§ Lord Vinsonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any evidence that implementation of the Environmental Protection Act by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution is discouraging investment in, and the use of, modern low pollution plant in the UK chemical industry.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Strathclyde)No. Part 1 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which introduces a system of integrated pollution control (IPC), is being phased in over a five-year period which began on 1st April 1991. IPC for the chemical industry will be introduced between May 1993 and July 1994.
All IPC authorisations require the operator to use the Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC) to prevent release of prescribed substances to any environmental medium and, only where that is not practicable, to minimise and render harmless any such release. BATNEEC favours the use of modern low pollution plant.