prop · GE0390 · 1990-12-31 00:00:00 — Atmunicipal treatment plants on the coast, a nitrogen reduction of at least 50%is to be introduced. The Government isproposing a change to the Environment Protection Act to make it quite clearthat the operator of environmentally hazardous activities is obliged toproduce the material required when reconsidering permit conditions. Swedishindustry constitutes the foundation ofthe nation's material welfare. Becauseof dependence upon exports, Swedish industry must take the international märketinto account to a high degree. Improved environmental properties in a productcan represent a competitive advantage today, but this has not always been thecase. In the long term, no areaof Swedish trade and industry will remain unaffected by the increasedenvironmental requirements. The stractural change that took place during the70s and SOs was accompanied by high environmental ambitions. Extensive changesthat can affect current production and employment are also expected in thefuture. At the same time, much new business potential will arise. Productionthat is tenable in the long term will also prove to be an advantage in businessterms. Industrial production inSweden still leads to extensive dismption ofthe ecological system. Even so,extensive and successful environmental work has meant that emissions ofpollutants from the main point sources industry, combustion plants and sewagetreatment plants have dedined sharply. The reasons for this are to be found inthe Environment Protection Act of 1969 and the environmental demands thatcould subsequently be made with the help ofthe Act, partly in the form of astractural change in which older plants were closed. The work within companieson improving processes and converting to processes that use less energy and resourceshas been of major significance to improvements in the environment. In manyindustries, it has been possible to increase production at the same time as reducingdischarges and the consumption of raw materi- Prop. 1990/91:90 als. Oneexample of this is that it has been possible to increase the production ofbleached pulp while drastically reducing the amount of chlorine used in thebleaching process. Thework of limiting emissions from Swedish processing industry must continue inorder to bring them down to levels which do not give rise to noticeable effectson health and the environment. This means that a programme for the review ofcurrent discharge conditions is to be started. The environmental effects oftheuse of goods and the generation of waste must also be limited to a level thatis compatible with long-term sustainable development. This means thatenvironmental consequences are already to be taken into account in thedevelopment of production and that the environmental impact of the entire lifecycle of a product is to be considered from the very beginning. Thequality and ambitions of environmental work vary considerably between differentbranches of industry and different plants. Many companies are working activelyon the training of personnel and on technical development in order to reducedischarges and avoid infringement of their permit conditions. Other companiesdo not have the same degree of foresight and lack knowledge ofthe environmentalconsequences of their production. Theprovisions ofthe Environment Protection Act with respect to individual permitconsideration can in certain cases mean that similar environmentally harmfuloperations have different permit conditions in terms of protective measures.Such differenccs may depend upon when the operations came under consideration.Competent and fair consideration by the authorities is an important part ofwork to achieve future environmental goals. In addition to this, a controlprogramme is required for the operations in question. This must be designed insuch a way as to provide support both for the company and for the supervisoryauthority. Acompany applying for permission to pursue environmentally hazardous operationsis obliged to submit the study required for the permit application to beconsidered. The Environment Protection Act lacks express provisions, however,as to who is required to carry out the study when permit conditions are to bereviewed. The Government considers that the Environment Protection Act shouldbe supplemented to make it quite clear that it is also the operator who isrequired to perform the study when permit conditions are under review. This willimprove the position ofthe and theCounty Administrative Boards when handling such reviews. The Government is givingthe Swedish Environmental Protection Agen cy the task of drawing up a ten-year programme for an overhaul of the conditions for industrial discharges through reviews of existing permits. The purpose is to systematically introduce permit conditions in order to meet national and international environmental goals and to eliminate regional environmental problems. When reviewing the conditions for a 94 givenbranch of industry, priority should be given to plants with high levels Prop. ofdischarges, particularly those where clear environmental goals exist, as wellas to sensitive receiving waters. The regional environmental analyses ofthe County Administrative Boards may be used when drawing up prioritiesconceraing needs and measures. In addition to industries, the programmeshould also include other important point sources such as powerplants and municipal waste water treatment plants. Anyoperator of environmentally harmful activities who possesses a permit pursuantto the Environment Protection Act is obliged to provide an annuai environmentalreport to the supervisory authority. It is up to the operator to ensure thatthe report is complete and correct. It should thus be possible to use thereports as documentation when determining permit review priorities. Inthe on-going follow-up work, it is important that companies and authoritiesboth work as efficiently as possible in order to maintain discharges