INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS (FRAMEWORK) REGULATIONS (framework)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 549.76

INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS (FRAMEWORK)

REGULATIONS

7th January, 2013 *

LEGAL NOTICE 9 of 2013, as amended by Legal Notice 46 of 2017.

The title of these regulations is the Industrial Emissions

(Framework) Regulations.

Equivalence factors for dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans

For the determination of the total concentration of dioxins and furans, the mass

concentration of the following dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans shall be

multiplied by the following equivalence factors before summing

Toxic equivalence

factor

2,3,7,8 – Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD)

1,2,3,7,8 – Pentachlorodibenzodiozin (PeCDD)

0.5

1,2,3,4,7,8 – Hexachlorobenzodioxin (HxCDD)

0.1

1,2,3,6,7,8 – Hexachlorobenzodioxin (HxCDD)

0.1

1,2,3,7,8,9 – Hexachlorobenzodioxin (HxCDD)

0.1

1,2,3,4,6,7,8 – Heptachlorodibenzodioxin (HpCDD)

0.01

Octachlorodibenzodioxin (OCDD)

0.001

2,3,7,8 – Tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)

0.1

2,3,4,7,8 – Pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF)

0.5

1,2,3,7,8 – Pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF)

0.05

1,2,3,4,7,8 – hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF)

0.1

1,2,3,6,7,8 – hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF)

0.1

1,2,3,7,8,9 – hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF)

0.1

2,3,4,6,7,8 – hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF)

0.1

1,2,3,4,6,7,8 – Heptachlorodibenzofuran (HpCDF)

0.01

1,2,3,4,7,8,9 – Heptachlorodibenzofuran (HpCDF)

0.01

Octachlorodibenzofuran (OCDF)

0.001

(1) These regulations provide for the implementation in

part of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of

th e C ou nc i l of 24 N ov e m be r 20 10 o n In du s t ri a l E m is s i on s

(Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) (Recast).

(2) These regulations also provide a framework for the

integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from

industrial activities. They also lay down rules designed to prevent

or, where that is not practicable, to reduce emissions into air, water

and land and to prevent the generation of waste, in order to achieve

a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole.

The Minister responsible for the environment shall make

additional regulations for the implementation of these regulations,

in particular to define the industrial activities regulated by these

regulations and the means by which they shall be regulated.

(1) These regulations shall apply to industrial activities

giving rise to pollution as may be prescribed by the Minister by

means of regulations.

(2) These regulations shall not apply to research activities,

development activities or the testing of new products and

processes.

In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires

"authority" or "authorities" shall, for the purposes of regulation

19 of Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and

Control) Regulations, mean the nationally designated regulator,

authority, agency or government entity;

"baseline report" means information on the state of soil and

groundwater contamination by relevant hazardous substances;

"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;

"BAT reference document" means a document, resulting from the

exchange of information organised pursuant to Article 13 of

*see regulation 1(2) of these regulations, as originally promulgated.

Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 24 November 2010 on Industrial Emissions, drawn up

for defined activities and describing, in particular, applied

techniques, present emissions and consumption levels, techniques

considered for the determination of best available techniques as

well as BAT conclusions and any emerging techniques, giving

special consideration to the criteria listed in Annex III of that

Directive;

"best available techniques" or "BAT" means the most effective

and advanced stage in the development of activities and their

methods of operation which indicates the practical suitability of

particular techniques for providing the basis for emission limit

values and other permit conditions designed to prevent and, where

that is not practicable, to reduce emissions and the impact on the

environment as a whole

(a) "techniques" includes both the technology used and

the way in which the installation is designed, built,

maintained, operated and decommissioned;

(b) "available techniques" means those developed on a

scale which allows implementation in the relevant

industrial sector, under economically and technically

viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs

and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used

or produced inside Malta, as long as they are

reasonably accessible to the operator;

(c) "best" means most effective in achieving a high

general level of protection of the environment as a

whole;

"biomass" means any of the following

(a) products consisting of any vegetable matter from

agriculture or forestry which can be used as a fuel for

the purpose of recovering its energy content;

(b) the following waste

(i) vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry;

(ii) vegetable waste from the food processing

industry, if the heat generated is recovered;

(iii) fibrous vegetable waste from virgin pulp

production and from production of paper from

pulp, if it is co-incinerated at the place of

production and the heat generated is recovered;

