§ Mr. Temple-MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on how many occasions municipal solid waste incinerators have been found to be operating in breach of conditions on their operation imposed by(a) planning consents and (b) pollution control consents in each of the last five years; and what assessment was made of the potential damage to the health of local residents in each case. [147506]
§ Mr. MeacherPlanning Consents: The Department does not keep a central record of breaches of planning consent conditions. It is the responsibility of the local planning authority that imposed the planning conditions to assess the effect of any that are breached and to take any necessary action.
Pollution Control Consents: Within the UK, municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) are regulated under part 1 of the Environment Protection Act 1990 by the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland and local authorities. In England and Wales, the Environment Agency is responsible for regulating MSWIs with a capacity of one tonne per hour or more under the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime.
The table summarises the numbers of breaches of emission limits to air from MSWIs currently operating in England and Wales under the IPC regime. The table does not include breaches of limits in the period 1 January to 1 December 1996 for MSWIs that closed following the implementation of the Council Directive on the reduction of air pollution from existing municipal waste incineration plants.
All operators of MSWIs are required by their authorisations to inform the Agency of any breaches of emission limit values or failures of equipment that could result in a breach. On receipt of these notifications the Agency assesses the cause and the potential effect on the environment and health. Where enforcement action is necessary the Agency follows its Enforcement and Prosecution Policy. I understand that to date there have been no breaches of limits that have warranted a detailed study of the impact on health, as the Agency has determined that the potential impact would be negligible. However, should an emission limit be exceeded in the future to the extent that the impact is not likely to be negligible, the Agency has assured me that it would take appropriate enforcement action and study the potential effects.
254W
Numbers of breaches of emission limit values for MSWIs between January and December for the period 1996–2000 Air 1996–98 (annual average) 1999 2000 HCl 302 (101) 142 60 SO2 11 (4) 42 13 NOx 34 (12) 29 27 CO 65 (22) 107 41
Numbers of breaches of emission limit values for MSWIs between January and December for the period 1996–2000 Air 1996–98 (annual average) 1999 2000 Particulate matter 16 (6) 3 5 Metals 0 1 0 HF 1 (0.3) 0 0 Dioxins 0 0 0