Air Policy

Context

The EU has an ambitious agenda in the field of ambient air policy, which directly affects the European lime industry. Regulatory initiatives include:

• The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)

Lime production fall within the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). This directive replaces the Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), and introduces new conditions for obtaining an environmental permit to operate. EuLA, together with IMA Europe, takes part in the discussions on reference documents with best available techniques (BREFs) which are developed in the framework of the IED under the lead of the European IPPC Bureau.

• The National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NEC Directive)

The National Emissions Ceiling Directive (NEC Directive) sets ceilings for each Member State of the maximum emissions of certain pollutants allowed per year until 2030. The overall ambition level of the national emission commitments is estimated to reduce the health impact of air pollution by 49.6% by 2030 (compared to 2005). The Directive covers the emissions of five pollutants: sulphur dioxide SO2, nitrogen oxides NO, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia and fine particulate matter (PM).

• Ambient Air Quality Directives (AAQ Directives)

The two EU Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives (Directive 2008/50/EC called CAFE Directive and Directive 2004/107/EC) establish the ambient air quality standards for the key air pollutants deemed to be most relevant (SO₂, NO₂ and NO_x, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, Pb, benzene and CO for the CAFE Directive and arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for Directive 2004/107/EC).

• The Clean Air Policy Package, published 18 December 2013.

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