Triannual Report on the Application of Regulation(EC) No 850/2004 (Articles 12(1) and 12(3))

ANNEX

Format for the submission of data and information under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants

TRIAnnual report on the application of Regulation(EC) No 850/2004 (Articles 12(1) and 12(3)).

SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Member State: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2. Name and title of contact officer:Grant Horsburgh, Policy Advisor

3. Full name of the institution:Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

4. Mailing address: Nobel House (Area 2A), 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR

5. Telephone number:00 44 20 80263201

6. Fax number:00 44

7. E-mail address:

8. Date of the report:16/08/2016

SECTION II: STOCKPILES

1. Are there in your Member Stateany notified stockpiles of any substance listed in Annex I or II and the use of which is permitted?

Yes – PFOS only

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s). For each specified substance, specify for each stock the year in which it was identified, its nature, its content (% or mg/kg), its volume (kg), its location and the measures taken to manage it.

In the UK, PFOS-containing stockpiles have been notified to the UK authorities for use as a wetting agent and mist suppressant in non-decorative hard chrome plating. The table below details the stockpiles for 2012 – 2014. In 2012, a total 3,654 kg of PFOS-containing material equating to 88 kg of PFOS were notified by four companies. The UK authority has been conducting awareness raising campaigns with the chrome-plating sector and this has resulted in an increase in the number of companies notifying from 4 to 6 in 2013.

2012 / 2013 / 2014
Number of holders / 4 / 6 / 6
Total material (in kgs) / 3654 / 34050 / 31796
Neat POP equivalent (in kgs) / 88 / 109 / 132

Information from the manufacturer suggests that these quantities will diminish as alternatives are now being used and products reformulated.

2. Are there in your Member Stateany notified stockpiles of any substance listed in Annex I or II and the use of which is not permitted?(Yes/No)

2.1 If the answer to question 2 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s). For each specified substance, specify for each stock the year in which it was identified, its nature, its content (% or mg/kg), its volume (kg), its location and the measures taken to manage it.

SECTION III: RELEASE REDUCTION, MINIMISATION AND ELIMINATION

1. Has your Member Statedeveloped an action plan on the substances listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) N° 850/2004 (hereinafter "Annex III") ?

Yes

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please specify why.

1.2. If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, specify the name of the substance(s) for which you have release data. For each specified substance, specify for which compartment (i.e., air, water, land) you have release data. For each specified compartment, give the release in gTEQ/year (WHO-TEF[1]2005)or in kg/year.

Annual releases Annex III substances for 2012

Units / Air / Land / Water / Residue / Product
PCDD/Fs / g I-TEQ / 215 / 258 / 14 / 203 / 97
Dioxin-Like PCBS / g WHO-TEQ / 250 / 34 / n/a / 1.2 / 0.6
PCBs / kg / 787 / 1594 / n/a / 782 / 21
HCB / kg / 24 / 5 / 1.6 / n/a / n/a
PeCB / kg / 28 / 10 / 3 / 5 / 1.3
PAHs* / kg / 22260 / n/a / 991 / n/a / n/a

* The UK emission inventories are subject to annual review and improvement. As part of the work conducted for the 2015 update, the emission estimates associated with PAHs included further methodological improvement to reduce uncertainty within domestic sources, including review of emission factors currently in use – this improvement in methodology is reflected in the higher emission figures when compared with the UK figures reported in the 2012 Triannual report.

n/a means estimates not available.

Annual releases Annex III substances for 2013

Units / Air / Land / Water / Residue / Product
PCDD/Fs / g I-TEQ / 224 / 259 / 14 / 199 / 95
Dioxin-Like PCBS / g WHO-TEQ / 249 / 31 / n/a / 1.2 / 0.6
PCBs / kg / 763 / 1431 / n/a / 743 / 20
HCB / kg / 21 / 3.3 / 1.5 / n/a / n/a
PeCB / kg / 32.57 / 9.41 / 3.00 / 4.78 / 1.31
PAHs* / kg / 25021 / n/a / 1114 / n/a / n/a

n/a means estimates not available.

