New Spanish Air Pollution Legislation
A new Spanish Law on air pollution has been published and is
likely to lead to increasingly strict controls on air emissions
for many sectors.
There has been a tendency in the last few years to view all
environmental ills in terms of their contribution to climate
change. However, the protection of air quality and the
earth's atmosphere have continued to be seen as significant
policy objectives in their own right because of their direct
impact on human health.
In Spain, Law 38/1972 on the Protection of the Atmosphere
provided the first significant step towards addressing air
pollution problems by enabling objectives to be set on air
quality and emissions restrictions, and reducing pollution (in
particular sulphur dioxide) from both fixed and mobile sources.
Integrated environmental authorisation
("AutorizaciÛn Ambiental Integrada") under Law
16/20021 which implements the EU IPPC Directive has
also begun to help address air pollution problems. However,
despite the progress made through these laws, further
legislation has been called for to provide additional measures
given persistent air quality problems, particularly in densely
populated urban areas in Spain. As a result, Law 34/2007 on air
quality and the protection of the atmosphere was published on
17 November 2007, ("Ley de calidad del aire y
protecciÛn de la atmÛsfera" or
"LCAPA"). The aim of LCAPA is to consolidate
protection in relation to air quality based on the following
principles: (i) taking preventive steps using the precautionary
principle; (ii) remedying pollution problems at source; and
(iii) the "polluter pays". Under LCAPA, the owners of
installations where potentially air-polluting activities are
carried out are required to comply with a number of
administrative obligations relating to their operations as set
out below.
Authorisation
The most highly polluting industries are subject to
integrated environmental authorisation
("AutorizaciÛn Ambiental Integrada") and
regulated under Law 16/2002 implementing the EU IPPC Directive.
This Law governs not only air quality but other emissions and
discharges and energy efficiency requirements. LCAPA is
intended to introduce control for certain lesser polluting
activities which are not covered by Law 16/2002. LCAPA only
governs such additional activities in relation to their air
emissions.
Interestingly, LCAPA has been drafted to include a number of
industrial activities that must be covered by integrated
environmental authorisation...
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