REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants
Date: 2013-05-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air quality, farming sector, industrial pollution, prevention of pollution, reduction of gas emissions

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.5.2013  
COM(2013) 286 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 
73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive 
livestock rearing and combustion plants 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE 
COUNCIL Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and 
Article 73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from 
intensive livestock rearing and combustion plants..................................................................... 3 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

3. 

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3 

Background to the reviews - the IPPC review 2005-2007........................................... 4 

Intensive livestock rearing ........................................................................................... 4 

Combustion installations below 50 MW...................................................................... 5 

Combustion plants of 50 MW and more ...................................................................... 5 

Options considered as part of the reviews undertaken by the Commission................. 6 

3.1. 

Emissions to the environment resulting from intensive livestock rearing ................... 6 

3.1.1. 

Intensive rearing of cattle (Article 73(2)(b))................................................................ 6 

3.1.2.  Differentiated capacity thresholds for the rearing of different poultry species, 

including the specific case of quail (Article 73(3)(a)) ................................................. 8 

3.1.3.  Capacity thresholds for the simultaneous rearing of different types of animals within 
the same installation ('mixed farms') (Article 73(3)(b))............................................... 8 

3.2. 

Emissions to air from the combustion of fuels............................................................. 9 

3.2.1.  Combustion of fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input below 50 MW 

(Article 73(2)(a)).......................................................................................................... 9 

3.2.2.  Combustion plants of 50 MW and more (Article 30(9))............................................ 10 

4. 

5. 

Next steps ................................................................................................................... 10 

Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 12 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Report from the Commission on the reviews undertaken under Article 30(9) and Article 
73 of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions addressing emissions from intensive 
livestock rearing and combustion plants 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Directive  2010/75/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  industrial 
emissions1 (commonly referred to as the 'IED') was adopted on 24 November 2010 
following three years of inter-institutional negotiations on the Commission's original 
proposal2.  The  IED  recasts  seven  Directives  related  to  industrial  emissions  into  a 
single  comprehensive  Directive3.  The  IED  entered  into  force  on  6  January  2011, 
requiring  Member  States  to  transpose  it  within  two  years.  It  will  come  fully  into 
effect in  the  coming  years as  the existing legislation is phased out and replaced  by 
the new provisions. 

The  IED  covers  approximately  50  000  industrial  installations  across  the  EU 
including  energy  industries,  the  production  and  processing  of  metals,  the  mineral 
industry, the chemical industry, waste management and certain other activities such 
as the intensive rearing of pigs and poultry. Installations covered by the IED must be 
operated  in  accordance  with  permits  which  include  conditions  based  on  the  best 
available  techniques  (BAT)  designed  to  prevent  and,  where  that  is  not  practicable, 
generally to reduce emissions to air, water and soil and the impact to the environment 
as  a  whole.  In  addition,  it  incorporates  strengthened  sectoral  EU-wide  minimum 
requirements for a number of key polluting activities. 

During  the  legislative  process  a  significant  amount  of  time  was  dedicated  to 
consideration  of  the  scope  of  the  Directive,  but  in  comparison  to  the  Directive 
concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) the scope of the IED 
finally remained relatively unchanged. However, it was concluded that a number of 
activities warranted further scrutiny with regard to their potential to cause pollution 
and the possible courses of action to address such pollution. This resulted in review 
clauses  being  included,  in  particular  in  Article  30(9)  and  Article  73.  This  Report 
addresses those reviews: 

(i)  Intensive  livestock  rearing  –  Agricultural  activity  in  the  EU  impacts  on  the 
environment  with  regard  to  emissions  to  land,  water  and  air.  In  particular, 
agriculture accounts for over 90% of total EU ammonia emissions, with a large 
proportion of such emissions arising as a result of the breeding and rearing of 
livestock. Ammonia contributes to: 

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p.17 
COM(2007) 844 final 
Directive  2008/1/EC  concerning  integrated  pollution  prevention  and  control  (IPPC),  Directive 
1999/13/EC on solvents emissions, Directive 2000/76/EC on waste incineration, Directive 2001/80/EC 
on large combustion plants (LCP) and Directives 78/176/EEC, 82/883/EEC and 92/112/EEC related to 
the titanium dioxide industry 

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• 

• 

The  formation  of  “secondary"  particulate  matter  and,  consequently,  health 
impacts  ranging  from  minor  effects  on  the  respiratory  system  to  premature 
mortality; 

Damaging  ecosystems  through  acidification  as  well  as  eutrophication,  caused 
by  excess  nutrient  nitrogen  leaching  into  freshwaters  and  disrupting  plant 
communities, leading to a loss of biodiversity. 