Annual releases Annex III substances for 2014

Units / Air / Land / Water / Residue / Product
PCDD/Fs / g I-TEQ / 218 / 259 / 14 / 179 / 97
Dioxin-Like PCBS / g WHO-TEQ / 238 / 27 / n/a / 0.8 / 0.6
PCBs / kg / 732.50 / 1293.03 / n/a / 562.07 / 20.24
HCB / kg / 21.48 / 4.25 / 1.57 / n/a / n/a
PeCB / kg / 33.01 / 8.97 / 3.02 / 4.76 / 1.33
PAHs* / kg / 23915 / n/a / 1065 / n/a / n/a

n/a means estimates not available.

2. Has your Member Statedeveloped measures in order to identify sources of substances listed in Annex III?

Yes

2.1. If the answer to question 2 is "Yes", please describe the measures developed.

The measures developed include source reduction measures and exposure reduction measures. The details are outlined in the UK Dioxin Action Plan which formed part of the UK 2007 National Implementation Plan. In addition, permitted processes are required to report releases above a threshold which is designed to capture the majority of releases.

A programme of monitoring also takes place which checks compliance with permit conditions on a selection of regulated processes. Releases from processes which do not report releases through the PRTR mechanism, either because they are below the substance release threshold or do not require a permit for the relevant release media, are estimated by standard emission inventory techniques such as finding the product of a release factor and an appropriate activity statistic. Action undertaken as part of the UK’s 2007 Dioxin Action Plan led to the development of multi-vector inventories for emissions to air, water and land. The programme has also been used to identify release routes of greatest uncertainty to close data gaps, and develop inventories for emissions to residue and product vectors. Outputs of the activity undertaken are detailed in the review of the Dioxin Plan annexed to The UK 2012 National Implementation Plan. The Dioxin Plan will be reviewed again in the 2016 update for UK National Implementation Plan.

3. Has your Member Statedeveloped measures in order to characterisesources of substances listed in Annex III?

Yes

3.1. If the answer to question 3 is "Yes", please describe the measures developed.

A programme of routine measurements has been in place for some years for certain key sources such as incinerator ash and sinter plant emissions to air. Further research is undertaken to characterise sources and factors which may influence their emissions as the required technical and financial resources become available.

4. Has your Member Statedeveloped measures in order to minimisesources of substances listed in Annex III?

Yes

4.1. If the answer to question 4 is "Yes", please describe the measures developed.

The Industrial emissions Directive (formally the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)) and related measures hasled to a significant reduction of releases from industrial source sectors. The introduction of the Clean Air Act in 1956 required the use of ‘smokeless fuels’ for domestic space heating in towns and cities to reduce particle emissions which consequently reduced the emissions of pollutants associated with such combustion processes. Since then increasingspread of the natural gas network and domestic heat saving initiatives hassignificantly further decreased emissions from domestic solid fuel use. The implementation of measures on waste management has altered domestic waste disposal behaviour and publicity has helped raised public awareness about good practice in backyard burning.

The UK has a well-established source inventory for emissions to air, this may be found at:

A comprehensive multimedia inventory has also been established. This currently provides emissions data for air, water, land, residue and product vectors. This will positively increase the knowledge base which will inform measures to minimise emissions.

SECTION IV: IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

Has your Member Statedeveloped a National Implementation Plan (NIP) in accordance withArticle 7 of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants?

Yes

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.

1.2. If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please, indicate the date(s) on which it has been communicated to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, to the Commission and to the other Member States.

The 1stUK National Implementation Plan was submitted to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention on 17 April 2007 and the Commission and Member States notified at the same time.

The plan was updated and the revised plan was submitted to the Secretariat on 10 April 2013.

The plans are available on the following link-:

Work is now ongoing to update the NIP for submission to the Stockholm Secretariat in early 2017.

1.2.1. Did you give the public early and effective opportunities to participate in the development of your NIP?

Yes

1.2.1.1. If the answer to question 1.2.1 is "No", please explain why.

1.2.1.2. If the answer to question 1.2.1 is "Yes", please describe briefly how.

Defra consulted publicly on the updated 2012 UK National Implementation Plan. Over 150 letters were sent out to stakeholders, including consumer groups, Non-Governmental Organisations and industry. The consultation was also published and comments were invited via Defra’s website. Five responses were received.

Defra will also be consulting on the updated NIP as stated in 1.2 above.

