Enforcement actions to improve compliance with ambient air quality standards Martine Blondeel Head of Chief Inspectora

1. Enforcement actions to improve compliance with ambient air quality standards Martine Blondeel Head of Chief Inspectorate Environmental Inspectorate Division Environment, Nature & Energy Department Flemish region - BELGIUM

2. Content • Environmental enforcement in the Flemish region • Basic principles • Situation of the EID • Competences and tasks of the EID • Inspection of a company • Organisation of the EID • Data 2007 • Enforcement actions to improve compliance with ambient air quality standards • Control of stack emissions • Control of fugitive emissions • Control of diffuse emissions

3. Environmental enforcement in the Flemish region

4. Basic Principles Environmental Health Policy: • Adequate instruments are necessary: • Permits • Levies • Environmental Impact Assessment • Safety Reports • Recognitions (labs, experts, …) • Voluntary agreements / Covenants • Environmental co-ordinators • Education and information • Enforcement • Rules and regulations must be enforced to protect man and the environment

5. Basic Principles Basis = Decree on environmental permit + implementing orders: (Vlarem I en II) - separation environmental permitting and enforcement: installation of the EID (1991) - classification list of establishments considering nuisance/pollution/risk: 3 categories environmental permits / announcements: • Class 3 (175.000): announcement duty for activities with low risk • Class 2 (75.000): environmental permit duty for activities with higher risk • Class 1 (25.000): environmental permit duty for activities wiht highiest risk - general binding rules and sectoral conditions and ELV (Vlarem II) - specific conditions taking into account local factors (environmental permit)

6. Basic Principles Enforcement • 1st level: municipalities (class 2 and 3): mayor, local environmental inspector, police • 2nd level: region (class 1) – Environmental Inspectorate Division • Offences in the open field : police Also: supervision of the EID on class 2 and 3

7. Ministry of LNE Situation

9. Competences and tasks of the EID • Act on combating air pollution (28/12/64) • Act on the protection of surface waters against pollution (26/03/71) • Act on noise nuisance (18/07/73) • Act on protection of man and the environment against non-ionizing radiation, infrasound and ultrasound (12/07/85)

10. Competences and tasks of the EID • Decree on waste management (02/07/81), amended by the Decree of 20/04/94 and its implementing order VLAREA (5/12/03) • Decree containing measures on groundwater management (24/01/84) • Decree for the protection of water against agricultural nitrate pollution (22/12/06) • Decree containing the general provisions relating to environmental policy (05/04/95) – esp. Title III, relating to the internal environmental management of companies (19/04/95) • Decree on the environmental permit (28/6/85) and its implementing orders VLAREM I (6/2/91) and VLAREM II (1/8/95)

11. Competences and tasks of the EID • Co-operation Agreement concerning the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (21/06/1999) • Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on shipments of waste (14/06/06) • Regulation (EC) No 2037/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer (29/06/00) • Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption (3/10/02) • Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC (29/04/04)

12. Competences and tasks of the EID • Environmental Enforcement = • to promote compliance with general rules of law and the environmental legislation through supervision and the application – or the threat thereof – of measures of criminal and administrative law • The EID does NOT deal with: • the permitting process • infringements of the legislation on land use or spatial planning • infringements of the legislation on nature/forest/… management • police regulations • internal security in companies • Other tasks of the EID: • providing policy-makers with experiences from the field • advising policy-makers about feasibility of implementing/enforcing the legislation • propagation of enforcement experience towards municipalities

13. Competences and tasks of the EID Criminal prosecution • an infringement of the environmental health legislation is a crime, and has to be established by means of an official record of infringement • every civil servant is obliged to draw up an official record of the infringements discovered and send it to the Public Prosecutor (art. 29 of the Lawbook of Criminal Proceedings) • only the Public Prosecutor can decide whether it is appropriate to prosecute or dismiss a crime that has been established

14. Competences and tasks of the EID Administrative prosecution • the inspector can give instructions to end non-compliance • when these instructions are not followedand non-compliance continues, the inspector may: • impose sanctions, up to the closure of the company or • propose the authority granting the permit, by way of an administrative sanction, to wholly or partly suspend or terminate the environmental permit • the inspector may also propose the permitting authority to modify or add permit conditions

15. Inspection of a company • in principle only “class 1” establishments • in principle: unannounced • always 2 environmental inspectors together (security/integrity) • may happen 24 hours/day, including weekends (pollution ≠ 9 to 5) • may include all environmental aspects (integral approach – most often) or may be limited to one or a few aspects • after each inspection, an (internal) inspection report is made • after each inspection, administrative or – if necessary – criminal prosecution starts • basic information is put into the electronic File Management System of EID (“DOS”)

16. Inspection of a company The environmental inspector • has access to all establishments, day and night (incl. weekends), without prior notification • may request police assistance • has the right to see and check the plans of the establishment, permits, monitoring results, …. • may execute technical inspection activities: take samples, carry out measurements in situ (or have them carried out by an external expert) • may issue verbal or written recommendations, instructions and orders

