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LAW CORNER

The Industry’s Pollutant Emissions Registries - The Italian registry (INES) and the European registry (EPER) of pollutant emissions of industrial origin (currently being prepared) are the product of an integrated strategy for pollution prevention and reduction as they consider air and water together, as receptors and vectors of polluting emissions. The registries represent, with their very innovative approach, the opportunity for all citizens to exercise their right of access to environmental information in a simple and intelligible way.

The EPER (European Pollutant Emission Register) is based on the IPPC directive (96/61/EC) concerning integrated pollution prevention and control and on the Commission Decision 2000/479/CE on EPER implementation. The EPER Registry will collect information, given by the member states of the European union, on specific pollutants emitted by the main production sectors and by big sized plants into the air or water. EPER will be up and running after June 2003, when Italy and the other member states will communicate to the Commission their emissions’ figures for 2001.

The NATIONAL EMISSIONS REGISTER INES is based on the Government bill 372/1999 implementing the Directive 96/61/CE on the environment, and on Government bills 23/11/2001 and 26/04/2002. INES will be active and accessible to the public from 2003. The Decree of the 23/11/2001 defines and regulates the information collated and the implementation of INES that will be published and updated annually. On the basis of the Decree, the managers of the IPPC will disclose every year to ANPA (ITALIAN NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AGENCY) and other relevant authorities, a defined list of pollutants contained in the gaseous and water waste of their plants. These authorities will validate and formally transmit the results to ANPA. After collating all the figures, the ANPA will pass them on to the Environment Ministry and European Commission (for the EPER Registry) and publish them on the Internet.