Environmental Risk indicators in the EU and USA

Category	Lectures
Sub-Categories	n/a
Year	2015
Author(s)	Haakon Vennemo
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Environmental	 risk 	indicators	 in 	the	 European 	Union and 	the	 USA 	
Haakon 	Vennemo	 	Workshop in 	Anshun	, May 21, 2015

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Regional 	indicators	 in 	the	 EU 	or 	the	 USA 	
• 	As far as 	we	 know	, EU 	countries	 or 	the	 USA do not 	publish	 regional 	indicators	 of	 environmental	 risk 	• 	But	 they	 do 	publish	 indicators	 of	 sustainability	 	• 	And 	indicators	 of	 environmental	 damage	, 	sometimes	 	in 	the	 form 	of	 «Green GDP» 	• 	The regional 	environmental	 risk 	indicator	 system 	that	 we	 have 	discussed	 at 	this	 workshop 	may	 be 	considered	 a 	further	 development	 and 	refinement	 	of	 sustainability	 indicators	, 	damage	 indicators	 etc.

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Indicators	 	of	 	Environmenal	 	Risk in 	the	 EU and 	the	 USA 	
• 	In 	the	 EU and 	the	 USA 	environmental	 risk is 	indicated	 	and 	regulated	 per problem 	Problem(area(Accumulated	(Risk(	Acute	(Risk(	All-	emissions	--from-	industry	-sources	-	Industrial-	emissions	-	direc6ve	--	Industrial-	emissions	-	direc6ve	--	Rivers-and-lakes-Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Hazardous	-	substances	-	EU-–-REACH-USA-&-	Superfund	-	EU-–-Seveso-USA-&-	Superfund	-	Biodiversity	-	Habitat-	direc6ve	-	Contaminated	-soil	-	EU-	soil	-strategy	-	Marine-	life	-	OSPAR-

vista&	analyse.no	-	
Indicators	 	of	 	Environmenal	 	Risk in 	the	 EU and 	the	 USA 	
Problem(area(Accumulated	(Risk(	Acute	(Risk(	All-	emissions	--from-	industry	-sources	-	Industrial(emissions	(direc5ve	((	Industrial(emissions	(direc5ve	((	Rivers-and-lakes-Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Hazardous	-	substances	-	EU(–(REACH(USA-&-	Superfund	-	EU-–-Seveso-USA-&-	Superfund	-	Biodiversity	-	Habitat-	direc6ve	-	Contaminated	-soil	-	EU-	soil	-strategy	-	Marine-	life	-	OSPAR-

vista&	analyse.no	-	
Indicators	 	of	 	Environmenal	 	Risk in 	the	 EU and 	the	 USA 	
Problem(area(Accumulated	(Risk(	Acute	(Risk(	All-	emissions	--from-	industry	-sources	-	Industrial(emissions	(direc5ve	((	Industrial(emissions	(direc5ve	((	Rivers-and-lakes-Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Hazardous	-	substances	-	EU-–-REACH-USA-&-	Superfund	-	EU-–-Seveso-USA-&-	Superfund	-	Biodiversity	-	Habitat-	direc6ve	-	Contaminated	-soil	-	EU-	soil	-strategy	-	Marine-	life	-	OSPAR-

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Release	 	permit	 is 	needed	 	
• 	Covers more 	than	 30,000 	industrial	 facilities	 	• 	Requires	 reporting	 on	 releases	 to air, water and land 	as 	well	 as 	pollution	 content	 of	 waste	 and waste-water 	of	 91	 pollutants	 	• 	Each	 facility	 needs	 release	 permit

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The 	release	 	permit	 covers 	more 	than	 	releases	 	
• 	The 	release	 permit	 is a 	key	 tool	 for 	managing	 	environmental	 risk from 	industrial	 production	 	• 	Additional	 regulations	 apply	 to 	industrial	 facilities	 	handling 	hazardous	 chemicals	 (REACH, Seveso)

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The 	release	 	permit	 covers 	more 	than	 	releases	 	
• 	The 	release	 permit	 covers 	• 	Emission	 limit 	values	 	• 	Appropriate	 requirements	 to 	ensure	 protection	 of	 the	 soil	 	and 	groundwater	, and 	measures	 concerning	 the	 	monitoring	 and management 	of	 waste	 	• 	Suitable	 emission	 monitoring	 requirements	 	(methodology	, 	frequency	, 	evaluation	 procedure	)

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The 	release	 	permit	 covers 	more 	than	 	releases	 	
• 	The 	release	 permit	 covers 	• 	An 	obligation	 to 	supply	 authorities	 regularly	, at 	least	 	annually	, 	with	 information	 based	 on	 monitoring	 and 	other	 	required	 data, 	enabling	 the	 authority	 to 	verify	 compliance	 	• 	Appropriate	 requirements	 for 	regular	 maintenance	 and 	surveillance	 of	 measures	 to 	prevent	 releases	 	• 	Appropriate	 requirements	 concering	 periodic	 monitoing	 of	 	soil	 and 	groundwater

