As the EU Green Deal roles out, the ZeroPM regulatory watch will announce upcoming initiatives related to persistent and mobile substances. Our most recent update was on August 8, 2023.
European Parliament adds PFAS to the list of pollutants to be reported by operators of industrial installations
The European Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive and on the proposal for an Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation in plenary on 11 July 2023. In its negotiating position on the Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation, the European Parliament added PFAS to the list of pollutants which releases in air, water, and soil must be reported above thresholds set in Annex II to the Regulation. The EP also proposed that the Commission reviews Annex II by 31 December 2026 and proposes amendments if necessary.
In its negotiating position on the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Parliament weakened the requirement for national authorities to set the strictest emission limit values possible for installations applying BAT – requirement that the Council had removed in its mandate adopted in April. The EP also added several provisions strengthening the information and consultation of drinking water and wastewater operators: they should be consulted before a permit is granted to an industrial installation discharging wastewater directly or indirectly into surface water (Article 14); they should also have access to monitoring results, when such monitoring is performed in connection with additional measures added to the permit to meet a specific EQS (Article 18). Finally, the EP significantly restricted the conditions for individuals affected by damage caused by IED permit violations to claim compensation. Additional details can be found in the excel sheet. Trialogues for both legislative acts have started in July.
Commission proposal for Toys safety regulation extends generic approach to endocrine disruptors
The Commission published on 28 July its proposal for a Regulation on the safety of toys, repealing the existing Toy Safety Directive (Directive 2009/48/EC). The proposed Regulation extends generic restrictions of substances in toys, which were already existing for CMRs, to endocrine disruptors, substances toxic for a specific organ and respiratory sensitisers. Derogations may be possible following a mandatory safety assessment by ECHA, as well as an assessment of alternatives. The proposed Regulation is the first legislation implementing the commitment of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to extend the generic approach to harmful chemicals.
No agreement reached between European Parliament and Council on recast F-gas Regulation
Negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on the recast F-Gas Regulation ended without reaching a deal, as confirmed by the Parliament rapporteur, Bas Eickhout, on 19 July. Negotiating positions from both institutions were diverging significantly, as the European Parliament called for a complete HFC production and consumption phase out in the EU by 2050, while the Council proposed to maintain the phase down schedule of the Commission proposal with some adjustments for the first two periods and the postponing of certain ban dates (e.g. SF6). Negotiations will resume in the fall.
Upcoming consultation deadlines:
- Deadline to reply to the open public consultation for the fitness check of the application of the polluter-pay principle recently closed: 4 August 2023.
- Deadline to provide feedback on the revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation: 26 September 2023.
- Deadline to provide feedback on the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law): 26 September 2023
- Deadline to provide feedback on the proposal for a Regulation on the safety of toys: 26 September 2023.
- Deadline to provide feedback on the PFAS restriction: 25 September 2023
Gantt Chart of upcoming actions related to persistent and mobile substances
Spreadsheet for further information
The ZeroPM regulatory watch itself is presented in this spreadsheet, which contains links for further information. This can be downloaded below.
The ZeroPM regulatory watch was last updated on 2023-08-08.
Please see also our video explaining the ZeroPM regulatory watch!
