Defra have launched a consultation aimed at assisting two important energy production processing areas. Amendments will be made to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations SI 2010/675 in order to aid the development of anaerobic digestion plants and implement the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Directive 2009/31/EC through the permitting regime.
Although the deadline for implementing the Directive is not until June 2011, Defra believes that an earlier date will help to clarify its regulatory framework. While almost all CCS activities would be regarded as “Directly Associated Activities” under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive 2008/1/EC, the CCS Directive amends the IPPC Directive to make sure the capture element of CCS is specifically regulated as an IPPC Annex 1 activity. Such Annex 1 activities are incorporated into Schedule 1 of Environmental Permitting, and are those which require a permit. The storage element of the process will however remain regulated by the CCS Directive, which sets out permit requirements for carbon dioxide storage sites.
The consultation therefore proposes to amend the Environmental Permitting Regulations so the risks of emitting harmful materials associated with the carbon capture process are covered by them, given that carbon capture is to be viewed as an IPPC Annex 1 activity in its own right.
The CCS Directive also amends the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, by introducing a further exception prohibiting the direct discharge of pollutants into groundwater. In line with this, Defra plans to introduce a new exception into environmental permitting, namely the injection of carbon dioxide streams into geological formations for storage purposes (which for natural reasons are permanently unsuitable for other purposes). This is regarded as being essential as it removes what would otherwise be a serious regulatory barrier to most CSS schemes.
In addition, the proposals for anaerobic digestion facilities aim to support those plants where gas production does not involve any combustion and where the gas is instead stored and transported off site for use as a fuel. The Environment Agency believes that anaerobic digestion is already sufficiently monitored under environmental permitting as a waste operation. In line with this, Defra proposes to exclude anaerobic digestion plants where no combustion activity takes place from those Part A activities under Schedule 1 to the Environmental Permitting Regulations, so they are excluded from IPPC requirements.
Further information on the consultation can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/env-permitting-regs2010/index.htm.