The existing thresholds under the IED capture approximately 20 per cent of the total 
number  of  pigs  and  60  per  cent  of  the  total  numbers  of  poultry  in  the  EU.  Cattle 
farms are not subject to the Directive. 

(ii)  Combustion  activities  –  Combustion  of  fuels  in  stationary  installations 
contributes significantly to emissions of a range of pollutants including sulphur 
dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. Whilst IED covers a number 
of  larger  combustion  plants,  gaps  remain  in  the  coverage  and,  furthermore, 
combustion of fuel in installations with a rated thermal input less than 50MW 
is not covered by existing EU legislation. 

2. 

BACKGROUND TO THE REVIEWS - THE IPPC REVIEW 2005-2007 

As part of the review of the legislation on industrial emissions that took place during 
2005-2007  and  led  to  the  IED  proposal,  the  Commission  identified  that  emissions 
from  certain  activities  were  contributing  significantly  to  environmental  pollution 
whilst  not  adequately  controlled  under  EU  law.  In  particular,  certain  types  of 
intensive  livestock  farming  and  the  combustion  of  fuels  in  installations  below  50 
MW were examined in detail in order to consider whether such activities should be 
included within the scope of the IED.  

Furthermore,  the  Commission  re-evaluated  the  EU-wide  emission  limit  values 
established in the Large Combustion Plants (LCP) Directive and found that many of 
these  limit  values  were  insufficient  to  ensure  the  uptake  of  BAT.  Therefore,  the 
Commission included in its IED proposal revised limit values in order to align them 
with  the  emission  levels  associated  with  BAT  as  defined  in  the  BAT  Reference 
Document (BREF) on Large Combustion Plants, as adopted in 20064. However, such 
alignment was not possible for some specific types of combustion plants which were 
not,  or  insufficiently,  covered  by  that  or  other  BREFs.  Sections  2.1  to  2.3  provide 
more  details  on  these  specific  reviews  in  the  context  of  the  Commission's  original 
IED proposal. 

2.1. 

Intensive livestock rearing 

The IPPC Directive covers the following types of livestock rearing: 

• 

• 

Intensive rearing of poultry with more than 40 000 places for poultry;  

Intensive rearing of pigs with more than 2 000 places for production pigs (over 
30 kg);  

Intensive rearing of pigs with more than 750 places for sows. 

• 
The  Commission  undertook  two  specific  studies5,6  to  determine  the  most  cost-
effective  measures  to  reduce  ammonia  emissions  in  the  agricultural  sector.  These 

4 
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OJ C 253, 19.10.2006, p. 5 
Measures  in  agriculture  to  reduce  ammonia  emission,  Final  report  to  the  Commission,  IIASA,  June 
2007 

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studies  identified  options  to  clarify  and  extend  the  scope  of  the  IPPC  Directive 
resulting  in  the  Commission  proposing  the  following  in  its  2007  IPPC  Recast 
proposal: 

i) Changes to the thresholds for poultry farms to take account of the different types of 

birds and the differences in environmental impacts thereof; and 

ii)  The  inclusion  of  a  rule  based  on  equivalent  nitrogen  excretion  factors  for 
determining  whether  farms  with  different  poultry  species  or  mixed  pig  and 
poultry farms, are subject to the IPPC Directive. 

The co-legislators considered that the revisions proposed by the Commission should 
not  be  incorporated  within  the  final  legislative  text  at  that  time  but  that  further 
reviews should be undertaken to determine what, if any, action should be taken. Such 
reviews  were  to  be  all-encompassing  i.e.  considering  all  of  the  environmental 
impacts of such agricultural activities. 

2.2. 