(iv) cork waste;

(v) wood waste with the exception of wood waste

which may contain halogenated organic

compounds or heavy metals as a result of

treatment with wood preservatives or coating

and which includes, in particular, such wood

waste originating from construction and

demolition waste;

"coating" means coating as defined in regulation 2 of the

Limitation of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (Paints,

Varnishes and Vehicle Refinishing Products) Regulations;

"combustion plant" means any technical apparatus in which fuels

are oxidised in order to use the heat thus generated;

"competent authority" means the Environment and Resources

Authority as prescribed by the Nomination of the Competent

Authority Order, and such other body or person as the Minister

responsible for the environment may by order in the Gazette

prescribe and different bodies or persons may be designated as the

competent authority for different provisions and different purposes

of these regulations;

"diesel engine" means an internal combustion engine which

operates according to the diesel cycle and uses compression

ignition to burn fuel;

"dioxins and furans" means all polychlorinated dibenzo-p-

dioxins and dibenzofurans listed in the Schedule;

"emerging technique" means a novel technique for an industrial

activity that, if commercially developed, could provide either a

higher general level of protection of the environment or at least the

same level of protection of the environment and higher cost savings

than existing best available techniques;

"emission" means the direct or indirect release of substances,

vibrations, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in the

installation into air, water or land;

"emission levels associated with the best available techniques"

me a ns t he r a n ge o f em i s s io n leve ls obta ined u nder normal

o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s u s i n g a b es t av a i l a b l e t e c h n i q u e o r a

combination of best available techniques, as described in BAT

conclusions, expressed as an average over a given period of time,

under specified reference conditions;

"emission limit value" means the mass, expressed in terms of

certain specific parameters, concentration and, or level of an

emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods

of time;

"environmental inspection" means all actions, including site

visits, monitoring of emissions and checks of internal reports and

follow up documents, verification of self monitoring, checking of

the techniques used and adequacy of the environment management

of the installation, undertaken by or on behalf of the competent

authority to check and promote compliance of installations with

their permit conditions and, where necessary, to monitor their

environmental impact;

"environmental quality standard" means the set of requirements

which must be fulfilled at a given time by a given environment or

particular part thereof, as set out in national or European Union

legislation;

"flue" means a compartment or division of a stack for conveying

waste gases from the combustion plant to the outer air;

"fuel" means any solid, liquid or gaseous combustible material;

"gas engine" means an internal combustion engine which

operates according to the Otto cycle and uses spark ignition or, in

case of dual fuel engines, compression ignition to burn fuel;

"gas turbine" means any rotating machine which converts

thermal energy into mechanical work, consisting mainly of a

compressor, a thermal device in which fuel is oxidised in order to

heat the working fluid, and a turbine;

"general binding rules" means emission limit values or other

conditions, at least at sector level, that are adopted with the

intention of being used directly to set permit conditions;

"groundwater" means groundwater as defined in regulation 2 of

the Protection of Groundwater against Pollution and Deterioration

Regulations;

"hazardous substances" means substances or mixtures as defined

in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on

classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures;

"hazardous waste" means hazardous waste as defined in

regulation 4 of the Waste Regulations;

"indigenous solid fuel" means a naturally occurring solid fuel

fired in a combustion plant specifically designed for that fuel and

extracted locally;

"installation" means a stationary technical unit within which one

or more activities listed in the regulations concerning integrated

pollution prevention and control or in the regulations concerning

organic solvents are carried out, and any other directly associated

activities on the same site which have a technical connection with

these activities and which could have an effect on emissions and

pollution;

"mixed municipal waste" means waste from households as well

as commercial, industrial and institutional waste which, because of

its nature and composition, is similar to waste from households, but

excluding fractions indicated under heading 20 01 of the Annex to

Decision 2000/532/EC that are collected separately at source and

excluding the other waste indicated under heading 20 02 of that

Annex;

"multi-fuel firing combustion plant " means any combustion

plant which may be fired simultaneously or alternately by two or

more types of fuel;

"nominal capacity" means the sum of the incineration capacities

of the furnaces of which a waste incineration plant or a waste co-

incineration plant is composed, as specified by the constructor and

confirmed by the operator, with due account being taken of the

calorific value of the waste, expressed as the quantity of waste

incinerated per hour;

