The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012

[F1 Interpretation: medium combustion plant S

3A.— (1) In these Regulations—

[F2 “Chapter III combustion plant” means a combustion plant, the total thermal input of which is equal to or greater than 50 megawatts, irrespective of the type of fuel used, other than—

(a)

a plant in which the products of combustion are used for the direct heating, drying, or any other treatment of objects or materials,

(b)

a post-combustion plant designed to purify the waste gases by combustion which is not operated as an independent combustion plant,

(c)

a facility for the regeneration of catalytic cracking catalysts,

(d)

a facility for the conversion of hydrogen sulphide into sulphur,

(e)

a reactor used in the chemical industry,

(f)

a coke battery furnace,

(g)

a cowper,

(h)

any technical apparatus used in the propulsion of a vehicle, ship or aircraft,

(i)

a gas turbine or gas engine used on an offshore platform,

(j)

a plant which uses any solid or liquid waste as a fuel other than—

(i)

vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry,

(ii)

vegetable waste from the food processing industry, if the heat generated is recovered,

(iii)

fibrous vegetable waste from virgin pulp production and from production of paper from pulp, if it is co-incinerated at the place of production and the heat generated is recovered,

(iv)

cork waste,

(v)

wood waste, with the exception of wood waste which may contain halogenated organic compounds or heavy metals as a result of treatment with wood preservatives or coating,

“Chapter IV plant” means an incineration plant or co-incineration plant which incinerates or co-incinerates solid or liquid waste other than—

(a)

a gasification or pyrolysis plant, if the gases resulting from the gasification or pyrolysis are purified to such an extent that they are no longer a waste prior to their incineration and can cause emissions no higher than those resulting from the burning of natural gas,

(b)

a plant treating only the following wastes—

(i)

vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry,

(ii)

vegetable waste from the food processing industry, if the heat generated is recovered,

(iii)

fibrous vegetable waste from virgin pulp production and from production of paper from pulp, if it is co-incinerated at the place of production and the heat generated is recovered,

(iv)

cork waste,

(v)

wood waste, with the exception of wood waste which may contain halogenated organic compounds or heavy metals as a result of treatment with wood preservatives or coating,

(vi)

radioactive waste,

(vii)

animal carcasses regulated by Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 as it forms part of [F3 assimilated] law,

(viii)

waste resulting from the exploration for, and the exploitation of, oil and gas resources from off-shore installations and incinerated on board the installations,

(c)

experimental plants used for research, development and testing in order to improve the incineration process which treat less than 50 tonnes of waste per year,

“co-incineration” has the meaning given in Section 5.1 of Chapter 5 of schedule 1, and related expressions are to be construed accordingly,

“co-incineration plant” has the meaning given in Section 5.1 of Chapter 5 of schedule 1,]

“existing medium combustion plant” means a medium combustion plant put into operation before 20th December 2018 or for which a permit was granted before 19th December 2017 provided that the plant is put into operation no later than 20th December 2018,

[F4 “incineration plant” has the meaning given in Section 5.1 of Chapter 5 of schedule 1,]

“medium combustion plant” means a combustion plant with a rated thermal input equal to or greater than 1 megawatt and less than 50 megawatts but does not include—

(a)

[F5 a Chapter III combustion plant,]

(aa)

[F6 a Chapter IV plant,]

(c)

combustion plants covered by Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 of the European Parliament and of the Council on requirements relating to gaseous and particulate pollutant emission limits and type-approval for internal combustion engines for non-road mobile machinery,

(d)

on-farm combustion plants with a total rated thermal input less than or equal to 5 megawatts, that exclusively use unprocessed poultry manure, as referred to in Article 9(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, as a fuel,

(e)

combustion plants in which the gaseous products of combustion are used for the direct heating, drying or any other treatment of objects or materials,

(f)

combustion plants in which the gaseous products of combustion are used for direct gas-fired heating used to heat indoor spaces for the purpose of improving workplace conditions,

(g)

post-combustion plants designed to purify the waste gases from industrial processes by combustion, and which are not operated as independent combustion plants,

(h)

any technical apparatus used in the propulsion of a vehicle, ship or aircraft,

(i)

gas turbines and gas and diesel engines, when used on offshore platforms,

(j)

facilities for the regeneration of catalytic cracking catalysts,

(k)

facilities for the conversion of hydrogen sulphide into sulphur,

(l)

reactors used in the chemical industry,

(m)

coke battery furnaces,

(n)

cowpers,

(o)

crematoria,

(p)

combustion plants firing refinery fuels alone or with other fuels for the production of energy within mineral oil and gas refineries,

(q)

recovery boilers within installations for the production of pulp, and

“new medium combustion plant” means a medium combustion plant which is not an existing medium combustion plant.

(2) For the purposes of regulation 26A, a combination formed by two or more new medium combustion plants is to be treated as a single new medium combustion plant and their rated thermal input is added together for the purpose of calculating the total rated thermal input of the plant where—

(a) the waste gases of the plant are discharged through a common stack, or

(b) the waste gases of the plant could be discharged through a common stack in the opinion of SEPA, taking into account technical and economic factors.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Reg. 3A inserted (19.12.2017) by The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2017 (S.S.I. 2017/446), regs. 1(1), 5

F2 Words in reg. 3A(1) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Environment (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2019 (S.S.I. 2019/26), regs. 1, 13(4)(a) (as amended by S.S.I. 2019/175, regs. 1(1)(b), 8(4)(a)); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F3 Word in reg. 3A(1) substituted (1.1.2024) by The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/374), reg. 1(1), sch. 2 para. 23(3)

F4 Words in reg. 3A(1) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Environment (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2019 (S.S.I. 2019/26), regs. 1, 13(4)(b); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F5 Words in reg. 3A(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Environment (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2019 (S.S.I. 2019/26), regs. 1, 13(4)(c)(i); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F6 Words in reg. 3A(1) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Environment (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2019 (S.S.I. 2019/26), regs. 1, 13(4)(c)(ii); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)