Last update: 21/11/2007

Information on IPPC

What to do if the plant falls within the IPPC application field

If the industrial activity falls within the application field of IPPC Directive ( 96/61/EC) and Legislative Decree no. 372 of 1999, the manager will need to request the relevant Authority to issue an Integrated Environmental Authorization.

Relevant Authority

Legislative Decree no. 372 of 1999 defines the Relevant Authority as:
“the same state Authority which is in charge of issuing provisions on the evaluation of the environmental impact in accordance with the current law or the Authority identified by the region. It is necessary to establish one single provision for the issuance of the Integrated Environmental Authorization”.
The relevant Authority can therefore be statal (and in this case it would be the Ministry of Environment and Land Protection) or regional (firstly the Region but many regional administrations have delegated the issuance of the Integrated Environmental Authorization to Provinces) according to the type of activity considered.
Paragraph 3, Article 77 of Law no. 289 of 27 December 2002, containing “Provisions for the production of the annual and long-term budget of the State (Financial Act 2003)” clarifies the activities that the State is in charge of (meaning that all the others are in charge of the Regions). It says:
“All existing and newly realized plants related to industrial activities provided by Article 1, paragraph 1 of the Prime Minister’s Decree no. 377 of 10 August, 1988 belonging to categories listed under Attachment I of Council Directive no. 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996, require an Integrated Environmental Authorization …the authorization as per paragraph 3 is issued with a Decree of the Ministry of Environment and Land Protection, in agreement with the Regions concerned”.
In case of different activities based on the same site and having the same manager, Law no. 289/2002 postpones the definition of the relevant Authorities to a subsequent act. It says:
“The Prime Minister’s Decree, as proposed by the Ministry of Environment and Land Protection in agreement with the Ministry of Productive Activities, regulates the modalities of authorization in case more plants (or parts of them) are located on the same site, have the same manager and require an Integrated Environmental Authorization to be issued by more than one Authority in charge”.

Authorization calendar

Legislative Decree no. 372 of 1999 establishes that:
“… the relevant Authority establishes the calendar of deadlines for presenting applications. This calendar is published on the official regional publication or on the Official Gazzette of the Italian Republic, in case of plants falling within the State’s jurisdiction”.
Calendars should have been issued by 30 June 2002 but, even due to the delay in the issuance of national guidelines for the Integrated Environmental Authorization, many calendars have still not been issued and some of the issued ones have been suspended. It is important to contact the relevant Authority to obtain information on the progress of calendar issuance.

The Integrated Environmental Authorization (contents and procedures).