"operating hours" means the time, expressed in hours, during

which a combustion plant, in whole or in part, is operating and

discharging emissions into the air, excluding start-up and shut-

down periods;

"operator" means any natural or legal person who operates or

controls in whole or in part the installation or combustion plant,

waste incineration plant or waste co-incineration plant, or to whom

decisive economic power over the technical functioning of the

installation or plant has been delegated;

"organic compound" means any compound containing at least

the element carbon and one or more of hydrogen, halogens,

ox yg e n , s u l ph ur, p ho s ph o ru s , sil ic on or n i tr o ge n , wi th th e

e x c e p t i o n o f c a r b o n o x i d e s a n d i n o rg a n i c c a r b o n a t e s a n d

bicarbonates;

"organic solvent" means any volatile organic compound which is

used for any of the following

(a) alone or in combination with other agents, and without

undergoing a chemical change, to dissolve raw

materials, products or waste materials;

(b) as a cleaning agent to dissolve contaminants;

(c) as a dissolver;

(d) as a dispersion medium;

(e) as a viscosity adjuster;

(f)

as a surface tension adjuster;

(g) as a plasticiser;

(h) as a preservative;

"permit" means a written authorisation to operate all or part of an

installation or combustion plant, waste incineration plant or waste

co-incineration plant;

"pollution" means the direct or indirect introduction, as a result

of human activity, of substances, vibrations, heat or noise into air,

water or land which may be harmful to human health or the quality

of the environment, result in damage to material property, or impair

or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the

environment;

"poultry" means poultry as defined in point 1 of Article 2 of

Council Directive 90/539/EEC of 15 October 1990 on animal

health conditions governing intra Community trade in, and imports

from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs;

"the public" means one or more natural or legal persons and, in

accordance with national law or practice, their associations,

organisations or groups;

"the public concerned" means the public affected or likely to be

affected by, or having an interest in, the taking of a decision on the

granting or the updating of a permit or of permit conditions; for the

purposes of this definition, non-governmental organisations

promoting environmental protection and meeting any requirements

under national law shall also be deemed to have an interest;

"rate of desulphurisation" means the ratio over a given period of

time of the quantity of sulphur which is not emitted into air by a

combustion plant to the quantity of sulphur contained in the solid

fuel which is introduced into the combustion plant facilities and

which is used in the plant over the same period of time;

"small isolated system" means a small isolated system as defined

in regulation 2 of the Electricity Market Regulations;

"soil" means the top layer of the Earth’s crust situated between

the bedrock and the surface. The soil is composed of mineral

particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms;

"stack" or "chimney" means a structure rising above roof level

containing one or more flues providing a passage for waste gases in

order to discharge them into the air;

"substance" means any chemical element and its compounds,

with the exception of the following substances

(a) radioactive substances as defined in regulation 3 of the

Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Regulations;

(b) genetically modified micro-organisms as defined in

regulation 3 of the Contained Use of Genetically

Modified Micro-organisms Regulations;

(c) genetically modified organisms as defined in

regulation 2 of the Deliberate Release into the

Environment of Genetically Modified Organisms

Regulations;

"substantial change" means a change in the nature or

functioning, or an extension, of an installation or combustion plant,

waste incineration plant or waste co-incineration plant which may

h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t n e g a t i v e e ff e c t s o n h u m a n h e a l t h o r t h e

environment;

"volatile organic compound" means any organic compound as

well as the fraction of creosote, having at 293.15 K a vapour

pressure of 0.01 kPa or more, or having a corresponding volatility

under the particular conditions of use;

"waste" means waste as defined in regulation 4 of the Waste

Regulations;

"waste co-incineration plant" means any stationary or mobile

technical unit whose main purpose is the generation of energy or

production of material products and which uses waste as a regular

or additional fuel or in which waste is thermally treated for the

purpose of disposal through the incineration by oxidation of waste

as well as other thermal treatment processes, such as pyrolysis,

gasification or plasma process, if the substances resulting from the

treatment are subsequently incinerated;

"waste incineration plant" means any stationary or mobile

technical unit and equipment dedicated to the thermal treatment of

waste, with or without recovery of the combustion heat generated,

through the incineration by oxidation of waste as well as other

thermal treatment processes, such as pyrolysis, gasification or

plasma process, if the substances resulting from the treatment are

subsequently incinerated.