17. Inspection of a company Checking whether: • the obligation to obtain a permit has been observed • Environmental permit available? not / partly/ completely • BAT are being applied • the general/sectoral/permit conditions are observed • the existing conditions are adequate to prevent nuisance for neighbours, and to safeguard the environment against (further) negative effects; • art. 22 of the Environmental Licence Decree is observed: “irrespective of the permit granted, the operator must at all times take the necessary measures to prevent damage, nuisance and major accidents, and, in the event of an incident, restrict its impact on man and the environment to the extent possible”

18. Organisation of the EID • Personnel (±100 environmental inspectors) • High education (scientific - university) + permanent training • Means (cars, inspection equipment, working budget: ±25.000 EUR/inspector) • Generalists and specialists (environmental compartiment) • Operational services (inspections) + Chief Inspectorate (planning, coordination, knowledge centre) • Quality management • Enforcement Instrumentarium • Codes of good practice for criminal prosecution and for administrative prosecution for environmental inspectors • Quality manual for sampling and on site measurements of waste water, waste and soil

19. Organisation of the EID • Planning (setting priorities – execute – evaluate and feedback forward to next plan – public reporting) • Annual ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION PLAN • Annual ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT REPORT • http://www.lne.be/themas/handhaving OR http://www.milieu-inspectie.be • Environmental inspection plan: • Instrument to manage working pressure/volume(estimates financial means and personnel) • Balanced ratio between the different enforcement activities and environmental compartiments • Priorities: environmental impact, execution deadline, means and regional, national and European agreements and/or obligations • Contains action programs: • specificpro-active enforcement campaigns • routine inspections (sampling/analyses/measurements, checking licences,…) • reactive inspections (complaints) • Follow-up inspections (follow-up of administrative prosecution)

20. Data 2007 • Number of inspections: 12.000 • during working hours 7.700 • in the evening 2.400 • during night and early morning 1.250 • in the weekend 650 • Number of companies inspected 4.400

21. Data 2007 • 2.200 samples of waste water at more than 800 industrial discharge points to surface waters and to local waste water treatment plant • 850 samples of waste • 70 samples of soil • measurements of air emission at 100 installations • 70 noise measurements

22. Data 2007 • initial official reports600 • instructions (with or without official report)1.730 • administrative sanctions initiated20 Constatation during last years: number of official reports decreases! The most severe situations have been cleaned up or are disappeared. Evolution in enforcement: ‘COMMAND and CONTROL’  ‘NEGOTIATION’

23. Enforcement actions • to improve compliance • with ambient air quality standards

24. Enforcement of Air Quality Standards(AQS) • Enforcement actions to improve compliance with AQS (only industry) • Control of stack emissions • (SO2, CO, benzene, B(a)P, precursors of ozone (SO2, NOx, VOC), Pb, As, Cd, Ni, PM10, NO2) • Control of fugitive emissions • (VOC) • Control of diffuse emissions • (Pb, As, Cd, Ni, PM10)

25. Stack emissions: Flemish legislation • Principle of preventing and reducing air pollution by adequate installation design and by use of BAT • Obligation of catching air emissions, cleaning them and emitting them respecting ELV and AQS • Chimney: obligated for discharge of certain pollutants with high mass flows (threshold value in kg/h); reference method for calculation of height of the chimney • general ELV (Vlarem II), sectoral ELV (Vlarem II), specific ELV (licence) • distinction existing/new installation: more severe for new installations, time limit

26. Stack emissions: Flemish legislation • ELV for more than 100 parameters: in general: concentration limit (mg/Nm3) + mass flow threshold value (g/h)(sometimes no mass flow threshold value (sectoral or specific ELV)) • ELV set for a reference method of sampling and analysis • ELV applicable: • for each emission source with mass flow > threshold value • for environmental technical unit (ponderated concentration) with total mass flow > threshold value

27. Stack emissions: Flemish legislation • calculation of measured concentration: • taking in account only process air (no cooling air) • related to a reference oxygen content ( ER = EM * (21-OR) / (21-OM) ) • measurement when conditions of normal operation • measurement during reference period of 1 h(more than 1 h for certain pollutants) • measurement uncertainty of max. 30 %

28. Stack emissions: control • by company: self control of air emissions • by EID: • Control of self control activities of company • Control of air emissions of company by EID measurements

29. Stack emissions: self control by company • VLAREM II: Obligation of measuring emissions for establishments of class 1 • measurement obligations: general, sectoral, specific (licence) • In general, more than 100 pollutants have to be measured; pollutants and frequency of measurements are listed in annex of VLAREM II: frequency depends on pollutant and mass flow (threshold values in g/h)(In reality, few pollutants are measured because the threshold formass flow of other pollutants is not exceeded or because of lack of knowledge or data about other mass flows) • obligation to follow frequency rules for measurement for a period of 1 year and for all emission sources; afterwards: • exemption for sources with very low mass flow; approval by EID needed • frequency of measurement can be reduced according program for self control in annex of VLAREM II (flow chart) • Fixed frequency for measurements of DUST, SO2 and NOx: monthly – continuously (depending on mass flow)