Legislative Decree no. 372 of 1999 establishes the nature and content of the Integrated Environmental Authorization and the procedure for it to be issued:
“ … the Integrated Environmental Authorization, issued according to this Decree, completely replaces any other grant, no impediment document, opinion or environmental authorization provided by the law and the relative implementation rules, except for regulations issued to enforce Directive no. 96/82/EC, … each Integrated Environmental Authorization granted must include the modalities provided for protecting the environment as a whole, as per the same Decree, as indicated in the subsequent article 5, as well as the date (which cannot be later than 30 October, 2007. By this date, such instructions need to be put into practice…
...in order to adjust the functioning of existing plants to the Decree’s provisions and provide to issue the Integrated Environmental Authorization...applications must, in any case, describe: a) the impact, type and extent of activities, b) raw and additional materials, the substances and energy used or produced by the plant, c) the plant’s emission sources, d) the conditions of the plant’s site, e) the type and entity of the plant’s emissions in each environmental sector ad well as an identification of the emissions’ significant effects on the environment, f) the technology and other techniques to prevent or reduce plant emissions, g) prevention and recovery measures of waste produced by the plant, h) measures for controlling emissions in the environment, i) other measures provided to comply with principles contained in Article 3...
… Integrated Environmental Authorization applications must also contain a non-technical summary of data as specified by points of the previous paragraph …
…the relevant Authority communicates to the manager the date in which the procedure starts in accordance with Law no. 241 of 7 August, 1990…
… the relevant Authority identifies the offices through which to deposit documents and acts related to the procedure, so that they can be consulted by the public…
… within fifteen days from receiving the communication, the manager will provide (at his own expense) to publish an announcement on the provincial or regional paper or the national one in case of projects falling within the State’s competence. The announcement must contain an indication of the plant location, the manager’s name and the identified place … where it is possible to view acts and transmit observations … 
… within thirty days from the publication as per paragraph 5, the parties concerned can present observations on the application in a written form to the relevant Authority … in order to issue the Integrated Environmental Authorization, the relevant Authority calls for a specific conference in accordance with Article 14 of Law no. 241 of 7 August 1990, which was recently amended by Article 17 of law no. 127 of 15 May 1997. The conference is attended by the relevant Authorities in charge of environmental authorizations for the plants’ functioning...
…having acquired decisions taken by the previously mentioned administrations and considering observations contained in paragraph 7, the relevant Authority issues (within 150 days from the application’s presentation) an authorization containing the conditions that guarantee the plant’s conformity to requirements included in the same Decree. The relevant Authority can request for integration to the documentation indicating the latest term (not less than 30 days) with which it can be presented. In this case, terms are suspended until the integration documentation has been presented …”
...A copy of the Integrated Environmental Authorization and of any subsequent updating must be made available for public use, through the office indicated under paragraph 6 … if the relevant Authority does not provide to issue the Integrated Environmental Authorization within the terms indicated in paragraph 9, substitutional power is applied as per Article 5 of Legislative Decree no. 112 of 31 March 1998.
...The Integrated Environmental Authorization must include emission limit values for polluting substances (particularly those listed under Annex III), which can be emitted in significant quantities by the plant of reference considering their nature and their potential of transferring pollution from one environment to the other (water, air and land). Sound emission and inflow limit values should also be indicated in accordance with current laws on sound pollution. Emission limit values indicated in the Integrated Authorizations cannot, in any case, be less strict than those established by the current national or regional regulations in force. If required, the Integrated Environmental Authorization also contains futher provisions that ensure the protection of land and underground waters as well adequate provisions for the management of waste produced by the plant and for the reduction of sound pollution. If emission limit values can be integrated or replace with equivalent parameters or tecnical measures …
...emission limit values and equivalent parameters and technical measures indicated in paragraph 2 are based on the existing Best Available Techniques. It will not be obligatory to use a specific technique or technology taking into account the plant’s technical features, its geographical and the local environmental conditions.  In all cases, authorization conditions provide to reduce pollution to minimum standards, on a large distance or across the borders. They guarantee a high-level protection of the environment in general.
…the relevant Authority issues the Authorization in respect of guidelines contained in Article 3, paragraph 2, and of the Decree as per paragraph 3 of the same Article…
...the Integrated Environmental Authorization contains the adequate emission control requirements which specify the measurement method and frequency and the relative evaluation procedure in conformity with environmental provisions in force. It also obliges plant managers to communicate to the relevant Authority the necessary data to verify conformity with the Integrated Environmental Authorization conditions…
…the Integrated Environmental Authorization contains measures that refer to conditions that differ from normal operational ones. In particular, they refer to the plant’s starting and stopping conditions, fugitive emissions, malfunctions and the plant’s final stop. Provisions as per Article 8 do not apply to the amendments required to adjust the plant’s functionality to regulations contained in the Integrated Environmental Authorization. For plants subject to Directive no. 96/82 CE the Integrated Environmental Authorization contains security and accident risk prevention regulations established by the relevant Authority, according to the Decree that acknowledges this Directive…the Integrated Environmental Authorization can also contain other specific conditions in accordance with this Decree, which are considered adequate by the relevant Authority…”

National guidelines for identifying the Best Available Techniques (MTD)

Legislative Decree no. 372 of 1999 establishes that:
“ … with a Decree of the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Handicraft and the Minister for Health, in agreement with the joint conference established in accordance with Legislative Decree no. 281 of 25 August 1997, guidelines are issued for identifying and using the Best Available Techniques for the activities listed under Attachment I. The same procedure is used for their subsequent updating, also on the basis of information exchange as per Article 11, paragraph 4. The Decree of the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Handicraft and the Minister for Health, provides for the establishment of a Joint Commission of Experts. This will not weigh on the State budget and will provide technical support towards the definition of guidelines.
The Commission is composed of representatives of industrial and environmental interests, even on a consultative basis…” With a Decree issued by the Minister for the Environment and Territorial Protection, in agreement with the Minister for Productive Activities and the Minister for Health, on 19 November, 2002 and with a subsequent Decree issued by the Minister for the Environment and Territorial Protection on 15 April 2003, a National Commission was established and nominated for the preparation of guidelines in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 2 of Legislative Decree no. 372/99. The Commission, in its turn, established a series of selected technical groups composed of representatives of the Ministries involved and of the industrial sector. It appointed the selected technical groups to prepare a document proposal of reference for identifying the Best Available Techniques in each of the priority productive sectors. The technical groups are completing their work and national guidelines will be issued in due course.