvements. In addition, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment was given primary responsibility, among the Ministries, for pipeline safety. The task force will take the following points into consideration:

• The responsibility for safe and reliable operation of the pipelines is first of all with the operators/owners. History proves that they generally operate in a responsible manner in this respect – any new approach of control should not frustrate this.
• At the same time, government bodies have a public function regarding control and enforcement to ensure safe operation of pipeline systems.
• Control by authorities should take account of and promote the safety management systems that many operators either have put in place or are planning to implement.
• Any new legal provision that is required to safeguard the public interests with regard to pipelines, should be time and cost efficient for both the industry and the authorities involved and transparent to all parties.
• Situations, where currently a conflict between the presence of pipelines and human safety exists, should be solved in a process in which all relevant stakeholders participate.
• Cooperation with, and assistance from, other competent inspections bodies should be sought, were feasible, in order to build expertise and capacity.
• Modern (technological) approaches to disseminate knowledge and information on pipelines will be used where applicable.
• Where available, good international practices should be taken into consideration.

The Task force is currently consulting with stakeholders to foster cooperation and identify appropriate policies.

In The Netherlands, some 11,500 kilometers of gas pipelines are in use. They belong to the national and regional grid of high pressure and high capacity pipelines for long and medium distance transportation of natural gas. Annually 60 million tonnes of gas flows through these pipelines. For crude oil, oil products (petrochemicals), and industrial chemicals, approximately 4,500 kilometers of pipeline infrastructure is available, by which some 140 million tonnes are transported yearly. A number of these pipelines are used for fuels with military purposes. Most of the pipelines are private property.

Pipelines represent a vital means of transportation and their secure and reliable operation is of key economic importance. It is envisaged that the transport through pipelines will grow in the coming years, probably also for transportation of carbon dioxide and biomass in connection to reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. In principle, under good operational conditions, pipelines are a relatively safe, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly means of transportation. Accidents may nevertheless happen and have substantial impact on the safety and health of humans, as has been demonstrated in the tragic Belgian accident. Also severe environmental damage can be a consequence, certainly with pipelines for oil, oil products and chemicals

Latvia Implements EU Nitrates Directive
By Janet Blahins, MSc, Senior Inspector, State Environmental Service, Latvia . Email: info@vvd.gov.lv.

Latvia recently implemented European Union Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. The Directive seeks to reduce or prevent the pollution of water caused by the application and storage of inorganic fertilizer and manure on farmland.

Water quality indicators for rivers in many vulnerable areas of Latvia show unacceptably high levels of nitrates (35-38 milligrams/liter) despite relatively low nitrate usage (90 kilograms/hectare). Manure storage is seen as the problem. Most small farms in Latvia historically used the stacking method of manure storage. Often the manure is stacked in the same place for decades. Larger farms have manure storage dating to the Soviet era.

In response to this problem, the government issued regulations that include restrictions on manure storage, spreading, and distances from water flows. In addition, a “Handbook for Good Agricultural Practice” was published. After a year and a half implementing these rules, the State Environmental Service encountered the following interesting cases:

• A small horse breeding farm with 6 animals stacked manure in the same place for fifty years and contaminated ground water up to twenty meters deep. They lacked the resources to build a storage facility so the Service advised the farm on how to apply for EU money for that purpose.

• A farm with 50 animals spread its manure to the bank a melioration channel, just feet away from the water that feeds into a nearby river. The existing regulations restrict discharge within a certain distance of “water flows,” such as rivers and springs. Unfortunately, melioration channels are treated as “water sinks” under the regulation and therefore no penalty was applicable. A change in the regulation is needed.

• A farm started out with 5000 pigs and a modern manure storage facility. Over time, the farm applied for and received permission to add more pigs but never upgraded their storage capacity. Apparently, the permitting authority forgot to examine the storage capacity to insure it was sufficient. Now, the farm carries out the manure, often at night to escape detection, and distributes it to local peasant landowners who are unaware of the manure regulations. The Service could order the farm to increase storage volume, but capital building requirements raise a set of legal rights that the farm can use to delay the process for as long as two years. Instead, the Service uses the regulations to require the farm to adopt the best available technology.

• The regulations restrict manure storage to a “a distance to” a river. A small farm has a barn located next to a river bank with a deep slope. If the barn is too close to the river, it must be destroyed. But how do we measure the distance. If the distance to the river is measured by an “air” line between the barn and the water, it is eighty meters and the barn must go. If the distance is measured by the land surface between the barn and the rivers edge, it is 120 meters and the barn can stay. After deliberation, the Service found that the aim of the law is to guarantee that occasional leaks would be consumed by plants instead of migrating to river. Therefore the surface distance is the appropriate measure and the barn can stay.

