The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000

Interpretation : general

2.—(1) In these Regulations–

“change in operation” means, in relation to an installation or mobile plant, a change in the nature or functioning or an extension of the installation or mobile plant which may have consequences for the environment; and “substantial change in operation” means, in relation to an installation or mobile plant, a change in operation of the installation which, in the opinion of the SEPA, may have significant negative effects on human beings or the environment;

“the Directive” means Council Directive 96/61/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control(1);

“emission” means–

(a)

in relation to Part A installations, the direct or indirect release of substances, vibrations, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in an installation into the air, water or land;

(b)

in relation to Part B installations, the direct release of substances or heat from individual or diffuse sources in an installation into the air;

(c)

in relation to Part A mobile plant, the direct or indirect release of substances, vibrations, heat or noise from the mobile plant into the air, water or land;

(d)

in relation to Part B mobile plant, the direct release of substances or heat from the mobile plant into the air,

and references to emissions in the definitions of “emission limit value”, “pollution” and “pollutant” shall be construed accordingly for the purpose of the application of those definitions in relation to Part A and Part B installations and Part A and B mobile plant;

“emission limit value” means the mass, expressed in terms of specific parameters, concentration or level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time;

“enforcement notice” has the meaning given by regulation 19(1);

“general binding rules” has the meaning given by regulation 10(1);

“installation” means–

(a)

a stationary technical unit where one or more activities listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 are carried out; and

(b)

any other location on the same site where any other directly associated activities are carried out which have a technical connection with the activities carried out in the stationary technical unit and which could have an effect on pollution,

and, other than in Schedule 3, references to an installation include references to part of an installation;

“mobile plant” means plant which is designed to move or to be moved whether on roads or otherwise and which is used to carry out one or more activities listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1;

“off-site condition” has the meaning given by regulation 9(13);

“operator”, subject to paragraph (2), means, in relation to an installation or mobile plant, the person who has control over its operation;

“Part A installation”, “Part B installation”, “Part A mobile plant” and “Part B mobile plant” shall be interpreted in accordance with Part 3 of Schedule 1;

“permit” means a permit granted under regulation 7;

“pollution” means emissions as a result of human activity which may be harmful to human health or the quality of the environment, cause offence to any human senses, result in damage to material property, or impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment; and “pollutant” means any substance, vibration, heat or noise released as a result of such an emission which may have such an effect;

“revocation notice” has the meaning given by regulation 17;

“SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

“specified waste management activity” means any one of the following activities:–

(a)

the disposal of waste in a landfill, whether or not the disposal falls within Section 5.2 of Part 1 of Schedule 1;

(b)

the disposal of waste falling within Section 5.3 of that Part of that Schedule;

(c)

the recovery of waste falling within paragraphs (c)(i), (v), (vi) or (vii) of Part A of Section 5.4 of that Part of that Schedule;

“substance” includes any chemical element and its compounds and any biological entity or micro-organism, with the exception of radioactive substances within the meaning of Council Directive 80/836/Euratom(2), genetically modified micro-organisms within the meaning of Council Directive 90/219/EEC(3) and genetically modified organisms within the meaning of Council Directive 90/220/EEC(4);

“suspension notice” has the meaning given by regulation 20;

“variation notice” has the meaning given by regulation 13.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations–

(a) where an installation or mobile plant has not been put into operation, the person who will have control over the operation of the installation or mobile plant when it is put into operation shall be treated as the operator of the installation or mobile plant;

(b) where an installation or mobile plant has ceased to be in operation, the person who holds the permit which applies to the installation or mobile plant shall be treated as the operator of the installation or mobile plant.

(3) In these Regulations, a reference to a release into water includes a release into a sewer and a reference to a Council Directive is a reference to that Directive as amended on the date on which these Regulations are made.

(4) Schedule 1 shall have effect and Part 1 of that Schedule shall be interpreted in accordance with the provisions as to interpretation in Part 2 and 3 of that Schedule.

(5) Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 3 shall have effect and shall be interpreted in accordance with the definition sections in Part 3 of that Schedule.

(6) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule so numbered in these Regulations and any reference to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or the Schedule (or Section or part of the Schedule) of which that paragraph forms part.

(1)

O.J. No. L 257, 10.10.96, p.26.

(2)

O.J. No. L 246, 17.9.80, p.1, as amended by Council Directive 84/467/Euratom (O.J. L265, 5.10.84, p.4).

(3)

O.J. No. L 117, 8.5.90, p.1.

(4)

O.J. No. L 117, 8.5.90, p.15.