Industrial Air Pollution Control

Charnwood Borough Council has various powers to try to combat pollution arising from commercial and industrial sites. Most of the powers relate to preventing air pollution whilst other organisations have other powers in relation to other forms of environmental pollution.

Integrated Pollution Control and Local Authority Pollution Control

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and The Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 require operators of certain industrial processes to apply for and comply with a permit to operate which is issued by Environmental Health Services.

The processes that require a permit are those that have the potential to cause significant air pollution. Typical processes are car re-sprayers and other big users of solvents, quarries, concrete batching plant, foundries, petrol stations and large boiler plant.
These 'Part B' processes must operate in a way that meets the conditions of the permits issued to them. The permits contain conditions relating to site management, quantities of air pollutants that may be emitted and other process controls. These conditions are based on national guidance issued for each industry sector and are deemed to represent the best available technology for controlling pollution.
Failure to comply with conditions that are attached to these permits can result in hefty fines. Officers from the Environmental Protection Team regularly inspect the sites that have a permit and respond to any complaints about them that may have been due to failures to comply with the permit conditions.
Sites that are considered likely to have a greater environmental impact than Part B processes are subject to even more rigorous legal controls. These sites may be overseen either by the Council (these are called A2 processes) or by the Environment Agency (these are called A1 processes). In both of these cases the conditions in the permit relates not just to controlling air pollution but to other issues such as controlling pollution of waterways, energy efficiency, waste management and accident prevention.
Operators have to pay an application fee and an annual charge to maintain their authorisation so this regime is largely self-financing.

Application Forms

Please contact Environmental Protection on 01509 634636 if you require an application form for Part B Processes.

A separate application form is required for petrol stations. We hope to have these online shortly, as we are currently reviewing changes to the process guidance.

Public Registers

All of the sites that have permits from either the local authority or the Environment Agency are listed on a public register. The registers contain copies of the permits as well as other information such as any pollution monitoring results that the companies have had to carry out.

A complete up-to-date list of companies that have a permit can be obtained by contacting us on 01509 634636. A list correct at the start of this financial year is available on this web page.

PART B PERMIT DOCUMENTS

The following are text documents of the Permits on our Public Register for the Part B prescribed processes in Charnwood. This is not the complete Register as it is in the process of being updated. However, the full register of hard copies is available to any member of the public to view free of charge at Southfields Offices. Please telephone 01509 634636 in advance with the names of the permits you wish to view so that they can be available on arrival. Hard copies of the documents can be obtained for a nominal charge to cover administrative costs from Environmental Protection, or can be provided in electronic format. The documents are grouped under the different process categories.

Waste Oil Burner - (PG1/1)

Crematorium - (PG5/2)

Quarry Process - (PG3/8)

Copper Process - (PG2/8)

Blending of Bulk Cement - (PG3/1)

Plaster Process - (PG3/12)

Rubber Process - (PG6/8)

Re-spraying of road vehicles - (PG6/34)

Paper Coating process PG6/18

Coating of metal/plastic - (PG6/23)

Rubber Conversion Process (PG6/28)

Mobile Crushing and Screening plant - (PG3/16)

Wood Coating - (PG6/33)

Manufacture of timber & wood based products (PG6/2)

Unloading of petrol - (PG1/14)

Surface Cleaning of Metals (PG6/45)

Dry Cleaning Processes (PG6/46)

Pharmaceutical Formation & Finishing Process (PG6/43)

PART A(2) PERMIT DOCUMENTS

The following A(2)documents are on our public register:-

Surface cleaning of metals (SG6)

Manufacture of ceramic products by firing in kilns (SG7)

Air Pollution from Other Industrial Sources

Clean Air Act 1993

Dark smoke refers to a shade on the British Standard BS 2742C Ringelmann Chart and means smoke which if compared with the chart would appear to be as dark as, or darker than, shade 2. Black smoke means smoke which would be as dark as, or darker than, shade 4 on the chart.

Part I of this Act deals with controlling emissions of dark and black smoke from chimneys serving furnaces of fixed boilers or industrial plant. It also deals with emissions of dark smoke from industrial or trade premises caused by burning materials in the open. Subject to certain limited exemptions, emission of dark or black smoke is an offence.

Under Part II of the Act, no furnace or a fixed boiler in a building used for commercial activities can be installed without prior notification to the local authority.

The furnace must be capable of operating continuously without emitting smoke using the fuel for which it is designed. The Act requires certain types of furnaces, including those burning pulverised fuel (but excluding those covered under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and domestic furnaces), to be fitted with grit and dust arrestment plant approved by the local authority.

To avoid ground level air conditions becoming prejudicial to health or a nuisance because of chimney smoke, chimney heights from furnaces need to be approved by the local authority. As part of the approval process, an assessment is made of the final chimney height to avoid downdraught or down-wash created by the chimney itself, by adjacent buildings or local topography.

Environmental Protection Act Part 3

This Act deals with preventing nuisances from any source. A nuisance within the context of this Act can be any of the following emissions which are causing an "unreasonable and material impact on the use and enjoyment of a neighbouring property":

Types of Statutory Nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act

Fumes and gases	Other than from private residential properties
Dust, steam, smells or other effluvia from trade or industrial premises	Other than from steam railway locomotives
Accumulations or deposits that are causing smells, flies or vermin
Noise	Other than aircraft noise
Smoke emissions	Other than from steam railway locomotives

The law of statutory nuisance is quite vague and because of this can be very difficult to enforce. There are no specific limits against which emissions can be judged and it is usually down to the opinion of the investigating Environmental Health Officer as to whether legal action will be taken. The officer will be expected to take account of the following considerations when reaching a decision:

Frequency i.e how often does the problem affect neighbouring properties?

Duration i.e how long does it last when it happens?

Nature i.e how bad is the effect of the problem on people in the locality?

In addition where a nuisance is being caused on a trade or industrial site the company has a legal defence whereby if it can prove that it is taking the "best practical means" to prevent the nuisance then it is immune from legal action. Again it is down to the investigating officer to reach a judgement about whether this defence is likely to apply in any investigation.

If you have any concerns about emissions from a site in Charnwood, contact us on 01509 634636 or at env.health@charnwood.gov.uk