Combustion installations below 50 MW 

Annex I of the IPPC Directive covers combustion installations with a rated thermal 
input  exceeding  50  MW.  However,  the  contribution  of  smaller  combustion 
installations  to  the  overall  EU  emissions  of  the  key  air  pollutants  (SO2,  NOx  and 
particulate  matter)  was  assessed  as  part  of  the  2005  Thematic  Strategy  on  Air 
Pollution7 as being quite significant.  

Therefore,  the  IPPC  Directive  review  in  2005-2007  considered  several  options  for 
reducing  emissions  from  combustion  installations  between  20  and  50  MW.  It  was 
concluded  that,  for  a  range  of  scenarios,  applying  different  EU-wide  emission 
limitations, the estimated health benefits of regulating the emissions from this group 
of plants would outweigh the economic compliance costs8.  

Accordingly,  in  its  proposal  for  the  IED,  the  Commission  proposed  to  lower  the 
capacity threshold within the IED in order to cover all combustion installations with 
a rated thermal input of 20 MW or more. However, the co-legislators did not agree 
with this and reverted back to the 50 MW threshold of the IPPC Directive.  

Acknowledging the significance of emissions from these installations, a requirement 
for  the  Commission  to  review  the  need  to  establish  the  most  suitable  controls  on 
emissions from combustion installations below 50 MW was included within Article 
73(2)(a)  of  the  IED.  These  reviews  were  to  focus  most  effort  on  emissions  to  air 
given the identified impacts on air quality of such activities. 

2.3. 

Combustion plants of 50 MW and more  

The  emission  limits  for  sulphur  dioxide,  nitrogen  oxides  and  dust  for  combustion 
plants  with  a  rated  thermal  input  of  50  MW  or  more  established  under  the  LCP 
Directive are "minimum standards" and are without prejudice to the requirements of 
the  IPPC  Directive.  In  particular,  the  application  of  BAT  may  lead  to  stricter 
emission  limit  values  being  included  in  permits.  However,  it  was  found  during  the 

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Impact  assessment  of  a  possible  modification  of  the  IPPC  Directive  as  regards  intensive  livestock 
rearing (part of a project on integrated measures in agriculture to reduce ammonia emissions carried out 
by the consortium Alterra, Wageningen UR, EuroCare, University of Bonn and A&F) June 2007 
COM(2005) 446 final 
Assessment of the benefits and costs of the potential application of the IPPC Directive (96/61/EC) to 
industrial  combustion  installations  with  20-50  MW  rated  thermal  input,  report  for  the  European 
Commission, AEA Technology, October 2007 

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review of the IPPC Directive in 2005-2007 that those limits were often applied as the 
“default”  levels  for  determining  the  permit  conditions,  even  though  in  many  cases 
they  were  significantly  higher  than  the  emission  levels  associated  with  BAT. 
Therefore,  relying  on  the  LCP  Directive  limit  values  could  not  ensure  that  BAT  is 
applied  and  this  practice  caused  a  deficit  in  the  uptake  of  BAT  within  this  sector. 
Given  the  significant  amount  of  SO2,  NOx  and  dust  emitted  by  large  combustion 
plants,  this  has  had  serious  consequences  in  terms  of  environmental  and  health 
impacts, which could be strongly reduced if BAT would be implemented to the full 
extent9. 

In the IED the EU-wide emission limit values have been aligned with the BAT-levels 
from the LCP BREF while the role of these limit values as “minimum” requirements 
was  clarified.  However,  for  some  types  of  large  combustion  plants  no  BAT 
associated  emission  levels  had  been  defined  in  the  BREFs.  As  a  result,  for  the 
relevant categories (listed below and in Article 30(8) and (9) of the IED), either no 
EU-wide minimum emission limit values were defined in Annex V of the IED, or the 
limits set out in the LCP Directive were maintained: 

(a)  diesel engines; 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

recovery boilers within installations for the production of pulp from timber or 
other fibrous materials; 

combustion  plants  within  refineries  firing  the  distillation  and  conversion 
residues  from  the  refining  of  crude-oil  for  own  consumption,  alone  or  with 
other fuels; 

combustion plants firing gases other than natural gas; 

combustion plants in chemical installations using liquid production residues as 
non-commercial fuel for own consumption. 

(f)  For these types of plants, Article 30(9) of the IED requires the Commission to 
review,  on  the  basis  of  BAT,  the  need  to  establish  EU-wide  emission  limit 
values or to amend the emission limit values set out in Annex V. 

