All sectors regulated by the LAPPC and LA-IPPC regimes (e.g. foundries, glass manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, larger timber processes, larger metal and plastic coating processes, crematoria, mineral processes, larger aircraft painting facilities, and pet food manufacturers, etc.) will be affected by the proposals.
DEFRA has proposed in its ‘Consultation on Local Authority Environmental Regulation of Industrial Plant: 2008/09 Fees and Charges'
that the current levels for all PPC application and subsistence charges should be increased by 3% over current levels (not including Environment Agency fees).
Application charges should therefore be:
|
|
2007/08 |
2008/09 |
|
for standard Part B activities |
£1470 |
£1514 |
|
for standard Part A(2) activities |
£2995 |
£3085 |
|
for reduced fee activities |
£138 |
£142 |
|
subsistence charges for the three Part B risk bands should be: low |
£690 |
£706 |
|
Medium |
£1034 |
£1060 |
|
High |
£1540 |
£1581 |
|
subsistence charges for the three Part A2 risk bands should be: low |
£1196 |
£1227 |
|
medium |
£1343 |
£1378 |
|
high |
£1987 |
£2041 |
|
subsistence fees for the reduced fee activities |
£141 |
£145 |
A complete listing of all the proposed revised charges is available in Annex 3 of the consultation.
The consultation also proposes that fees will be levied to recover local authorities’ costs for regulating specific activities.
- The application and the subsistence charges for vehicle refinishers are increased by £190.
- A one-off additional fee is to be levied to cover the transitional costs of transferring from PPC to Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR), amounting to £55 for each risk assessed facility and £14 for each reduced fee activity.
- Where, under EPR, part B and waste Installations co-exist on the same site, an additional fee of £285 is levied for permit applications for combined Part B and waste sites and fees of £95, £143 and £190 are levied to cover subsistence of low, medium and high risk facilities.
- An additional fee of £95 is levied for each A(2) installation to cover local authorities new reporting responsibilities under the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Regulations(E-PRTR).
The consultation argues that because risk rating is partly dependent on operator performance, all businesses will have the scope to work toward improving their rating, which will result in lower annual charges and benefits to the environment.
EEF is keen to engage with members on the significance of the proposed increase in fees before deciding on whether to respond formally to this consultation. All comments are welcome.