27. 5. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 139/5 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the combating of air pollution from industrial plants 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 15 April 1983) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Articles 100 and 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the 1973 O, 1977 (2) and 1983 (3) action 
programmes of the European Communities on the 
environment stress the importance of the prevention 
and reduction of air pollution; 
Whereas the 1973 and 1977 action programmes in 
particular provide not only for the objective 
evaluation of the risks to human health and to the 
environment from air pollution but also for the 
formulation of quality objectives and the setting of 
quality standards, especially for a number of air 
pollutants regarded as the most hazardous; 
Whereas the Council has already adopted several 
Directives under these programmes; 
Whereas, moreover, under Council Decision 81/462/ 
EEC (4), the Community is a party to the Convention 
on long-range transboundary air pollution; 
Whereas the 1982 action programme calls on the 
Commission to continue its efforts to establish air-
quality standards and also to develop a policy 
directed towards stabilization of total emissions in the 
(') OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 1. 
O OJNoC 139, 13.6. 1977, p. 1. 
(}) OJNoC46, 17.2. 1983, p. 1. 
O OJ No L 171, 27. 6. 1981, p. 11. first phase followed by progressive reduction, where 
appropriate achieved by establishing emission 
standards for certain types of source; 
Whereas all the Member States have laws, regulations 
and administrative provisions concerning the 
combating of air pollution from stationary industrial 
plants; whereas several Member States are in the 
process of amending the existing provisions; 
Whereas the disparities between the provisions 
concerning the combating of air pollution from 
industrial installations currently in force, or in the 
process of amendment, in the Member States are 
liable to create unequal conditions of competition and 
thus have a direct effect on the functioning of the 
common market; whereas, therefore, approximation 
of the laws in this field is required, as provided for by 
Article 100 of the Treaty; 
Whereas one of the essential tasks of the Community 
is to promote throughout the Community a 
harmonious development of economic activities and a 
continuous and balanced expansion, tasks which are 
inconceivable in the absence of a campaign to combat 
pollution and nuisances or of an improvement in the 
quality of life and in the protection of the 
environment; whereas, since the Treaty has not 
provided the powers necessary to this end, Article 235 
of the Treaty must be invoked; 
Whereas the Community should and must help 
increase the effectiveness of action undertaken by the 
Member States to combat air pollution from 
stationary industrial plants; 
Whereas, in order to achieve this end, certain 
principles aiming at the implementation of a series of 
measures and procedures designed to prevent and 
reduce air pollution from industrial plants within the 
Community should be introduced; 
Whereas the Community's endeavours to introduce 
these principles can be only gradual, bearing in mind 
No C 139/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 83 
the complexity of the situations and the fundamental 
principles on which the various national policies are 
based; 
Whereas, initially, a general framework should be 
introduced to permit the Member States to adapt, 
where necessary, their existing rules to the principles 
adopted at Community level; 
Whereas the Member States should therefore 
introduce a system of prior authorization for the 
building, operation and substantial alteration of 
stationary industrial plants likely to cause air 
pollution; 
Whereas, moreover, the competent national auth­
orities cannot grant such authorization unless a 
number of conditions have been fulfilled, including 
the requirements that the building and operation of 
the plant pose no hazard to human health and have 
no significant harmful effect on human beings or on 
the environment, that all preventive measures allowed 
by the current state of the art are taken, and that the 
air-quality limit values and emission limit values in 
force are not exceeded; 
Whereas special provisions should apply in parti­
cularly polluted areas and in areas in need of special 
protection; 
Whereas the rules applicable to the authorization 
procedures and to the measurement of emissions must 
satisfy certain requirements; 
Whereas in certain situations the competent auth­
orities must explore the need to impose further 
requirements, which, however, must be economically 
feasible; 
Whereas these provisions are to be applied gradually 
to existing plants, taking due account of the costs 
which this will generate; 
Whereas provision must be made for cooperation 
between the Member States and the Commission to 
facilitate implementation of the measures designed to 
prevent and to reduce air pollution and to develop 
preventive technology; 
Whereas provision must be made for a Committee on 
Adaptation to Technical Progress to adapt the list of 
plants for which a licence is required and the list of 
the most polluting substances, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
The purpose of this Directive is the implementation 
of measures and procedures designed to prevent and reduce air pollution from industrial plants within the 
Community. 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
1. 'Air pollution' means the introduction by man, 
directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the 
air resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as 
to endanger human health, harm living resources and 
ecosystems and material property and impair or 
interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of 
the environment. 
2. 'Plant' means any establishment or other 
stationary plant used for an industrial or any other 
purpose. 
3. 'Existing plant' means a plant, the building and 
operation of which were authorized before the date 
of notification of this Directive, or which was built 
before that date. 
4. 'State of the art' means the state of development 
of advanced processes or equipment indicating the 
practical feasibility of an emission limitation measure 
which does not impose unreasonable costs. In 
determining the state of the art, reference should be 
made in particular to comparable processes and 
equipment which have proved their value in plants. 
5. 'Air-quality limit values' means the 
concentration of polluting substances in the air, which 
is not to be exceeded within a specified period. 
6. 'Emission limit values' means the concentration 
or mass of polluting substances in emissions from 
plants, to be established in general or for specific 
categories of plants, not to be exceeded during a 
specified period. 
Article 3 
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures 
to ensure that the building, operation and substantial 
alteration of plants which are likely to cause air 
pollution require prior authorization by the 
competent authorities. 
2. The categories of plants listed in Annex I shall 
in particular require an authorization. Member States 
may require other categories of plant to be subject to 
authorization or, so far as national legislation so 
provides, prior notification. 
27.5.83 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 139/7 
Article 4 Article 9 
Without prejudice to the requirements laid down by 
national and Community provisions with a purpose 
other than that of this Directive, authorization may 
be granted only when all the following conditions are 
fulfilled: 
1. The building and operation of the plant do not 
entail any danger for the health of the population 
and of workers or any significant harm for human 
beings or the environment as a result of air 
pollution. 
2. All appropriate preventive measures are taken, in 
accordance with the state of the art, to prevent 
dangerous or harmful effects as referred to in 
paragraph 1, especially in order to reduce the 
emission of substances referred to in Annex II. 
3. The air-quality and emission limit values laid down 
by Community or national law are not exceeded. 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures 
to ensure that applications for authorization are 
published for the attention of people liable to be 
affected by significant air pollution caused by the 
plants in question. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall apply without prejudice to 
specific national or Community provisions concerning 
the assessment of the environmental impact of public 
and private projects and subject to observance of the 
provisions regarding commercial secrecy. 
Article 10 
The Member States shall make available to the other 
Member States concerned, as a basis for all necessary 
consultation within the framework of their bilateral 
relations, the same information as is furnished to their 
own nationals. 
Article 5 Article 11 
Member States shall define particularly polluted areas 
as well as areas to be specially protected, within 
which air-quality and emission limit values more 
stringent than those referred to in Article 4 must be 
complied with, or within which specified categories of 
plant may not be built or operated unless special 
conditions are complied with. 
Article 6 
Applications for authorization of a plant shall include 
a description of the projected plant containing the 
necessary information for the purposes of the decision 
to grant authorization in accordance with Articles 4 
and 5. 
Article 7 
Member States shall, on their own initiative or at the 
request of the Commission, exchange information 
regarding their experiences and knowledge of 
measures for prevention and reduction of air 
pollution, as well as technical processes and 
equipment and national air-quality and emission limit 
values. Member States shall take the necessary measures to 
ensure that emissions from plants are determined 
regularly in order to monitor compliance with the 
obligations referred to in Article 4. The measuring 
methods and equipment used shall require approval 
by the competent authorities. 
Article 12 
The competent authorities shall examine the 
development of the state of the art and/or that of the 
environmental situation with a view, where necessary, 
to imposing additional conditions on a plant auth­
orized in accordance with this Directive. 
No such additional condition may be imposed which 
would not be economically feasible for the under­
taking concerned or for plants of the category in 
question. 
Article 13 
The decision to grant or withhold authorization shall 
be in writing, and shall be made known to the 
persons concerned according to the applicable 
national provisions. 
Article 8 Article 14 
The Council shall if necessary, acting by qualified 
majority on a proposal from the Commission, fix 
emission limit values at Community level, particularly 
for the polluting substances listed in Annex II. 1. The provisions of this Directive shall be 
progressively applied to existing plants, taking into 
account their technical characteristics and the cost 
occasioned by such application. 
