§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
How "excessive cost" (in the context of "best available technology not entailing excessive cost") is defined, and by whom, in the context of minimising inputs to the North Sea of "those substances that pose the most serious threat to the aquatic environment", referred to in Action Points (3) and (1) of the United Kingdom North Sea Action Plan presented to the Third North Sea Conference held in The Hague, March 1990.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Hesketh)I refer the noble Lord to the Government's general1598WA interpretation of the concept of best available techniques not entailing excessive cost (BATNEEC). which I placed in the Library on 26th April in reply to the Question of my noble friend Lord Mancroft (Official Report Vol. 518 col. 767). Under the Government's proposals for integrated pollution control in Part I of the Environmental Protection Bill, operators of the certain processes (in general those involving the most potentially polluting substances) would be required to use BATNEEC to prevent or minimise releases of those substances. This means that the release of the most dangerous substances to water will be prevented or minimised at processes coming under integrated pollution control. BATNEEC will in every case be determined by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, which is the enforcing authority for integrated pollution control.