3. 

OPTIONS  CONSIDERED  AS  PART  OF  THE  REVIEWS  UNDERTAKEN  BY  THE 
COMMISSION. 

Since the adoption of the IED, the Commission has completed the reviews required 
building  on  newly  collected  information  as  well  as  data  collected  as  part  of  the 
original  IPPC  Directive  review.  In  addition,  the  Commission  has  reviewed  the 
situation  concerning  the  large  combustion  plants  referred  to  in  Article  30(9).  The 
results of this work are summarised below. 

3.1. 

Emissions to the environment resulting from intensive livestock rearing 

3.1.1. 

Intensive rearing of cattle (Article 73(2)(b)) 

The  Commission  has  identified  that  approximately  90  million  cattle  are  presently 
reared  in  the  EU.  This  covers  dairy  cattle  (27%),  heifers  (7%)  and  bovine  /  other 
cattle  (66%).  Cattle  are  spread  amongst  a  very  large  number  of  businesses, 
approximately  3.5  million  farms,  ranging  in  size  from  large  centralised  farms  to 
smallholdings of only one cow. Cattle rearing, covering all aspects of the raising of 

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Evaluation of the costs and benefits of the implementation of the IPPC Directive on Large Combustion 
Plant, AEA Technology, July 2007 

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cows including feeding and manure management, presently leads to air emissions of 
about 1 500 kt/year of ammonia (41% of total EU) and 7 000 kt/year methane (2% of 
total  EU).  Cattle  rearing  is  also  an  important  factor  in  the  pollution  of  ground  and 
surface waters by nitrates, with EU action to tackle such pollution taken through the 
Nitrates Directive10.  

to 

in 

reduce  emissions 

the  most  cost-effective  way,  and 

The  Commission's  review  has  considered  both  the  control  measures  which  can  be 
applied 
the 
regulatory/legislative  options  for 
those  measures.  For  control 
measures, the Commission investigated the types of techniques that exist in the EU at 
present, drawing conclusions  on the basis of existing Member State legislation  that 
has  defined  BAT  at  a  national  level  for  reduction  of  ammonia  emissions.  This 
includes  measures  relating  to  ensuring  use  of  good  agricultural  practice  in  overall 
farm  management,  the  application  of  feeding  strategies,  design  of  cattle  housing, 
storage and treatment of manure and slurry, and land spreading of manure and slurry. 

implementing 

For  the  policy  implementation,  the  Commission  assessed  a  number  of  options  that 
might be applied to reduce air emissions from cattle across the EU including: 

•  Working with Member States and with the farming industry to develop or build 
on existing voluntary schemes encouraging the uptake of measures designed to 
limit emissions; 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Including cattle farms within the scope of the IED; 

Developing  specific  legislation  specifically  targeting  emissions  from  the 
intensive rearing of cattle; 

Cross-compliance measures under the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU; 
and 

Amendments to other legislation such as Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the 
protection  of  waters  against  pollution  caused  by  nitrates  from  agricultural 
sources. 

Note  that  BAT  in  the  context  of  control  measures  does  not  relate  to  the  IED 
implementation  option  only,  but  considers  how  BAT  might  be  applied  under  all  of 
the options examined. 

Three different scenarios were developed based on the application of low, moderate 
and high levels of ambition for the application of BAT to reduce ammonia emissions. 
On  this  basis  reductions  of  ammonia  emissions  of  109  to  188 kt/year  could  be 
achieved in comparison to the baseline scenario for dairy farms with greater than 50 
cattle. For other cattle farm types with greater than 50 cattle, the emission reduction 
potential  ranges  from  59  to  108 kt/year.  An  examination  of  the  administrative  and 
compliance  costs  indicates  that  for  all  farm  sizes  the  benefits  of  applying  BAT 
outweigh the costs to farmers. However, it is noted that benefits increase at a greater 
rate than costs as farm size increases and the benefit/cost ratio is more pronounced in 
the  dairy  sector  in  comparison  to  other  cattle  farms.  Furthermore,  were  a  full  IED 
permitting regime to be applied to all such farms then approximately 12% of all dairy 
cattle farms and 23% of other cattle farms would require a permit resulting in over 
400 000 farms falling under IED for the first time. This would still leave a majority 

10 

Directive  91/676/EEC  concerning  the  protection  of  waters  against  pollution  caused  by  nitrates  from 
agricultural sources. 