SECTION V: MONITORING

1. Has your Member Stateestablished a monitoring programme on the presence of dioxins, furans and PCBs in the environment?

Yes

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.

1.2.If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please specify the name of the substance(s) for which you have monitoring data. For each specified substance and each monitoring programme, specify the period and objectives of the monitoring programme, the type of sampling point (e.g., hot spots, accidents, background situation), the geographical location, the analytical method applied, the compartments in which the substance was sampled, the values found (mean, median, maximum, minimum, number of samples) and how to access these data.

In the UK, Defra is responsible for environmental monitoring. The objective of the Toxic Organic Micro-Pollutants (TOMPs) network is to measure ambient air concentrations for a range of pollutants at rural and urban locations in the UK. The network was set up in 1990, with Lancaster University becoming the main contractor in 2004. The university is responsible for maintaining the monitoring sites within the network and for the analysis of samples from all of the sites. Further information on the TOMPs field stations and the time trend data can be found at the Lancaster Environment Centre website:

The current monitoring sites include twourban, threerural, and one semi-rural locations; London (Urban), Manchester (Urban), High Muffles (Rural, North Yorkshire), Auchencorth Moss (Rural, Midlothian),Weybourne (Rural, Norfolk) and Hazelrigg (Semi-urban, Lancashire).

The TOMPs network has reported quarterly data for 37 PCBs congeners, 4 co-planar PCB congeners, 10 furans congeners (PCDFs) and 7 dioxin congeners PCDDs, and PAHs for over20 years, and as such comprises a considerable and important dataset which can be used to provide estimates of the change in atmospheric concentrations over time. The data for the network is published on the UK air quality website ( ).

SECTION VI: INFORMATION EXCHANGE

1. Has your Member Stateestablished an information exchange mechanism?

Yes

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.

1.2.If the answer to question 1 is "Yes" and if the information exchange mechanism is not part of your NIP, please describe it.

Measures taken are outlined in section 7.1 and 7.2 of the 2012 UK National Implementation Plan

2. Has your Member Statetaken any measure to promote and facilitate awareness programmes with regard to persistent organic pollutants?

Yes

2.1. If the answer to question 2 is "No", please explain why.

2.2.If the answer to question 2 is "Yes", please describe the measures taken.

Measures taken are outlined in section 7.1 and 7.2 of the 2012 UK National Implementation Plan

3. Has your Member Statetaken any measure to promote and facilitate the provision of public information with regards to persistent organic pollutants?

Yes

3.1. If the answer to question 3 is "No", please explain why.

3.2.If the answer to question 3 is "Yes", please describe the measures taken.

Measures taken are outlined in section 7.1 and 7.2 of the 2012 UK National Implementation Plan

4. Has your Member Statetaken any measure to promote and facilitate the training of workers, scientists, educators and technical and managerial personnel with regard to persistent organic pollutants?

Yes

4.1. If the answer to question 4 is "No", please explain why.

4.2.If the answer to question 4 is "Yes", please describe the measures taken.

Measures taken are outlined in section 7.1 and 7.2 of the 2012 UK National Implementation Plan

SECTION VII: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Has your Member Stateprovided to other country(ies) technical and financial assistance to develop and strengthen their capacity to fully implement their obligation under the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants ?

1.1. If the answer to question 1 is "No", please explain why.

The UK has had no requests from developing countries. The principle routes for providing assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition include: The Global Environment Facility and UK International subscriptions to the Conventions

1.2.If the answer to question 1 is "Yes", please specify the country/ies and kind of assistance.

SECTION VIII: PENALTIES

1. Penalties

1.1 How does your Member Statelay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004?

The provisions of UK Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations 2007 lay down measures for infringements of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 in Regulation 11.

1.2.What are the measures taken to ensure the implementation of the rules on penalties?

Under the UK Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations 2007 the Competent and Enforcement Authorities have been designated as the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales, the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland.

2. Infringement procedure

2.1 Has your Member Stateinitiated an infringement procedure for breach of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004?

2.2. If the answer to question 2.1 is "Yes", please specify the Article of that to which the infringement relates, describe briefly the infringement and indicate the penalty set for the offender.

EN1EN

[1]World Health Organization Toxic Equivalency Factors for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls