2000/541/EC: Commission Decision of 6 September 2000 on criteria for assessing national plans according to Article 6 of Council Directive 1999/13/EC (notified under document number C(2000) 2473)
Date: 2000-09-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: environmental monitoring, industrial pollution, organic chemical, pollution control measures, solvent, substitute product

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on criteria for assessing national plans according to Article 6 of Council Directive 1999/13/EC

COMMISSION DECISION

of 6 September 2000

(notified under document number C(2000) 2473)

(2000/541/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 1999/13/EC of 11 March
1999 on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic
compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activi-
ties and installations (1), and in particular Article 6(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Member States may define and implement national plans
for reducing emissions from certain activities and instal-
lations covered by the Directive.

Criteria for national plans are important to ensure that
national plans shall result in emission reductions equiva-
lent to these achievable by application of emission limit
values.

The Commission has to decide, based on these criteria, if
national plans submitted by a Member State are to be
considered as sufficient or insufficient.

(4)

The Commission will inform the Advisory Committee
established by Article 13 of the Directive on the criteria,

DECIDES:

Sole Article

For assessing national plans according to Article 6 of Directive
1999/13/EC,
the criteria laid down in the annex to this
Decision apply.

Done at Brussels, 6 September 2000.

For the Commission

Margot WALLSTRÖM

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 85, 29.3.1999, p. 1.

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Criteria for assessing national plans according to Article 6 of Directive 1999/13/EC

ANNEX

A. CRITERIA FOR DEMONSTRATING THAT THE MEMBER STATE HAS DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF CURRENT

EMISSIONS

1. The national plan should demonstrate that the Member State has detailed knowledge of current emissions.

Minimum acceptable evidence

The Member State should submit a written statement which: identifies the activity or activities to which the plan
applies; classifies according to a documented system; identifies the number of installations affected by the plan;
quantifies the total emissions from installations affected by the plan; identifies the source of any emission factors and
activity statistics used in estimating emissions; and describes methods used to derive emission factors, for example,
methods used to make measurements.

B. CRITERIA FOR JUSTIFYING THE DEPLOYMENT OF A NATIONAL PLAN

2. The national plan should justify the case for adopting a different approach to the provisions of Article 5(2) and (3)

and Annex II.

Minimum acceptable evidence

The Member State should submit a written statement which explains the benefits of using a national plan as opposed
to using the provisions of Article 5(2) and (3) and Annex II.

C. CRITERIA FOR DEMONSTATING THAT THE NATIONAL PLAN IS COMPATIBLE WITH EU LEGISLATION, POLI-

CIES, AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS IN FORCE

3. The national plan shall confirm compatibility with Directives, published EU policies, bilateral treaties and inter-

national treaties and agreements.

Minimum acceptable evidence

The Member State should submit a written statement with supporting evidence that it has considered the compati-
bility of the national plan with all other relevant legislation.

D. MORE DETAILED CRITERIA TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN THE NATIONAL PLAN HAS MET CRITERIA A, B AND C

The suggested minimum acceptable evidence is detailed after all of criteria 4 to 26.

Criteria for demonstrating compliance with specific requirements of Article 6 of Directive 1999/13/EC

4. The national plan shall apply to existing installations only (Article 6(1)).

5. The national plan shall not apply to activities 4 and 11 of Annex II(A)(Article 6(1)).

6. The national plan shall not exclude from the scope of Directive 1999/13/EC any activity listed in Annex 1 (Article

6(1)).

7. The national plan shall not exempt an existing installation from the provisions laid down in Directive 96/61/EC

(Article 6(1)).

8. The national plan shall include a list of the measures taken or to be taken to ensure that the aim specified in Article

6(1) will be achieved (Article 6(2)).

9. The national plan shall detail the proposed plan monitoring mechanism (Article 6(2)).

10. The national plan shall set binding interim targets against which progress towards the aim specified in Article 6(1)

can be measured (Article 6(2)).

11. The national plan shall

identify the activity or activities to which the plan refers (Article 6(2)).

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12. The national plan shall specify the reduction in emissions to be achieved by those activities which corresponds to that
which would have been achieved by applying the emission limit values and/or fugitive emission values under Article
5(2) and (3) and Annex II (Article 6(2)).