30. Stack emissions: self control by company • measurements to be performed by a recognized expert (air discipline) OR by the plant manager with measurement equipment/method approved by a recognized air expert • installation of obligated measurement devices and sampling devices (platform, …) in a way that measurements can be performed easily and safely • plant manager has to keep all data of measurement and registration for a period of at least 5 years • in case of accidental emissions: plant manager has to • warn the EID if measured concentration exceeds ELV • reduce all consequences for the environment and human beings

31. Stack emissions: control by EID of self control by company The EID controls whether • all necessary pollutants are measured • the frequency of measurement is correct • the expert or lab which did the measurement is recognized • the measurement equipment used by the plant manager is approved by an expert in the air discipline • procedures and methods of measurement have been followed • measurements have been performed in normal operation conditions • ELV are met • …. Afterwards, the EID starts administrative and, if necessary, criminal prosecution

32. Stack emissions: control of air emissions of company by EID measurements • The EID has a contract with a recognized lab to do measurements of air emissions in companies at its demand • Every inspector can order an emission measurement when needed • No warning to the company! • pollutants to be chosen for measurement: SO2, NOx, dust, HF, HCl, TOC, heavy metals, dioxines, specific organic components; choice organised in packages of parameters • About 30 measurements a year: with dioxines • About 60 measurements a year: without dioxines • Total annual cost: about 275.000 EUR

33. Fugitive emissions: Flemish legislation Legislation on fugitive emissions introduced in Vlarem II • EU VOC-Directive • Fugitive Emission Level Values: • expressed as a percentage of solvent input in the process • ranging from 5 to 45 % of solvent input depending the activity • Obligation to compile an annual Solvent Management Plan: calculation of fugitive emissions and proof of compliance • LDAR (Leak Detection and Repair) (> 2010) • Stage I and II gasoline vapor recovery (stage I > 2005 ; stage II > 2008)

34. Fugitive emissions: control • EU VOC-directive • PAST: • development of • Manual for inspectors to control solvent management plan (paper control) • Manual for plant operators to make the annual solvent management plan • Background document with technical/juridical information • Methodology to control fugitive emissions by measurement • thorough inspection of the graphic sector (highest impact) using both instruments (paper and measurement control) • random inspections of other sectors • 2009: thorough inspection of 5 companies with very high annual mass flow of VOC (by official expert on behalf of EID)

35. Fugitive emissions: control • LDAR • PAST: • some companies (refineries – petrochemical) obliged by specific permit conditions to implement LDAR • 2009: • development of inspection methodology and prepare inspection campaign in 2010 • (Development of specific recognition for labs)

36. Fugitive emissions: control • Stage I and II gasoline vapour recovery • PAST: • Development of checklists to control stage I and II gasoline vapour recovery • 2009: • Stage I: inspection of 11 gasoline storage facilities • Stage II: inspection of 170 gasoline service stations

37. Diffuse emissions: Flemish legislation Legislation on diffuse emissions introduced in Vlarem II • AQS < Framework Directive and Daughters • PM10 • heavy metals

38. Diffuse emissions: control PM10: general + hotspot zones • GENERAL AND SPECIFIC ACTION PLANS several actions by EID • General action plan Flanders on fine dust (December ’05) • Specific action plan on fine dust in industrial hotspot zones (May ’07) • Specific action plan on fine dust and NO2 in Antwerp City and the harbour of Antwerp (July ’08) • EID: focus on • hotspot zones • potential dangerous dust • Industrial sectors: storage and transfer, ferrous and non-ferrous industry, wood sector, shredder plants • Control: • By EID with checklist of BAT-measures based on BREF storage and transfer or EID asks plant manager to contract an official expert to check BAT of BREF • Result = action plan with measures and binding time limits; execution controlled by EID

39. Diffuse emissions: control Heavy metals: local • Pb (ELV > 2005) • ELV exceeded at 1 non-ferrous plant: action plan in execution;follow-up and control by EID • As, Cd, Ni (TV > 2013) • As, Cd: exceeded at 3 non-ferrous plants; Ni: exceeded at 1 ferrous plant • EID controles application of BAT by the company

40. Enforcement actions by EID to improve compliance with ambient air quality standards OVERVIEW actions on AQ 2009: • Control of self control activities of company • Control of air emissions of company by EID measurements • Control of fugitive emissions (VOC-directive) • Control of fugitive emissions (LDAR) • Control of fugitive emissions (stage I gasoline vap. recovery) • Control of fugitive emissions (stage II gasoline vap. recovery) • Control of diffuse emissions (PM10) • Control of diffuse emissions (heavy metals)

41. More… http://www.lne.be/themas/handhaving of http://www.milieu-inspectie.be