NoC 139/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.5.83 
2. Application of this Directive may in no event 
have the effect of permitting applicable emission limit 
values to be exceeded by the plants concerned. 
Article 15 
Member States may, in order to protect the 
environment, adopt provisions stricter than those 
provided for in this Directive. 
Article 16 
This Directive shall not prejudice the adoption by 
Member States of derogations required by 
considerations of national defence. 
Article 17 
Such amendments as are necessary for adapting 
Annexes I and II to technical progress shall be 
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down 
in Articles 18 and 19. 
Article 18 
A Committee on Adaptation to Technical Progress of 
Annexes I and II (hereinafter called 'the Committee') 
is hereby set up. It shall consist of representatives of 
the Member States and be chaired by a representative 
of the Commission. 
The Committee shall draw up its own rules of 
procedure. 
Article 19 
1. Matters shall be referred to the Committee by 
the chairman, either on his own initiative or at the 
request of the representative of a Member State. 2. The representative of the Commission shall 
submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be 
adopted. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on 
the draft, within a period to be set by the chairman, 
having regard to the urgency of the matter. Opinions 
shall be adopted by a majority of 45 votes, the votes 
of the Member States being weighted as provided for 
in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The chairman shall 
not vote. 
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures 
envisaged where they are in accordance with 
the opinion of the Committee. 
(b) Where the measures envisaged are not in 
accordance with the opinion of the Committee 
or if no opinion is adopted, the Commission 
shall without delay propose to the Council the 
measures to be adopted. The Council shall act 
by a qualified majority. 
(c) If, within three months of the proposal being 
submitted to it, the Council has not acted, the 
proposed measures shall be adopted by the 
Commission. 
Article 20 
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, 
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to 
comply with this Directive by 1 January 1985 and 
shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the 
Commission the texts of the provisions of national 
law which they adopt in the field governed by this 
Directive. 
Article 21 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
27.5.83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 139/9 
ANNEX I 
CATEGORIES OF PLANTS 
(covered by the provisions of the second sentence of Article 3) 
1. Energy industry 
— Coke ovens 
— Petroleum refineries (excluding undertakings manufacturing only lubricants from crude oil) 
— Coal gasification and liquefaction plants 
— Thermal power stations (excluding nuclear power stations) and other combustion installations 
with a heat output of more than 50 Megawatts. 
2. Production and processing of metals 
— Roasting and sintering of more than 1 000 tonnes of ore per year 
— Integrated plants for the production of crude iron and crude steel 
— Foundries having smelting installations with a capacity of over five tonnes per unit 
— Plants for the production, refining, smelting and rolling of non-ferrous metals, having instal­
lations with a fusion capacity of over one tonne per unit in the case of heavy metals and 
500 kg in that of light metals. 
3. Manufacture of non-metallic mineral procducts 
— Plants for the production of cement or lime 
— Plants for the extraction and processing of asbestos 
— Plants for production of glass 
— Coarse ceramics industry 
4. Chemical industry 
— Chemical plants for the production of olefins, derivatives of olefins, monomers and polymers 
— Chemical plants for the manufacture of basic organic intermediates 
— Plants for the manufacture of basic inorganic chemicals. 
5. Food industry 
— Plants for manufacture of sugar 
— Plants for slaughter of animals 
— Fish meal and fish oil factories processing 100 tonnes or more of source material per day 
— Production of oil or fat from plant or animal sources 
— Other food production plants. 
6. Waste disposal 
— Plants for the disposal of solids or liquids by combustion or chemical decomposition 
— Plants for the disposal of animal carcases 
— Plants for the treatment and reclamation of solid fuel wastes. 
7. Industrial livestock rearing installations 
8. Other industries 
— Manufacture of pulp, paper and board with a production capacity of 25 000 tonnes or more 
per year. 
No C 139/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 5. 83 
ANNEX II 
LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT POLLUTING SUBSTANCES 
(within the meaning of Article 4 (2)) 
1. Sulphur dioxide and other sulphur compounds. 
2. Oxides of nitrogen and other nitrogen compounds. 
3. Carbon monoxide. 
4. Organic compounds and hydrocarbons (except methane). 
5. Heavy metals and metal compounds. 
6. Particulate emissions and asbestos. 
7. Chlorine and its compounds. 
8. Fluorine and its compounds.