NHS boilers saved but Britain could face blackouts under pollution control law
Posted, March 10, 2009 @ 17:00
IPPC vote is a mixed bag for farmers too
Strasbourg, 10th March 2009 --An EU directive on industrial pollution passed by MEPs today is a mixed bag for farmers and bad for Britain's energy security - but it will not force NHS hospitals to close down their boilers - Caroline Jackson MEP and Neil Parish MEP said today.
The directive on Industrial Emissions Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) will merge seven existing directives on industrial pollution into one whilst extending the scope of the law. The directive creates a permit system to prevent and limit pollution from supposedly large-scale industrial installations.
Dr Jackson submitted an amendment to the proposal after the NHS Confederation raised concerns that around 70 hospitals in the UK would face draconian costs for their boilers. NHS hospitals need to have a significant amount of spare boiler capacity to cope with emergencies and in case there are technical failures. The directive would have assessed their boilers on the basis of their potential emissions, rather than their actual emissions - thus causing them to incur substantial costs. The amendment submitted by Dr Jackson was passed (471 votes to 169), meaning such boilers will only be assessed on the amount of time they are lit.
However, Dr Jackson has expressed concern that an amendment that would have helped standby power stations was rejected, with the potential for blackouts in the UK. Dr Jackson proposed that power stations which could not reach the new emissions limits will still be able to operate for no more than 20,000 hours from 2016 to 2023. Under the current plans, many stand-by generation facilities will become economically unviable in 2016, meaning the National Grid's ability to respond to surges in demand for power - such as when the nation turns the kettle on after a television show - could result in blackouts. The British government has lobbied Dr Jackson particularly hard on this issue and is likely to pursue this amendment in the Council of Ministers.
Conservative-backed amendments to reduce burdens on smaller farms achieved mixed success. The parliament agreed not to lower the thresholds for poultry farms, which would have tangled smaller poultry units in unnecessary red tape and added to their costs. However, an amendment to alter the manner in which nitrogen excretion equivalent rates is calculated was not adopted - potentially adding £25,000 to the costs of a permit for pig farmers.
Dr Jackson, member of the environment committee, said:
"NHS boilers should never have been put at risk by this directive. The commission is still failing to fully investigate the unintended consequences some of their proposals can have before it brings them forward.
"This amendment has saved the NHS a great deal of money that is clearly better spent on patient care, rather than satisfying Brussels.
"The British government has been pathetically slow in building up an alternative electricity generating capacity, which is why it was crucial for us to allow some power stations to continue generating on standby mode after 2016. Without standby power stations, we run the risk of blackouts every time we all turn on the kettle after a football match or a soap."
Conservative chairman of the parliament's agriculture committee, Neil Parish, said:
"This vote was a mixed bag for Britain's poultry and pig producers. MEPs agreed to water down the plans slightly but there is more we need to do.
"Pig and poultry farms already comply with detailed European environmental law and their standards would put many other European producers to shame. To bring farmers into a law designed to scale back emissions from large industry is unacceptable."