(1) No installation, combustion plant, waste incineration

plant or waste co-incineration plant shall be operated without a

permit from the competent authority

Provided that, by way of derogation, and subject to any

other applicable regulations, the competent authority may require

the registration of certain or all installations covered only by

regulations relating to the limitation of emissions of volatile

organic compounds. In such cases, the type of installations

requiring registration shall be published by the competent authority

on its website. Operators of such installations shall be required to

apply for registration with the competent authority using the

application forms published by the competent authority on its

website.

(2)

(a) A permit may cover two or more installations or parts

of installations operated by the same operator on the

same site.

(b) Where a permit covers two or more installations, it

shall contain conditions to ensure that each installation

complies with the requirements of these regulations.

(3) A permit may cover several parts of an installation operated

by different operators. In such cases, the permit shall specify the

responsibilities of each operator.

(1) Without prejudice to other national or European Union

legislation, the competent authority shall grant a permit if the

installation complies with the requirements of these regulations.

(2) Where more than one competent authority or more than one

operator is involved or more than one permit is granted, the

Environment and Resources Authority shall take the measures

necessary to ensure that the conditions of, and the procedures for

granting of, the permit are fully coordinated, in order to guarantee

an effective integrated approach by all authorities competent for

this procedure.

(3) In the case of a new installation or a substantial change

which requires an environmental impact assessment under the

Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, any relevant

information obtained or conclusion arrived at pursuant to the

Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations shall be examined

and used for the purposes of granting the permit.

(1) Without prejudice to the obligation to hold a permit,

the competent authority may include requirements for certain

categories of installations, combustion plants, waste incineration

plants or waste co-incineration plants in general binding rules.

(2) General binding rules shall be considered to have been

formally adopted when the competent authority publishes them on

its website.

(3) Where general binding rules are adopted, the permit may

simply include a reference to such rules.

Without prejudice to the Prevention and Remedying of

Environmental Damage Regulations, in the event of any incident or

accident significantly affecting the environment

(a) the operator shall inform the competent authority

immediately;

(b) the operator shall immediately take measures to limit

the environmental consequences and to prevent further

possible incidents or accidents;

(c) the competent authority shall require the operator to

take any appropriate complementary measures that the

competent authority considers necessary to limit the

environmental consequences and to prevent further

possible incidents or accidents.

(1) The operator shall take the necessary measures to

ensure that the permit conditions are complied with.

(2)

In the event of a breach of the permit conditions

(a) the operator shall immediately inform the competent

authority;

(b) the operator shall immediately take the measures

necessary to ensure that compliance is restored within

the shortest possible time;

(c) the competent authority shall require the operator to

take any appropriate complementary measures that the

competent authority considers necessary to restore

compliance

Provided that if the operator fails to comply, the competent

authority may itself take the appropriate complementary measures,

defraying the expenses incurred out of the financial guarantee

Provided further that the competent authority may bring

into effect any punitive measures deemed necessary, including

confiscation of all or part of the financial guarantee

Provided that if the cost of these measures exceeds the

financial guarantee, the operator shall bear the additional costs.

Such action by the competent authority shall be without

prejudice to regulations 17, 18 and 19.

(3) Where the breach of the permit conditions poses an

immediate danger to human health or threatens to cause an

immediate significant adverse effect upon the environment, and

until compliance is restored in accordance with sub-regulation

(2)(b) and (c), the operation of the installation, combustion plant,

waste incineration plant or waste co-incineration plant or relevant

part thereof shall be suspended.

Operators shall keep all raw data and reports related to

these regulations for at least three years, and make these available

to the competent authority on request.

(1) Where emissions of a greenhouse gas from an

installation are specified in Annex I to the European Union

G r e e n h o u se G a s E m i s s i o n s Tr a d i n g S y s t e m f o r St a t i o n a r y

Installations Regulations, in relation to an activity carried out in

that installation, the permit shall not include an emission limit

value for direct emissions of that gas, unless necessary to ensure

that no significant local pollution is caused.

(2) For activities listed in Annex I to the European Union

G r e e n h o u se G a s E m i s s i o n s Tr a d i n g S y s t e m f o r St a t i o n a r y

Installations Regulations, the competent authority may choose not

to impose requirements relating to energy efficiency in respect of

combustion units or other units emitting carbon dioxide on the site.