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of  cattle  installations  outside  of  an  IED  permitting  regime  and  consequently  fail  to 
address emissions from the majority of cattle across the EU. 

3.1.2.  Differentiated  capacity  thresholds  for  the  rearing  of  different  poultry  species, 

including the specific case of quail (Article 73(3)(a)) 

The Commission has examined three possible approaches for differentiating capacity 
thresholds for the rearing of different poultry species: 

(1)  Livestock  Units  (LU)  –  a  LU  is  used  to  compare  or  aggregate  numbers  of 
animals of different species or categories based on the food requirements of the 
animals, with 1 LU being equivalent to a cow weighing 600 kg and producing 
3 000 litres of milk per year; 

(2)  Equivalent  Nitrogen  Excretion  Factors  (ENEF)  –  comparison  on  the  basis  of 

the mean annual nitrogen excretion per animal; and  

(3)  Animal equivalence – a weighted approach based on nitrogen and phosphorous 
excretion  factors  as  well  as  other  variables  that  is  currently  applied  in  one 
Member State.  

These approaches have been considered for changing the thresholds for poultry farms 
subject  to  the  IED.  As  there  is  a  broad  environmental  equivalence  between  2 000 
place pig farms and 40 000 place broiler farms, the thresholds for other poultry types 
have been calculated based on a 40 000 place broiler farm threshold. The application 
of the three approaches shows considerable variations in the thresholds that may be 
set for different poultry species under IED. For birds that are typically smaller than 
broilers  the  thresholds  could  rise  significantly,  up  to  85 000  –  320 000  places  for 
quail.  For  birds  that  are  typically  larger  than  broilers  thresholds  would  be  lowered, 
for turkey farms for example, it would range from 9 200 to 21 000 places depending 
on the approach used.  

Given  the  nature  of  different  poultry  farms  across  the  EU,  it  is  apparent  using  all 
three  calculation  methods  that  the  modified  thresholds  would  always  lead  to  a  net 
increase in the number of IED poultry farms. Calculations of the costs and benefits of 
making  such  changes  indicate  that  between  900  and  3 200  installations  would  be 
included.  Whilst  in  all  cases  the  costs  of  compliance  would  be  significantly 
outweighed  by  the  environmental  benefits  of  reduced  ammonia,  this  would  lead  to 
limited ammonia emissions reductions of between 4 and 35 kt/yr. Net annual benefits 
are  estimated  as  falling  between  €30  million  to  €1  billion  per  year.  Furthermore, 
additional  benefits  due  to  reduced  dust  and  odour  emissions  would  result  from  the 
application of BAT. 

3.1.3.  Capacity thresholds for the simultaneous rearing of different types of animals within 

the same installation ('mixed farms') (Article 73(3)(b)) 

The  review  under  Article  73(3)(b)  of  the  IED  concerning  mixed  farms  has 
similarities  to  the  review  under  Article  73(3)(a)  concerning  differentiated  capacity 
thresholds  for  the  rearing  of  different  poultry  species  in  that  the  three  main 
approaches identified for weighting emissions for deriving thresholds are LU, ENEF 
and  animal  equivalence.  The  Commission's  review  has  identified  that  a  number  of 
Member States already regulate mixed farms through the application of one of these 
three approaches. The Commission has derived indicative farm emission reductions 
from the application of BAT, an assessment of the costs and benefits of applying a 
rule for mixed farms under Annex I of the IED and an estimate of the total number of 
farms that might be affected across the EU. The results indicate that the inclusion of 

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mixed farms under the IED would result in ammonia emission reductions of around 
1 - 20 kt/yr. Furthermore, the cost of compliance would be significantly outweighed 
by  the  benefits  of  ammonia  reduction,  as  well  as  other  environmental  benefits  that 
would  be  achieved  including  reduced  methane  emissions  and  releases  of  dust  and 
odour. The net annual benefits are estimated as falling between €5 - 540 million per 
year. Approximately 600 to 1 800 farms would likely be affected by such changes. 

