§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce comprehensive pollution inventories. [14528]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government are strongly committed to the public's right to know about polluting emissions. The Environment Agency has a comprehensive Pollution Inventory that provides easy access to annual emissions data on 150 pollutants from over 2,000 of the most potentially polluting industrial processes in England and Wales. The public can access this information through the Environment Agency's website www.environmentagency.gov.uk and from local Environment Agency offices (general line: 0845 9333 111).
The Environment Agency is working on improving the scope of the Inventory. This year the Inventory has been expanded to include emissions from nuclear sites and large sewage treatment works. Over the next year more sectors will be added including major landfill sites, more sewage treatment works, and radioactive emissions from non-nuclear sites.
The number of sites reporting will increase to around 7,000 in 2003 as a result of the implementation of the European Union Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC). The IPPC Directive requires member states to report emission levels to the European Commission so that an inventory of principal emissions and their sources, known as the European Pollutant Emissions Register (EPER), can be produced. The EPER will initially require reporting on 50 pollutants released to air and water every three years with the first year of reporting commencing in 2003.