COMMISSION DECISION
of 3 April 2008
on the rules of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland concerning permit exemptions for undertakings and establishments recovering hazardous waste under Article 3 of Council Directive 91/689/EEC
(notified under document number C(2008) 1212)
(Only the English text is authentic)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2008/350/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (1), and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,
Whereas:
1. NATIONAL PROVISIONS NOTIFIED
(1)
By notifications of 13 September 2005, 18 January 2006, 3 and 4 August 2006 and 6 December 2006 the United Kingdom sent to the Commission the proposed changes to the existing waste management licensing exemptions relating to hazardous waste in England, Wales and Scotland set out in Schedule 3 (Activities Exempt from Waste Management Licensing) of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (Statutory Instrument (SI) No 1056/1994, as amended).
(2)
The United Kingdom only notified the paragraphs 17(1), 18(1), 38, 39(1) and (2), 43, 45(1) and (2), 47A(2) and 48A(2) of the Draft Waste Management Exemptions (Amendment and Related Provisions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 which are relating to hazardous waste. For Northern Ireland the paragraphs 49-51 of Annex A to Schedule A to Schedule 2 (Exemptions from Waste Management Licensing) of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, were notified. In contrast Scotland notified permit exemptions governing hazardous and non-hazardous waste all together (paragraphs 3(a)(ii), 3(c), 6(1) and (2), 17(1), 18(2)(a) and (b), 28, 36(1) to (3), 38, 39(1) and (2), 43(1) to (3), 45(1) and (2), 47(2) and 48(2) of the Draft Waste Management Licensing Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2006).
2. ASSESSMENT
(3)
With regard to the compliance with Article 3(2) of Directive 91/689/EEC, the notified exemptions relating to hazardous waste in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland do fulfil the requirements under that Directive. The notified drafts list the types and maximum quantities of hazardous wastes, and prescribe further requirements relating to the carrying out of the storage activities. The typology of the waste involved is appropriately identified according to Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/404/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (2).
(4)
Paragraph 38 of the notified drafts, covering the storage of waste which is being tested to establish its classification and to ensure it is treated in the right way, does not contain the appropriate reference according to Decision 2000/532/EC. The Commission has, however, accepted this exception as the testing and analysis of waste is necessary to ascertain the characteristics of some wastes, including whether it is hazardous or non-hazardous. Thus the correct waste reference can only be assigned after the testing and the waste treated appropriately. The exemption does not extend to any treatment of the waste that will be regulated under a separate waste authorisation.
(5)
The Commission is of the opinion that with regard to the notified exemptions the provision of the limits for the content of hazardous substances in the waste and emission limit values would be disproportionate. The Commission considers that, by fulfilling the other requirements listed in Article 3(2) and 3(3) of Directive 91/689/EEC, the management of the exempted waste is satisfactorily ensured pursuant to Article 1(1) of Directive 91/689/EEC.
(6)
As regards the condition in Article 3(2) of Directive 91/689/EEC concerning the compliance of the types or quantities of waste and methods of recovery with the conditions laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on waste (3), Paragraph 4(1)(a) of Schedule 4 to the SI No 1056/1994 duplicates the requirements of Article 4 of Directive 2006/12/EC. The condition of Article 3(2) of Directive 91/689/EEC is, therefore, fulfilled.
(7)
Regulation 18(1) of the SI No 1056/1994 provides that it is an offence for an establishment or undertaking to carry on an exempt activity involving the recovery or disposal of waste without being registered with the appropriate registration authority. Therefore the registration requirement contained in Article 3(3) of Directive 91/689/EEC is satisfied through that provision.
(8)
The Commission has consulted Member States for their views on compliance of the notified exemptions with Article 3 of Directive 91/689/EEC. During the consultation phase, no Member State has objected to the draft rules being accepted.
3. CONCLUSION
(9)
In the light of the consultation with the Member States, and in view of its own analysis that the draft rules comply with the requirements of Article 3 of Directive 91/689/EEC, the draft rules should be finally agreed upon.
(10)
The Annex to this Decision provides a summary of the rules notified by the United Kingdom which are compliant with the conditions set out in Article 3(2) and (4) of Directive 91/689/EEC in conjunction with Article 11(1)(b) of Directive 2006/12/EC. This agreement relates exclusively to the provisions as summarised in the Annex and is without prejudice to the application of other provisions contained in Directives 2006/12/EC and 91/689/EEC or other Community legislation to the notified Regulations.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 2006/12/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The rules on permit exemptions concerning the recovery of hazardous wastes laid down in the draft Waste Management Licensing Exemptions (Amendment and Related Provisions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Waste Management Licensing) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2006 and the Waste Management Licensing Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2006, notified by the United Kingdom and listed in the Annex to this Decision, comply with Article 3(2) and (4) of Directive 91/689/EEC.
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Done at Brussels, 3 April 2008.