(3) Where necessary, the competent authorities shall amend the

permit as appropriate.

(1) Applications for a permit (including for the variation,

transfer, renewal or surrender thereof) shall be accompanied by

such a fee as may be from time to time prescribed by the competent

authority.

(2) The competent authority shall charge an annual fee payable

on the anniversary of the date of issue of the permit. All inspection

costs shall be added to the annual fee according to the standard rate

charged by the competent authority. The cost of any consultancy

services engaged by the competent authority to obtain specialised

expertise on specific applications or to assist the authority in

compliance auditing shall be borne by the applicant, and added to

the annual fee.

(3) The competent authority may also require the provision by

the operator of a suitable financial guarantee to be made in favour

of the competent authority to secure the obligations under the

permit before the permit is issued. The financial guarantee may

also be tied to specific requirements in the permit.

(4) The competent authority shall not process any application

for a permit or render any other service if the fees relative to a

previous or the current permit or service given to the same person

or in respect of a site or any technically connected site have not

been paid in full.

The competent authority shall be exempt from civil

liability for anything done reasonably and in good faith in the

execution of its duties under these regulations.

(1) An operator shall be legally responsible and

accountable to ensure that the operation of the installation,

combustion plant, waste incineration plant or waste coincineration

plant for which he has been granted a permit is carried out in

accordance with these regulations and with any conditions

stipulated in the permit. Employees of a permit holder shall be

authorised to undertake operation of the installation under these

regulations by virtue of their employer’s permit, provided that they

are acting on their employer’s behalf and they are acting within the

remit of their employer’s permit and are in observance of the terms,

conditions and rules attached thereto and these regulations in

general.

INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS (FRAMEWORK)

(2) Employees of a permit holder shall be deemed to be acting

on their employer’s behalf unless the contrary is proved.

Operators of installations shall comply with the conditions

of the permit.

Any person shall be guilty of an offence under these

regulations if

(a) he fails to comply with any provision of these

regulations or fails to comply with permit conditions

or with any order lawfully given in terms of any

provision of these regulations; or

(b) he contravenes any restriction, prohibition or

requirement imposed by or under these regulations; or

(c) he acts in contravention of any of the provisions of

these regulations; or

(d) he conspires or attempts, or aids, or abets, any other

person by whatever means, including advertising,

counselling or procurement to contravene the

provisions or to fail to comply with any such

provisions, including any order lawfully given in

terms of any of the provisions of these regulations, or

to contravene any restriction, prohibition or

requirement imposed by or under the said regulations.

Any person who commits an offence under these

regulations shall, on conviction, be liable

(a) on a first conviction to a fine (multa) of not less than

twenty-three thousand euro (€23,000.00) and not

greater than two hundred and thirty-three thousand

euro (€233,000.00) or to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding two years, or to both such fine and

imprisonment;

(b) on a second or subsequent convictions, to a fine

(multa) of not less than forty-six thousand euro

(€46,000.00) and not greater than four hundred and

sixty six thousand euro (€466,000.00) or to

imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to

both such fine and imprisonment

Provided that whenever any person is found guilty of

committing an offence under these regulations by means of a

vehicle, the owner of the said vehicle, where applicable, is held

liable in the same manner and degree

Provided further that the court shall order any person who

has been found guilty of committing an offence against these

regulations to pay for the expenses incurred by the competent

authority as a result of the said offence, the revocation of the

permit issued by the competent authority and the confiscation of

the corpus delicti, including the vehicle, if applicable.

(1) The provisions of articles 23 and 30 of the Criminal

Code shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to proceedings in respect of

offences against these regulations, so however that the

disqualification from holding or obtaining a licence, permit or

authority shall in no case be for less than one year.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 370 of the

C r i m i n a l C o d e , p r o c e e d i n g s f o r a n o ff e n c e a g a i n s t t h e s e

regulations shall be held before the Court of Magistrates (Malta) or

the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) as the case may be, and shall be in

accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code regulating the

procedure before the said courts of criminal judicature.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Code, the

Attorney General shall always have a right of appeal to the Court of

Criminal Appeal from any judgement given by the Court of

Magistrates (Malta) or the Court of Magistrates (Gozo) in respect

of proceedings for any offence against these regulations.

INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS (FRAMEWORK)