Implications of extended pollutant coverage within E-PRTR – Assessment of relevance and significance of air emissions from mineral oil and gas refineries

A 2020 ICF review of the completeness of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) activities, pollutants and thresholds identified 38 new air and water pollutants for potential inclusion in the E-PRTR. Of these, 17 air pollutants and 11 water pollutants were highlighted as indicative to the mineral oil and gas refining sector. A number of policy options are currently being considered as part of the ongoing revision of the E-PRTR Regulation, including the introduction of an expanded suite of pollutants informed by the 2020 review.

This aim of this report was to undertake a desk-based literature review to assess the contribution of the refining sector to emissions to air of 18 pollutants – the 17 pollutants identified by the 2020 ICF review plus hydrogen sulphide (H2S) – against the backdrop of a potential expansion of the pollutant scope of the E-PRTR. Each pollutant was assessed according to two criteria: (i) its relevance to the refining sector, and (ii) the significance of the contribution of the refining sector to pollutant emissions.

Of the 18 air pollutants assessed, two (thallium and acrylonitrile) were determined to be ‘not relevant’ to the refining sector. Based on the data available, mineral oil and gas refining was judged to be a significant emissions source of five pollutants, a potentially significant source of emissions of one pollutant, and a potentially not significant emissions source of five pollutants. Finally, the refining sector was found to be a not significant source of emissions of a further five pollutants.