Other regulation
There are three main legislative routes for tackling air emissions from fixed installations:
- regulation of (mainly) industry by either the Environment Agency or local authorities under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 integrated pollution prevention and control and local authority pollution control regimes.
- regulation of smoke, grit and dust emissions from industrial, commercial and domestic combustion under the Clean Air Act 1993 (consolidated from the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968). There is guidance on UK smoke control areas including advice on authorised fuels, exempt appliances, and how to contact your local authority to find out if where you live or work is in a smoke control area. Guidance and information can also be found on the Renewable Heat Incentive further below and the emission limits for biomass boilers to be eligible for the scheme from October 2012.
- regulation of smoke, odour and other statutory nuisances under the largely-reactive provisions of Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Specific guidance has been issued on the interrelationship (PDF 430 KB) between statutory nuisance and the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Pollution in the air is also addressed through:
- setting limit values for the amount of different pollutants permitted in the air, and through the related Local Air Quality Management system set up to identify areas where air quality is less good and to provide a framework for improvement; and
- complying with international requirements for the total amount (known as an “emission ceiling”) of different pollutants that can be emitted from the UK as a whole. These requirements are in place because pollution can travel long distances and therefore affect other countries.
The Defra website also has separate pages covering waste, water, noise and other environmental issues relevant to the integrated pollution prevention and control regime.
Renewable Heat Incentive
The Government is committed to the ambition that by 2020, 12 percent of heating can come from renewable sources. The Government’s RHI scheme will incentivise biomass boilers, among other renewable energy production technologies and should help drive a significant increase in the level of renewable heat. Defra has worked with DECC, Ofgem and Industry to agree a paper which sets out the mechanism for ensuring that Renewable Heat Incentive financial support is only given to biomass boilers capable of complying with limits of 30g/GJ (PM) and 150g/GJ (NOx). We expect the procedures set out in the paper will be incorporated into the phase 2 application process from October 2012 as the mechanism for demonstrating compliance with the emission limits. However, given that phase 2 will need Ministerial clearance and formal consultation, it is necessary to acknowledge that is no absolute guarantee that the procedures in the paper will remain unchanged. The paper has been circulated to key industry stakeholders and is being further disseminated to wider industry. This page will be further updated with information on the Phase 2 consultation as well as any further developments.