The  exact  manner  of  calculating  relevant  thresholds  for  mixed  farms  has  also  been 
examined.  It  is  clear  that  for  such  an  approach  to  work,  the  exact  manner  of 
weighting environmental impacts from pigs and poultry would have to be explained 
or even included within the legislation itself to enable consistency in the calculations 
made at a Member State level. 

3.2. 

Emissions to air from the combustion of fuels 

3.2.1.  Combustion  of  fuels  in  installations  with  a  total  rated  thermal  input  below  50 MW 

(Article 73(2)(a)) 

Extending  on  the  work  undertaken  during  the  IPPC  Review,  the  Commission 
compiled  additional  information  on  the  numbers,  capacity,  fuel  consumption  and 
emissions of combustion plants between 1 and 50 MW. By filling the remaining data 
gaps  through  extrapolation,  a  sufficiently  complete  dataset  could  be  compiled  to 
assess possible control options, albeit that certain data limitations are acknowledged.  

The data set shows that combustion installations between 1 and 50 MW are operated 
in a variety of sectors and are used i.a. for heating, for generating electricity, as well 
as for generating energy within a broad range of industrial activities.  

It  was  confirmed  that  many  Member  States  already  regulate  these  plants  to  some 
extent, and a consideration of the applicable legislation in Member States has helped 
to identify where environmental benefits may be highest as a result of implementing 
EU wide minimum emission limits.  

The following control options have been subject to a preliminary assessment for the 
1 - 50 MW combustion installations: 

1.  regulating them as if this were a new activity in Annex I of the IED, subject to 
EU  wide  emission  limits  for  air  emissions  (two  different  ambition  levels  were 
assessed); 

2.  regulating  them  without  a  full  permitting  regime  but  being  subject  to  EU  wide 

emission limits for air emissions. 

A  distinction  was  made  between  three  categories,  according  to  the  rated  thermal 
input of the plants: 1 – 5 MW, 5 - 20 MW and 20 - 50 MW. 

In addition, an option was explored based on the use of product standards for new, 
'off-the-shelf' plants within the smallest capacity group, but its impacts could not be 
fully assessed. 

The  preliminary  assessment  considered  the  monetised  environmental  and  health 
benefits  as  well  as  the  economic  impacts  in  terms  of  compliance  costs  and 
administrative  costs.  This  showed  that  in  nearly  all  scenarios  the  benefits 
significantly  exceed  the  costs,  showing  the  potential  gains  of  regulating  these 
combustion  plants  at  EU  level.  Administrative  costs  –  although  generally  much 
lower  than  the  actual  compliance  costs  -  may  be  restricted  by  opting  for  a  regime 
without  full  permitting  requirements,  in  particular  for  the  smaller  capacity  classes, 
such as already exists for certain smaller installations under the IED. 

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3.2.2.  Combustion plants of 50 MW and more (Article 30(9)) 

The revision of several BREFs through the information exchange under Article 13(3) 
of  the  IED  is  currently  on-going.  This  process  will  result  in  BAT  conclusions11 
defining  BAT  and  the  associated  emission  levels.  The  types  of  combustion  plants 
listed in Article 30(9) will all be covered by one of the following BAT conclusions: 
Pulp  and  Paper,  Mineral  Oil  and  Gas  Refineries,  Manufacturing  of  Large  Volume 
Organic Chemicals and Large Combustion Plants (LCP). 

The IED has significantly strengthened the role of the BAT conclusions in the setting 
of permit conditions and, in particular, emission limit values. Article 15(3) requires 
that  using  the  BAT-levels  for  setting  limit  values  has  to  be  the  rule,  while  Article 
15(4) provides for the possibility to derogate from this rule, albeit only for specific 
cases where justified on the basis of a cost-benefit assessment. For combustion plants 
being  granted  such  derogations,  the  emission  limit  values  in  the  permit  shall, 
however, not exceed the limit values set out in Annex V to the IED.  