at a lowlevel in the future. This requires well-developed interaal controls at theoperations concerned, in combination with effective external controls on thepart ofthe authorities. The work that has been started on internalenvironmental audits in industry is one step in the right direction. Themain source of persistent organic pollution consists of discharges ofchlorinated organic substances from the pulp and paper industry. The guidelinesfor reducing these discharges were stated in the 1988 Goverament onEnvironmental Policy. As a result ofthe measures now being implemented,discharges will be limited by 60 from the 1985 levels. Discharges willthen amount to 1.5 2 kg of organically bound chlorine per tonne of bleachedsulphate pulp. Withthe processing and treatment technology available today, the discharges can befurther reduced to 0.5 1 kg of organically bound chlorine per tonne of pulp.The pulp and paper industries should therefore be given priority in the reviewplan drawn up by the . In the review,the conditions imposed should take the best available technology into account.In individual reviews, consideration must also be taken ofthe production oftheindividual company and the possibilities of reducing discharges. Inconjunction with the review of pulp and paper plants, other discharges ofenvironmentally hazardous substances from the manufacture of both bleached andunbleached pulp are also to be dealt with. The goal is that discharges from thepulp and paper industry should be reduced by the beginning of the next centuryto such a level that the environment is not noticeably affected. Theimplication of this in terms of the extent of discharges must be darifiedthrough continued research and environmental monitoring. Dischargesof persistent organic substances should also be limited from other branches of industry. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agen- 95 cy and the ChemicalsInspectorate should continue their work on identify- Prop. ing new sources andinitiating measures against discharges from such Industrialemissions of volatile organic compounds primarily come from refineries, theorganic chemical industry and surface treatment plants. In these cases, areduction of emissions has only started during recent years. Discharges fromprocessing industries are being limited through the use of equipment which isbetter sealed, together with better monitoring in terms of identifying leakageand emissions to the surrounding area. Emissions of solvents, etc, are also tobe limited, primarily by way of a transfer to solvent-free processes wherepossible. Otherwise, emissions are to be limited through the installation ofrecycling or purification equipment. Disusedmine waste deposition sites are the major source of discharges of a number ofmetals into water. There are also considerable discharges from current miningoperations and from certain industries which release metals. Diffuse dischargesfrom landfills are another source which may increase in significance. Dischargesof metals have dedined sharply since the early 70s. In order to attain thegoals in this respect, further measures must be taken to limit emissions,primarily to the air. A number of measures have already been taken, and throughthe on-going work on supervision and issuing of permits it should be possibleto halve discharges ofthe most important metals during the 1985 - 1995 period. Asone of several measures to minimize the discharge of mercury, measures are tobe taken at the chloralkali plants that use mercury cells. Mercury-freetechnology is available and is already applied by two plants. The 1988Goverament on Environmental Policy already stated that mercury-freetechnology should be introduced in the long term. The Government now considersthat a plan should be laid down for the introduction of mercury-freetechnology at all plants. Mercury discharges from other sources, such as iron,sted and metalworks, are to be reduced by the imposition of conditions whenconsidering permit applications pursuant to the Environment Protection Act. Aplan for phasing out mercury is presented below. The Goverament considers thatthese measures taken together will lead to a reduction of mercury discharges by70% between 1985 and 1995. Industrialprocesses are responsible for a large part of the Swedish emissions ofacidifying substances, afthough total emissions have dedined sharply duringrecent years. About ofthe emissions of sulphur come from industry. Thisproportion will increase when the sulphur tax that has been adopted leads to areduction of emissions from other sectors. Theemission of sulphur and nitrogen oxides from industrial processes must be reduced further in order to meet the environmental goals that the Riksdag has formulated. The guidelines for consideration of permit appli cations are that measures are to be taken amounting to a cost of at least SEK30/kg of sulphur and SEK40/kg of nitrogen oxides. This wiU impose the same demands on industrial processes as on other sectors of society. Dischargesof nutrients should be limited from certain industries and Prop. 1990/91:90particularly from municipal treatment plants. Many of the municipal treatmentplants have both biological and chemical purification today. However, most ofthem still lack satisfactory nitrogen treatment. The Government considers, as aguideline when considering permits pursuant to the Environment Protection Act,that the limit should be reduced by at least for the major treatmentplants. Initially, measures should be directed at the treatment plants that arelocated on or near the coast in the most affected sea areas. This includes theentire south and of and the Baltic coast up to and includingthe archipelago. In certain severely affected areas, such as thebays of , and Hanö, and , a higher degree ofpurification is required. Manymunicipalities have old and out of date sewage systems. The result is thatlarge quantities of groundwater leak into the systems and cause overflows