§ Lord Campbell of Allowayasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect to publish the consultation paper on the categories of works to be scheduled for control under proposals for changes to industrial air pollution legislation.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)We have today published a consultation paper which lists those works which we propose should be subject to control by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution, Her Majesty's Industrial Pollution Inspectorate and by local authorities under legislation to amend the air pollution control system. Under proposals for a cross-media approach to pollution control, the works listed for authorisation by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution would come under the integrated pollution control system. The paper largely discharges the commitment to further public consultation that was made in the consultation papers on air pollution control and integrated pollution control issued (respectively) in December 1986 and in July of this year. A final consultation paper on charging will be issued in the early part of next year.
Today's consultation paper is accompanied by a paper containing a summary of the responses to the consultation paper issued in 1986, a note on our decision now to favour enforcement of air pollution controls by means of binding authorisations, as recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, and two specimen authorisations. Copies of both papers are being sent to local authority and industrial trade associations, environmental organisations and others with an interest, and are available in the Library of the House.