The  IED  has  also  clarified  the  role  of  the  EU-wide  limit  values  as  "minimum" 
requirements.  As  foreseen  in  Article  73,  setting  EU  wide  emission  limit  values  for 
particular  categories  of  installations  provides  a  "safety  net"  to  ensure  that  no 
excessive  derogations  from  the  BAT-levels  are  granted.  However,  the  Commission 
considers it important to allow Member States the opportunity to fully implement the 
upcoming  BAT  conclusions  via  an  update  of  the  permits  before  concluding  on  the 
need  for  such  a  safety  net  for  certain  categories  of  installations.  For  the  particular 
types  of  combustion  plants  mentioned  in  Article  30(9),  in  the  absence  of  BAT 
conclusions,  let  alone  information  about  their  eventual  implementation,  it  is  not 
possible  to  assess  at  this  stage  the  added  benefits  that  new  or  amended  EU  wide 
emission limit values would bring. 

Once the BAT conclusions for these plants have been adopted, the reporting on their 
implementation  by  Member  States  under  Article  72  will  allow  the  Commission  to 
identify the need for additional minimum safety net provisions. This will be reported 
by  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  under  Article 
73(1). 

4. 

NEXT STEPS 

In  considering  the  possible  actions  to  be  taken  on  the  basis  of  the  results  of  the 
reviews  the  Commission  has  given  due  consideration  to  the  costs  and  benefits  that 
would  arise.  The  links  with  other  initiatives  must  also  be  acknowledged  and  in 
particular: 
i)  the  Commission's  proposal  for  the  reform  of  the  Common  Agricultural  Policy12 
allows  for  support  to  mitigation  action  to  limiting  emissions  to  air  in 
agriculture  and  forestry  from  key  activities  such  as  livestock  production  and 
fertilizer use; 

ii) the recent revision of the Gothenburg Protocol under the UNECE Convention on 
long-range  transboundary  air  pollution  to  abate  acidification,  eutrophication 

11 

12 

‘BAT conclusions’ means a document containing the parts of a BAT reference document laying down 
the conclusions on best available techniques, their description, information to assess their applicability, 
the  emission  levels  associated  with  the  best  available  techniques,  associated  monitoring,  associated 
consumption levels and, where appropriate, relevant site remediation measures 
COM(2011) 627 final/2 

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and  ground-level  ozone  includes  revised  ceilings  for  annual  emissions  of 
ammonia for the year 2020, as well as a review clause for future action to curb 
ammonia emissions from the agricultural sector; and 

iii)  the  Commission's  review  of  the  EU air quality policy, scheduled  for  2013, will 
look at the cost-effectiveness of a range of further control options to reduce the 
health  and  environmental  impacts  of  air  pollution,  including  from  agriculture 
and combustion. 

Consequently,  the  Commission  will  take  the  following  actions  with  regard  to  the 
results of the reviews covered by this Report. 

Action 1 – Emissions from cattle and capacity thresholds for intensive livestock 
rearing under IED 

The results gathered from the review on the control of emissions from the intensive 
rearing  of  cattle  give  a  clear  indication  of  the  benefits  of  taking  action  to  reduce 
emissions of ammonia from this sector. However, it is clear that emissions from the 
cattle  sector  should  not  be  considered  in  isolation  from  other  animal  farm  types. 
Consequently,  recognising  that  the  largest  emission  reductions  relate  to  manure 
management  the  Commission  considers  that  a  further  in-depth  examination  of  the 
possibilities for reducing emissions from the spreading of manure for all farm types 
should  identify  those  aspects  that  offer  the  highest  benefit-to-cost  ratio  in  tackling 
emissions,  paying  particular  attention  to  potential  compliance  and  administrative 
burden costs for the farming sector and the need for such costs to be proportionate to 
the  potential  benefits.  Such  a  study  will  be  undertaken  in  2013  and,  as  well  as 
considering actions at an EU level, will examine how individual Member States may 
look  to  tackle  emissions  at  a  national  level  in  order  to  comply  with  other  EU 
legislation  such  as  the  National  Emission  Ceilings  Directive13.  Information  on 
techniques  for  the  land  spreading  of  manure  and  slurry  from  the  BAT  Reference 
document for the intensive rearing of poultry and pigs will be considered as part of 
this work and co-benefits in relation to reduction of emissions other than ammonia 
will also be included. 

