HL Deb 08 September 2003 vol 652 cc94-6WA
Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many integrated pollution prevention and control permits have been issued by poultry farmers to date; and how long it took to issue them. [HL4167]

Lord Whitty

Five integrated pollution prevention and control permits for operators of large intensive livestock units have been issued to date in England and Wales. The permits were issued by the Environment Agency under the provisions of the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000. The time taken to issue each of the respective permits was two, three, four, seven and eight months.

Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have estimated the overall cost of permit fees for those applying for poultry integrated pollution prevention and control permits (a) in the first year; and (b) for subsequent years. [HL4168]

Lord Whitty

Operators of large intensive poultry units in England and Wales fall to be regulated by the Environment Agency under the provisions of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive (EC/96/61) and corresponding national regulations.

Particular effort is being directed to helping first-time applicants, and to streamline the process, by enabling farmers to use a lower cost, "off the shelf" permit if they can comply with standard farming installation rules. The fee for an application for a standard farming permit would be £3,024.

Once the permit is issued a subsistence fee applies for each year during the life of the permit. The agency's charging scheme for poultry distinguishes between "large" and "small" units. A "large" unit is one that has over 400,000 places for poultry and would pay an annual subsistence fee of £2,537. A "small" unit, one with fewer than 400,000 places, would pay £2,024.

Farms that decide not to apply for a standard farming permit will be subject to a fee based upon the EP OPRA (environment protection operator performance and risk appraisal) scheme. This would be most likely if an intensive livestock unit also carries out other activities regulated under the IPPC regime. The sum charged will depend upon the location, emissions and operator performance.

If the operator is carrying out any other (non-farming) activities that fall to be regulated under WPC, an additional application and subsistence fee would he charged in line with that for other sectors.

The cited figures are valid for the charging period 2003–04.

Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many officials are dealing with the integrated pollution prevention and control applications. [HL4169]

Lord Whitty

Integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) is being implemented in England and Wales through the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000. IPPC is being introduced on a sector-by-sector basis, concluding in 2007. Permitting is carried out by the Environment Agency and the local authorities depending on the classification of the installation.

The Environment Agency generally regulates installations that are the larger, more technically complex, or more polluting installations under the IPPC regime; the Part A(1) installations. Local authorities regulate installations that are generally smaller, less complex, or less polluting; the Part A(2) or Part B installations.

The Environment Agency has field staff who determine IPPC permit applications. Applications are determined by teams in the appropriate geographical area. An officer would lead on the permit determination, assisted by a permit team and technical officers. The exact make-up of the team would depend upon the complexity of the determination and the amount of secondary legislation that needs to be considered. Each of these permitting teams is supported by national advisers who would tend to specialise by sectors. At certain times over 200 operational staff will be dealing with IPPC permit applications. Approximately 50 officers provide the operational staff with policy and technical advice on IPPC.

The department currently does not hold information on the total number of local authority officers involved in the determination of IPPC applications.