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The 	release	 	permit	 covers 	more 	than	 	releases	 	
• 	The 	release	 permit	 covers 	• 	Measures	 relating	 to 	conditions	 other	 than	 normal 	operation	, 	such	 as start-up and 	shut-down	, 	leaks	, 	malfunction	, 	momentary	 stoppages and definitive 	cessation	 of	 operations	 	• 	Provisions	 for 	the	 minimization	 of	 long-	distance	, 	transboundary	 pollution	 	• 	Conditions	 for 	assessing	 compliance	 with	 the	 emission	 	limit 	values	 and 	other	 applicable	 requirements	 	• 	Of	 these	 requirements	 emission	 limit 	values	 are	 	the	 most 	important	 for 	deciding	 acceptable	 	environmental	 risk in 	practice

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Emission	 limit 	values	 	are	 	based	 	on	 Best 	Available	 Technology 	
• 	Best 	Available	 Technology Reference 	Documents	 	(BREFs	) 	specify	 Best 	Available	 Technology in 	practice	 	• 	Emission	 limit 	values	 should	 be as 	strict	 or 	stricter	 	than	 defined	 in 	BREFs	 	• 	Can	 be less 	strict	 if	 an 	assessment	 shows 	that	 the	 	achievement	 in terms 	of	 emission	 reduction	 would	 	lead to 	disproportionally	 higher	 costs	 compared	 to 	benefits	, due to 	• 	The 	geografical	 conditions	 or 	the	 local	 environmental	 	conditions	 of	 the	 installation	 	• 	The 	technical	 characteristics	 of	 the	 installation

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BREFs	 	are	 	found	 	on	 a web-	page	 	
• 	http://eippcb.jrc.ec.europa.eu/reference/

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BREF Iron and Steel 
• 	Is 627 	pages	 long	! 	Prepared	 by Joint Research Center 	(JRC). 	Summarized	 in a 36 	page	 official	 document	: 	EU-–-REACH-EU-–-REACH-

vista&	analyse.no	-	
Indicators	 	of	 	Environmenal	 	Risk in 	the	 EU and 	the	 USA 	
Problem(area(Accumulated	(Risk(	Acute	(Risk(	All-	emissions	--from-	industry	-sources	-	Industrial-	emissions	-	direc6ve	--	Industrial-	emissions	-	direc6ve	--	Rivers-and-lakes-Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Water-	framework	-	direc6ve	-	Hazardous	-	substances	-	EU(–(REACH(USA-&-	Superfund	-	EU-–-Seveso-USA-&-	Superfund	-	Biodiversity	-	Habitat-	direc6ve	-	Contaminated	-soil	-	EU-	soil	-strategy	-	Marine-	life	-	OSPAR-

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What	 is REACH? 	
• 	regulation	 on	 Registration	, Evaluation, 	Authorization	 	and 	restriction	 of	 CHemicals	 	• 	REACH is 	both	 about	 procedure	 and 	about	 limit 	values	 	• 	It 	places	 the	 responsibility	 for 	the	 safe management 	of	 	the	 risks 	of	 chemical	 substances	 on	 the	 industry	 	• 	The 	burden	 of	 proof	 is 	on	 industries	. 	They	 must 	convince	 the	 regulator 	that	 a 	chemical	 is safe and 	procedures	 for handling it 	are	 safe. 	• 	Applies	 to 	manufacturers	 and to importers.

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Registration	 is 	necessary	 	
• 	Substances	 manufactured	 or 	imported	 in 	quantities	 of	 	1 ton or more per 	year	 per 	company	, 	manufacturer	 og 	importer 	need	 to 	registrate	 the	 substance	 in a 	registration	 dossier (= 	documentation	), 	which	 must be 	submitted	 to 	the	 authority	. 	• 	Must 	include	 testing 	procedures

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Substances	 	of	 	Ve r y	 High 	Concern	 	
• 	REACH singles 	out	 Substances	 of	 Very	 High 	Concern	 	• 	These	 require	 approval	 from REACH 	authorities	 	• 	The 	approval	 licence	 aims	 to 	ensure	 that	 risks from 	these	 substances	 are	 properly	 controlled	, and 	that	 	they	 over time 	are	 replaced	 by 	other	 substances

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Substances	 	of	 	Ve r y	 High 	Concern	 	
• 	Currently	 31 	substances	 are	 of	 very	 high	 concern	. 	• 	The list is 	found	 here	: 	http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/priority_substances.htm	 	• 	Examples	 	• 	Alaclor	 	• 	Anthracene	 	• 	Antrazine	 	• 	Benzene	 	• 	Cadmium	 and 	its	 compounds	 	• 	Etc. 	• 	More 	substances	 under 	consideration	, in 	scientifically	 	based	 review	 process	 (Joint Research Center)

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Conclusions	 	
• 	In 	practice	 management 	of	 environmental	 risk 	comes	 	down	 to 	quantitative	 indicators	 	• 	BREF 	• 	Substances	 of	 very	 high	 concern	 	• 	Many	 more 	than	 I have 	showed	 here	 are	 discussed	 in 	the	 CAEP-Vista report 	on	 International 	Experiences	, 	and in 	Section	 5 	of	 the	 document	 From 	Principles	 to 	Policy (Framework 	Document	 D).