andother disraptions in the treatment processes. In many cases, waste water canalso leak out and pollute groundwater. AU this means that sewage systems inmany ofthe country's municipalities must be modem-ized or replaced as soon aspossible. This investment responsibility rests with the municipalities. Thecontent of metals in the residual sludge from municipal treatment plants hasdedined during recent years. Levels of metals and persisent organic compoundscan, however, still be so high that the sludge can only be used as a fertilizerunder certain conditions. As a result ofthe measures that are currently beingtaken, it should once again be possible to spread the sludge more generally notlater than . Emissionsof nitrogen and phosphoms from individual sewage plants and small treatmentplants in spacely populated areas also require attention. An informationcampaign to persuade people to transfer to phos-phate-free detergents wouldcontribute to reducing the discharges of phosphoms. 7 1990/91. 4.6 Goodsand chemical products Environmentalawareness must permeate the design ofall the goods andproducts we use in society. Chemicalmonitoring efforts are increasing in order to reduce the supply and use ofsubstances and products that are hazardous to health and the environment.Regulations for the prior notification of new chemical products are beingintroduced and the product register of the Chemicals Inspectorate is to beexpanded. The authorization ofthe Chemicals Inspectorate and the to prohibit the import and handling of hazardous chemicalsubstances and products will be increased. TheGovernment proposes that a new law be introduced requiring the prior inspectionof biological pesticides. Plansto phase out ozone-depleting substances are being brought forward and extendedin scope. The Goverament is proposing that the Riksdag approve the annex to theMontreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances. Newphase-out plans are being approved for chlorinated solvents, mercury and lead.The use of cadmium is to be further restricted. Interaationalcooperation is to be sought, particularly within Westem Europé. Incentives are tobe introduced for the retura of used nickel-cadmium . The Goveramentintends to raise the environmental charge for nickel-cadmium . Theproduction of goods always entails the utilization of natural resources.Effects on the environment may arise in the extraction of raw materials, thetransport of input goods and goods at the production stage, during consumptionand, later, when the product becomes waste after its use. An extremely largenumber of substances and chemicals are used in different products. A number ofthese substances may cause damage if their spread in the environment isuncontrolled. As has been statedprcviously, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to impose stricterrequirements on different goods and chemical products in order to attain theenvironmental goals that have been laid down. By designing products in anenvironmentally sound , environmental problems can be reduced in allsectors of society. Vehides with fewer and cleaner exhaust emissions wouldreduce pollution from the transport sector. By removing asphalt from brakelinings and mercury from circuit breakers, etc, emissions can be avoided duringproduction and when the cars are scrapped. Less dangerous pesticides andfertilizers with lower levels of cadmium wiU limit the effect of agriculture onthe environment. By replacing hazardous substances in detergents, paints and glues,professional users and consumers can be spared health risks (aller- Prop.1990/91:90 gies, nerve damage) when using them, and the diffuse discharges ofhazardous substances into the environment via sewage systems and landfills canbe reduced. At the same time, the working environment can be improved for thosewho manufacture these products and for those who use them in the industrialmanufacture of other goods. TheGovernment considers that a strategy should be developed for theenvironmentally-adapted production of goods, i. e. production in whichenvironmental awareness and impact are taken into consideration at all phasesof the life-cyde of the product, from raw material to waste and recycling. Aworking group under the Ministry of the Environment will draw up such astrategy. As regards measures to tackle the problem of materialscontaining volatile substances, the Goverament intends to present a to theRiksdag later this year. This will deal with various measures to improve theindoor environment. Itis particularly urgent to limit the use of chemical substances which arehazardous to health and the environment. The annuai input of environmentallyhazardous substances in goods and stationary facilities far exceeds thecurrent emissions into the environment. This implies an increasingaccumulation of environmentally hazardous substances which sooner or later riskbeing leaked into the environment via landfills. This represents a majorthreat to the environment in the future. Effortsare required on the part of a large number of actors in order to ensuresuccessful environmental adaptation in the production of goods. By includingthe substitution principle in the Act on , whoever handles orimports a chemical product has a fundamental responsibility for replacinghazardous substances and products by less dangerous ones. Consumersand professional users must be aware and well informed in their choice andhandling of products and chemicals. Like well-developed monitoring ofchemicals, this represents an important factor in ensuring that theresponsibility for replacing hazardous substances and products really is laidat the door of producers and suppliers in practice. Thesystem of eco-labelling is one step towards improving the consum-er's abilityto exert an influence. Eco-labelling is being coordinated between the Nordiccountries with the purpose of stimulating the sale of more environmentallysound products, indicated by a label showing a