The legislative maze

A previous article (CONCAWE Review Vol. 8, No. 1) has described CONCAWE’s involvement in the development of the BAT (Best Available Techniques) Reference Document (BREF) for refineries under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC). The first ‘kickoff’ meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) was held in Seville in May 1999.

The European IPPC Bureau (EIPPCB) then collected information from members of the working group, and the initial draft of the BREF was produced. Refineries will also be affected by a number of so-called horizontal BREFs. These are for processes which are common to a number of industries and include monitoring, storage, cooling, waste water and gas treatment, and large combustion plants.