Tina Garrity looks at the latest recommendations on minimum criteria for environmental inspections

Environmental inspections are the latest area of enforcement to be targeted for harmonisation, with the publication of a recommendation by the Council and the European Parliament on minimum criteria for environmental inspections. MEPs had wanted a directive, rather than a recommendation, but after lengthy arguments which resulted in the conciliation procedure being invoked, they agreed to the latter.

The recommendation recognises the different systems currently in place within the EU and says that responsibility for environmental inspection should rest with the member states. It says that environmental inspection activities, as applied to "controlled installations", namely all industrial installations and other enterprises and facilities whose emissions, discharges etc are subject to authorisation and licensing under EU law, should be planned in advance. Such plans should be available to the public. Plans can be national, regional or local but should be based on the following:

• the EC legal requirements to be complied with;
• a register of controlled installations within the plan area;
• a general assessment of major environmental issues within the plan area and a general appraisal of the state of compliance by the controlled installations; and
• data on and from previous inspection activities, if any.

Plans should define the geographical area covered, be time limited, include specific provision for revision, identify the sites or types of installation covered and prescribe the programmes for routine inspections. Plans should also provide for and outline procedures for non-routine inspections, eg responses to complaints and accidents. They should additionally provide for co-ordination between different inspecting authorities where relevant.

Member states should ensure that site visits are regularly conducted and that the full range of environmental impacts is examined in conformity with applicable EC requirements, the environmental inspection programmes and the inspecting bodies' organisational arrangements. Site visits should aim to promote and reinforce operators' knowledge and understanding of EC legal requirements and environmental sensitivities and of the environmental impacts of their activities. After every site visit, authorities should process or store, in identifiable form, the inspection data and findings regarding EC compliance, an evaluation thereof and a conclusion on the need for further action.

Reports should be properly recorded in writing and maintained in a readily accessible database. As a minimum, the conclusions of the report should be communicated to the operator and reports should be publicly available within two months of the inspection occurring. If site visits are conducted by more than one environmental inspectorate, inspectors should exchange information and findings with each other and try to co-ordinate visits and other inspection work.

With regard to non-routine inspections, the recommendation says that serious environmental complaints about a site, as well as serious environmental accidents/incidents or serious breaches of law should be investigated as soon as possible after receipt or notification. The investigation should clarify the causes, the environmental impact, the responsibilities and possible liabilities for the event and its consequences. Investigations should mitigate and where possible remedy the environmental impact of events and determine action to be taken to prevent further accidents/incidents or breaches. The investigation should enable enforcement actions or sanctions to proceed, if appropriate, and ensure the operator takes follow-up action.

In two years' time, member states must report to the Commission on their experiences in implementing the recommendation and should make available their reports to the public. Reports should include data on staffing and other resources of inspectorates, information on the authority's role and performance in establishing inspection plans, summary details of inspections conducted, including brief data on levels of compliance, and a summary of actions taken as a result of serious complaints, accidents/incidents or breaches. Additionally, reports should include an evaluation of the success or failure of the plans with any recommendations for future plans.

The Commission, working with the European network for the implementation and enforcement of environmental law (IMPEL) and the European Environment Agency will then develop the minimum criteria further. In the meantime, the recommendation invites the Commission to draw up minimum criteria concerning the qualifications of environmental inspectors, as well as training programmes to meet the demand for qualified environmental inspectors.

Further information on the work of IMPEL can be found on the Commission's website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/impel/index.htm

Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the Member States. OJ L 118. 27.04.01. pp 41 - 46.

OTHER NEWS

The 1990 directive on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs is to be repealed on 17 October 2002, and replaced by a new directive. The old directive was considered to be unclear in its scope and definitions. Although the new version is seen as an improvement, it still falls short of the strict safeguards that organisations such as the EEB have been calling for. Among the new directive's requirements are the following:

• public registers recording the location of GMOs grown;
• the phasing out of antibiotic resistance markers in GMOs which may have adverse effects on human health and the environment;
• enhanced mechanisms for the analysis of potential cumulative long-term effect of GMO releases;
• a general requirement to ensure traceability of GMOs at all stages of the placing on the market; and
• mandatory labelling of products containing GMOs.

Environmentalists wanted a strict environmental liability scheme to be in place before any new regulation was introduced. Instead, they have had to settle for an undertaking to publish, by the end of 2001, the Commission's legislative proposal on environmental liability.

Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC. OJ L 106. 17.04.01. pp 1 - 39.