§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the nature of the compromise proposal worked out by the EEC Commission, and which was acceptable as a basis for discussion among member States, regarding the dumping of toxic waste.
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§ Mr. Denis HowellThe Council of Environment Ministers of the European Community agreed on 8th December 1975 proposals for controlling the discharge of certain dangerous substances to the Community's rivers and seas.
At a previous Council on 16th October the United Kingdom had resisted a proposal that control of water pollution by a so called "black list" of the more dangerous substances should be by uniform emission standards fixed at Community level. The Government felt that our practice, which is to fix local emission standards for individual discharges in the light of quality objectives set for the water into which the discharge is made and taking full account of the needs of the local environment, offered better protection to the environment and made more efficient use of the resources available for pollution control.
The compromise reached by the December Council was that the Community should set both uniform emission standards and quality objectives for each "black list" substance leaving member States to choose which method to adopt. If they wish to work through quality objectives they will have to demonstrate to the Commission through agreed monitoring arrangements that they are meeting the quality objectives laid down.
The proposals agreed also dealt with a further "grey list" of less dangerous substances. No provision was made for uniform emission standards or the "grey list": member States will establish programmes to reduce pollution from these substances.