13. The national plan shall list the number of installations affected by the plan and their total emissions and the total

emission of each of the activities (Article 6(2)).

14. The national plan shall describe the range of instruments through which its requirements will be achieved, evidence
that these instruments will be enforceable and details of the means by which compliance with the plan will be
demonstrated (Article 6(2)).

Criteria for demonstrating compatibility with other relevant provisions of Directive 1999/13/EC

15. The national plan shall

identify the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure that
installations affected by the plan will comply with Article 5 (except, where allowed for in the plan, paragraphs 2
and/or 3), Articles 8 and 9 and any requirements of the plan no later than 31 October 2007 (Article 4(1)).

16. The national plan shall

identify the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure that
installations affected by the plan will have been registered or authorised by 31 October 2007 at the latest (Article
4(2)).

17. The national plan shall

identify the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure that

installations affected by the plan will meet the requirements for monitoring laid down in Article 8.

18. The national plan shall

identify the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure that
installations affected by the plan will demonstrate compliance with emission limit values and/or fugitive emission
values set by the national plan in accordance with Article 9.

19. The national plan shall

identify the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure that
installations affected by the plan will comply with Article 10 if it is found that the requirements of the Directive or of
the plan have been breached.

20. The national plan shall describe how the reports sent by the Member State to the Commission in accordance with
Article 11 shall include sufficient representative data to demonstrate that the requirements of Article 6 have been
complied with (Article 11(2)).

21. The national plan shall describe the necessary measures which have been or will be adopted to ensure public access

to information relating to installations affected by the plan in accordance with Article 12.

Criteria for demonstrating that the plan shall result in an equivalent reduction of annual emissions

22. The national plan shall quantify the current annual emissions from installations affected by the plan.

23. The national plan shall quantify the reduction in annual emissions from installations affected by the plan which
would have been achieved by applying the emission limit values for waste gases and/or fugitive emission values under
Article 5(2) and (3) and Annex II.

24. The national plan shall quantify the reduction in annual emissions from installations affected by the plan which will

be achieved by its implementation.

25. The national plan shall demonstrate that the reduction under criterion 24 shall be at least as great as the reduction

under criterion 23.

Criteria for validating the means by which compliance with the plan will be demonstrated in accordance
with criterion 14 and Article 6(2)

26. The national plan shall show that the means by which compliance with the plan will be demonstrated are sufficiently

robust to enable a third party to verify compliance.

Minimum acceptable evidence for criteria 4 to 26

There are four main areas where evidence should be provided, summarised as follows.

(i) The Member State should submit a list of designated installations to be covered by the national plan, broken
down to at least activity level (as specified in Annex II(A) and preferably to Corinair/EMEP SNAP level 2.

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(ii) The Member State should submit details of how the national plan will be implemented by their competent

authority,

including:

— identification of the competent authority,
— how time scales will be set and monitored by the competent authority,
— how the competent authorities will maintain records of each installation to be covered by the national plan,
— how at an installation level these records will contain detail of activities covered; measures taken; hours
during which equipment is operated; emission limit values and/or fugitive emission values and/or binding
interim targets to be met; means of monitoring/demonstrating compliance with emission limit values and
fugitive emission values,

— methods for monitoring, reporting and demonstrating compliance with the plan. The Member State should
utilise either a mass balance approach, in accordance with Annex III, or measurement procedures for mass
concentrations and volume flow rates, in accordance with recognised international or European standards. If
the Member State proposes alternative means of demonstration, the national plan should provide evidence of
comparable rigour.

(iii) The Member State should submit an inventory of emissions for all installations affected by the national plan. The
Member State shall provide evidence in the form of representative data and documented methodologies to enable
independent verification of the reported emissions. This inventory must be suitable to demonstrate equivalence
with the Directive and the Member State shall provide representative calculations of the reductions in annual
emissions reported under criteria 23 and 24 to enable independent verification of the calculation methodologies.
(iv) The Member State should describe how the national plan, its targets, and the progress of individual installations
towards these targets will be made available to the public. There may be instances where certain information
might be regarded as confidential and therefore withheld from public access. Examples include:

— identities of installations of a military nature,
— details regarding some installations where indicators of production volume may be commercially sensitive,

such as solvent inputs, hours operated, and volume flow rates.