Working closely with COPA, the representative body of European farming unions, the NFU is urging MEPs to vote against a further extension of the IPPC Directive.
The NFU met with MEPs and European farming unions in Brussels last week to discuss proposals to extend the remit of the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive, ahead of a second reading vote in the European Parliament on the 4th May.
The NFU lobbied hard and won amendments to proposed changes to the IPPC Directive at the end of first reading in 2009. These would have seen reduced thresholds for laying hens, ducks and turkeys, impacting on smaller family farms, as well as extended the control of off-site manure spreading and included glasshouses with boiler units. Further work is now needed at this second reading stage to refine the text further to limit the scope of the Directive and to reduce the administrative burden for farmers.
The NFU is seeking MEP support to remove a review clause which would mean that the Commission could publish further proposals at the end of 2012 to revise poultry thresholds, extend the controls for off-site manure spreading, extend controls to include cattle farming and bring glasshouses with 20 MW boilers under control. We have long argued that the costs of these changes would far outweigh any environmental benefits provided.
We are also concerned about plans to introduce minimum ‘emission limit values’ for IPPC installations. It is not practical or feasible to set minimum emission limit values for agriculture because of the inherent variability of emissions from livestock systems and we are continuing to impress on MEPs that it is imperative that the current derogation for agriculture from setting emission limit values continues to exist.
The NFU will also be urging MEPs support various amendments which could potentially reduce the administrative burden for farmers, in areas such as monitoring, baseline reporting and inspections.
Throughout the negotiations on the revised proposals the NFU has questioned the appropriateness of the controls for agriculture (originally intended for large power stations and industrial plants) and the actual environmental benefits these would provide.
To find your local MEP click here
No comments have been made.