These simple cases illustrate the learning process inherent in the implementation of any law. These, and many more unexpected challenges, lie ahead.

For more information, visit http://vvd.gov.lv or contact vvd@vvd.gov.lv

OECD Issues Integrated Environmental Permitting Guidelines for EECCA
By Eugene Mazur, Administrator, OECD Environment Directorate. Email: Eugene.Mazur@oecd.org.

In May 2005, the Secretariat of the EECCA (Eastern Europe , Caucasus , and Central Asia) Regulatory Environmental Programme Implementation Network (REPIN) published an Integrated Environmental Permitting Guidelines for EECCA Countries. REPIN is located at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Environment Directorate. The Guidelines, available in English and Russian, are a result of a two-year effort and were prepared in close collaboration with EECCA country experts.

Environmental permitting is a key instrument for regulating a wide spectrum of industry’s environmental impacts, facilitating compliance with environmental requirements, and promoting technological innovation. Since the early 1970s, most OECD countries have introduced integrated permitting systems in order to protect the environment as a whole using best available industrial production methods.

Many transition and emerging economies are exploring the possibilities of an integrated permitting system that would replace the current cumbersome and ineffective multitude of permits and licenses for air emissions, water abstraction, wastewater discharges, waste generation, storage and disposal, and other environmental impacts.

In particular, countries of EECCA plan to use the approach of the European Union’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive (96/61/EC) as the principal benchmark. However, the EECCA governments will need to devise permitting systems that best suit their own legal and institutional arrangements as well as their own social, economic and environmental priorities.

The Guidelines aim to facilitate each country’s reform efforts. They include strategic and procedural guidance for EECCA environmental authorities in designing an effective and transparent integrated permitting system for large industry while simplifying the permitting regime for smaller polluters. The Guidelines include:

• An integrated environmental permitting procedure for a competent environmental authority;
• An integrated permit application form with instructions for industrial operators;
• An integrated environmental permit form with instructions for a competent environmental authority;
• Guidance on the combined use of the environmental quality-based and technique-based approaches in setting emission limit values for large industrial installations;
• Guidance on the strategic approach to the gradual introduction of integrated permitting for large industry in EECCA countries; and
• Guidance on environmental permitting for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Over the course of the development of the Permitting Guidelines, EECCA officials and experts expressed their countries’ interest in having a concise policy document that would convey the approach to reforming the existing environmental permitting systems by introducing integrated permitting for large industry and simplified permitting for small and medium-sized enterprises. This document would be used in each country to generate high-level political and institutional support for a permitting reform and facilitate international cooperation between EECCA and OECD countries on environmental permitting. The “Principles of Effective Environmental Permitting Systems” will be discussed at the annual REPIN meeting in Moscow in October 2005 and submitted for endorsement at the Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Belgrade in 2007.

A copy of this report is available at http://oecd.org.

Russia Customs Officers Receive CITES Training

The Russian Customs Academy and TRAFFIC Europe-Russia have developed a course for customs officers aimed at improving compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). The course, developed in consultation with CITES experts from the Russian Federation, Her Majesties Customs & Excise in the United Kingdom, and TRAFFIC, is to become part of the training of every customs officer in the Russian Federation.

The Russian Customs Academy is the principal training institution in the country that provides high quality training for customs professionals throughout the Russian Federation as well as other States of the former Soviet Union . The Academy is recognized by the World Customs Organization (WCO) as an official regional training center, and it trains more than 180 students and some 600 customs officers each year.

A need for a specialized long-term training program, which covers the entire country, has been recognized, especially given the major role Russia plays in wildlife trade, both as a source and consumer country. The goal of the new project is to strengthen the knowledge and the effectiveness of the Russian customs controls with regard to the smuggling of protected wildlife.

The training program will increase Russian customs capacity and ultimately improve controls in place for wildlife trade and enhanced CITES enforcement in the country. Two 12-hour long courses on wildlife trade controls and implementation of CITES will become part of the official curricular of the Academy later this year: One course is aimed at students going through their general training, the second course is for already qualified customs officers passing through additional qualification.

Specialized textbooks and training CD-ROMs, classroom posters, and manual have been developed to support the training and help customs officers to identify CITES specimens. These materials will be handed out to all participants of the training courses. In addition, materials will be widely distributed among customs officers in the country and posters provided to specific customs checkpoints at key airports in Moscow and other cities, in order to raise awareness also among passengers.

All training materials will be available on websites of TRAFFIC Europe-Russia and the British Council in Russia.

Source: CITES training in focus at the Russian Customs Academy by Alexander Shestakov and Alexey Vaisman, available at http://traffic.org.