swan. Bettertraining, particularly by professional users, and further development oftherequirements concerning compulsory dassification and labelling of productswhich are hazardous to health and the environment are other ways of improvingthe possibilities ofthe consumer and the professional user to influenceproduct development. Oneimportant step is the introduction of compulsory environmental hazard waraing labels on chemical products. dassification, labelling and registration of chemicals have hitherto mainly concerned dangers to health. Criteria for dangers to the environment have also been drawn up in Nordic cooperation. The EC has laid down criteria which in principle 99 accordwith those ofthe Nordic countries. In the Nordic Area, moreover, a Prop.1990/91:90 system of dassification, labelling and product information sheetsfor environmentally hazardous chemical substances and products has been drawnup on the basis ofthe new criteria for environmental hazards. Discussions withthe EC are under way in order to harmonize these requirements. 4.6.2The monitoring of chemicals Themonitoring of chemicals is to be improved through the expansion of theChemicals Inspectorate. Prior notification and good documentation will berequired for new chemical substances, and the product register is to beexpanded. Better inspection of and information on chemical substances andproducts constitutes the basis for improved monitoring of chemicals, which inturn is a prerequisite for preventive measures against environmental problems,by limiting or phasing out substances and products that are environmentallyhazardous. Priornotification implies that manufacturers and importers must report new chemicalsubstances before such substances are marketed in . The notificationshould be followed by documentation ofthe effects ofthe substance on health andthe environment. This is basically the same as the system which is already inexistence in the EC. The Goverament is authorizing the Chemicals Inspectorateto work out the application regulations required for the introduction ofthesystem. TheChemicals Inspectorate's product register is to be expanded, and will requirespecial information about environmentally hazardous substances, betterinformation about carcinogens and allergens and information on all the maincomponents of a product. Invarious international contexts, has called for better and more reliableanalyses, information and documentation concerning chemicals. has alsoworked towards the limitation of hazardous substances. Considerable progresshas been made within the framework ofthe 's work on chemicals. By the endof 1993, information is to have been made available on the properties of atotal of 147 substances and their impact on health and the environment. Thewell-organized allocation of work between countries will make it possible toproduce comprehensive documentation in a relatively short time and, at thesame time, promote agreement on the assessment of the danger of the substancesto health and the environment. This is of major significance in deciding if andwhen protective measures are to be taken. Chemicalpesticides have been regulated for some time through a system of prior inspection and approval. The Government is now proposing that biological pesticides be inspected in the same way. A new law is proposed which is to be applicable to biological pesticides. Approval will be required from the point of view of health and the environment before a biological pesticide can be sold and used. This approval will be obtained through prior inspection by the Chemicals Inspectorate. The Inspectorate is authorized to issue the regulations and precautions required for the pro duction and use of biological pesticides. Itis also proposed that other aspects of biological pesticides be handled Prop. 1990/91:90 by the same authorities as handle the chemical agents. It isproposed that the cost of prior inspection of biological pesticides be coveredthrough charges according to the same principles as apply to chemicalpesticides. Workon phasing out the substances which are most dangerous to health and theenvironment is entering an increasingly intensive stage. Theuse of ozone-depleting substances must cease. Global phase-out plans for suchsubstances have been drawn up in the form of the Protocol. Över 60states have signed the protocol, which lays down minimum phase-outrequirements and also encourages individual countries to make faster progress. Inthe environmental decision of 1988, was the first country to reach adecision on the complete phasing out of CFCs. This stimulated the developmentof alternative technologies, which has facilitated international work. TheGovernment is now proposing that the phasing-out plan for CFCs be extended inscope and that the use of all ozone-depleting substances be discontinued orsharply limited. TheGovernment will be introducing a system for recovering discarded refrigeratorsand freezers which contain CFCs. The municipalities will be made responsiblefor disposing of the CFCs they contain. The increased costs are to be financedwith the help ofthe sanitation charge. TheGovernment intends to introduce a ban on halons in portable fire extinguishersand in fixed installations from 1 1991. has notified this measure. Use of halon gases in existing installations in trade andindustry should be phased out not later than . Recovery and destraction ofhalon gases is also being introduced. Chlorinatedsolvents have extremely good solvent properties and are not flammable. Theseproperties, combined with extreme volatility, are the reason for the extensiveuse of the substances during recent decades. The most important areas ofapplication are for de-greasing and the remo val of paints in the engineeringindustry, for deaning in the electronics industry and in the pharmaceutical andchemical industries, for the removal of graffiti and for dry deaning. Chlorinatedsolvents are carcinogens and affect the central nervous system.