§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the compatibility of operating asphalt production plants with the proposed European Union directive on assessment and management of environmental noise, COM (2000) 468 Final, of 26 July. [136295]
§ Mr. MeacherThe proposed directive does not contain provisions for controlling noise at source. The proposals are for harmonisation of noise indicators and assessment methods for noise from transport sources and from industry in urban areas. They would require use of the common indicators and assessment measures to gather information about exposure of individuals to these sources in the form of noise maps. Information would be made available to the public, and would form the basis for action plans at the local level.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list each of the asphalt production plants licensed to operate in England, indicating the owners, operators, output capacity and date opened in each case; [136705]
(2) what recent assessment has been made by (a) his Department, (b) consultants to his Department, (c) the Environment Agency and (d) the Health and Safety Executive, of the potential environmental and health hazards posed by the operation of asphalt production plants; [136294]
(3) if he will list the applications refused for the operation of asphalt plants for each of the past 10 years. [136531]
§ Mr. MeacherI understand that the asphalt production referred to is roadstone coating. These plants are a prescribed process under Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and as a result must be authorised by the relevant local authority. Authorisations must include conditions aimed at ensuring the use of Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC) to prevent and minimise air emissions. Statutory guidance is issued by the Secretary of State on what constitutes BATNEEC for various sectors, including roadstone coating plant. This guidance has been recently revised and published for consultation. A copy of this can be found on the Internet at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/epns/laucons.html
My Department does not collect the specific data requested for each of the 17,000 processes regulated by authorities in England and Wales. However, data taken from our annual Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) statistical survey for 1998–99 allow us to prepare good estimates of the number of roadstone coating and mineral drying processes in England and Wales and which authority authorises them. This information is given in the table. The precise numbers cannot be produced without disproportionate cost. But under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 authorities have a duty to maintain a public register containing all particulars of any application for an authorisation made to an authority and the authorisation itself, and it would therefore be feasible to examine authority registers individually.
The Environment Agency is reviewing the LAPC guidance, referred to above, on roadstone coating and mineral drying processes for the Department has 235W examined air pollution impacts. In addition the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, which is produced under a departmental contract, estimates that in 1998 emissions from roadstone coating plant contributed 0.4 per cent. of UK particulate matter under 10 microns (PM10) and 0.3 per cent. of UK dioxin emissions. Copies of the latest National Air Emissions Inventory are available at http://www.aeat.co.uk/netcen/airqual/ and will be available in the Library of the House shortly. These plant are included in the national PM10 mapping project which in turn forms the basis of the national scale assessment of health effects of PM10.
Some operators of roadstone coating plant use waste oil to fuel the process. The proposed EU Waste Incineration directive will apply to the burning of waste oil in such plant, and a copy of the Regulatory and Environmental Impact Assessment relating to the proposal was submitted to the House under cover of Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum EM 12791/98.
The Health and Safety Executive has also made no assessment, though research into the health hazards at such plant, has been carried out in recent years. However, during their routine inspections of quarries where asphalt is produced, Health and Safety Executive inspectors would check that the employer has taken appropriate precautions in line with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999. This would include checking the employer's risk assessment, which should detail how potentially hazardous substances are controlled in the asphalt production process, e.g. through extraction ventilation of dust/vapour/fumes, cleanliness of plant, protection clothing of plant operators etc.
236W
Authorities which have processes authorised under PG 3/15(96)—mineral drying and roadstone coating processes Authority Number Wolverhampton 11 Derbyshire Dales 10 Barking and Dagenham 5 Denbighshire 4 Tynedale 4 Greenwich 4 East Hertfordshire 4 North Somerset 2 Taunton Deane 2 South Kesteven 2 Hounslow 2 Huntingdonshire 2 Forest Heath 2 Suffolk Coastal 2 Winchester 2 Staffordshire Moorlands 2 Thurrock 2 Stoke-on-Trent 2 Plymouth 2 Leeds 2 Forest of Dean 2 East Cambridgeshire 2 Wigan 2 Bedford 2 Broxbourne 2 Mansfield 2 Ryedale 2 Vale of Glamorgan 2 Luton BC 1 St. Albans 1 North East Lincolnshire 1 East Staffordshire 1 Falmouth and Truro PHA 1
Authorities which have processes authorised under PG 3/15(96)—mineral drying and roadstone coating processes Authority Number Stroud 1 Cherwell 1 Telford and Wrekin 1 Arun 1 Halton 1 Stevenage 1 Reading D. C. 1 Carlisle 1 Richmondshire 1 Breckland 1 Doncaster 1 Bridgend 1 Vale Royal 4 South Bedfordshire 4 King's Lynn and West Norfolk 4 Congleton 3 Stockton-on-Tees 3 North Lincolnshire 3 Colchester 2 Stockport 2 Macclesfield 2 Wychavon 1 Gateshead 1 Mid Bedfordshire 1 Caradon 1 South Shropshire 1 Lichfield 1 Shepway 1 Reigate and Banstead 1 Sefton 1 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1 South Bucks 1 Darlington 1 Preston 1 Selby 1 Lambeth 1 Lewes 1 Tendring 1 Rushmoor 1 Isle of Wight and Medina 1 Newcastle under Lyme 1 Poole 1 Restormel 1 Ipswich 1 Hillingdon 1 Waveney 1 Powys 1 Maidstone 1 Salford 1 Sheffield 1 Coventry 1 Northampton 1 Vale of White Horse 1 Sedgemoor 1 Chelmsford 1 South Cambridgeshire 1 Milton Keynes 1 Spelthorne 1