Furthermore, the results of the Commission's review identify that whilst varying the 
capacity thresholds between different poultry species and mixed species farms based 
on their environmental impact may be beneficial in terms of environmental outcome, 
the  emission  potential  reduction  is  very  limited.  This  conclusion  supports  the 
Commission's original review undertaken under the IPPC Directive. However, given 
the  recent  adoption  of  the  IED,  a  further  change  to  the  relevant  Annex  I  activity 
descriptions would lead to a period of uncertainty for farmers whilst the outcome of 
the ordinary legislative procedure was being negotiated. Therefore, the Commission 
considers  that  the  existing  thresholds  for  poultry  farms  subject  to  the  IED  should 
remain unchanged.  

Action 2 – Combustion of fuels in installations with a total rated thermal input 
below 50 MW 

The  Commission’s  review  has  confirmed  that  emissions  of  the  key  atmospheric 
pollutants  from  combustion  installations  below  50  MW  can  be  controlled  and 
substantially  reduced  at  EU  level  in  such  a  way  that  the  environmental  and  health 
benefits  outweigh  the  compliance  costs  for  operators.  Care  needs  to  be  taken  in 

13 

Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national 
emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (OJ L 309, 27.11.2001, p. 22) 

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assessing  potential  options  for  a  regulatory  approach  in  order  to  avoid  excessive 
administrative costs, which could be the result of an extensive permitting regime for 
the  smaller  installations,  whilst  ensuring  that  potential  co-benefits  are  considered. 
Given the significant uncertainties identified, further elaboration and comparison of 
the  impacts  of  a  selection  of  options  is  needed  before  robust  conclusions  can  be 
drawn on their merits.  

Therefore, a further deepening of the assessment of the most promising options for 
controlling emissions from combustion  installations between  1 and 50 MW will be 
undertaken in the context of the air pollution policy review. 

Action 3 – Combustion plants of 50 MW and more  

The  Commission  considers  that  it  would  be  premature  to  set  or  modify  EU-wide 
emission limit values in the IED for the large combustion plants mentioned in Article 
30(9). First of all, it is foreseen that by the end of 2014, the Commission has adopted 
the BAT conclusions covering these plants. After this, Member States will have four 
years  to  reconsider  and  where  necessary  update  the  permits  to  ensure  that  BAT  is 
correctly implemented.  

Where the reporting on the implementation of the IED by Member States would lead 
to  the  identification  of  a  deficit  in  BAT  uptake  for  the  installations  concerned,  the 
Commission  will  report  thereon  as  part  of  its  tri-annual  report  to  the  EP  and  the 
Council foreseen under Article 73(1) and may initiate the establishment or updating 
of the EU-wide minimum requirements. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The reviews undertaken by the Commission under Article 73(2)(a) and (b) and 73(3) 
have identified potential environmental benefits that could be achieved as a result of 
either  amending  existing  EU  law  or  the  development  of  new  instruments  to  tackle 
emissions from agricultural and combustion activities.  

In the case of intensive livestock rearing, the Commission does not intend to propose 
changes  to  Annex  I  of  the  IED  at  this  time  for  the  activities  listed  in  point  6.6 
(intensive rearing of poultry and/or pigs) or to include cattle farms given that these 
changes  would  deliver  somewhat  limited  environmental  benefits  while  potentially 
imposing  significant  costs  in  respect  of  administration  and  compliance  to  a  large 
number of farms. However, it is clear that emissions from spreading of manure are 
significant and further studies should be completed with a view to determining if and 
how  ammonia  emissions  should  be  controlled  at  EU  level,  in  particular  through 
revisions to the National Emission Ceilings Directive, a review of which is expected 
to be completed in 2013 as part of the wider review of the Thematic Strategy on Air 
Pollution and associated legislation. 

For the combustion of fuels in plants with a rated thermal input less than 50 MW, a 
clear potential for cost-effective abatement of air emissions was demonstrated and in 
a  next  step  options  for  potential  regulatory  action  will  be  further  assessed  in  an 
impact assessment which will support the on-going review of the Thematic Strategy 
on Air Pollution.  

For the large combustion plants listed in Article 30(9) of the IED, the Commission 
considers that there is no need to amend existing or establish new EU-wide emission 
limit values at this stage given that the relevant BAT conclusions will continue to be 

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published  and  incorporated  into  the  operating  permits  of  installations  as  these  are 
progressively updated. 

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