Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2011)299 - Amendment of Council Directive 1999/31/EC as regards specific criteria for the storage of metallic mercury considered as waste Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE amending Council Directive 1999/31/EC as regards specific criteria for the storage of metallic mercury considered as waste - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2011)299 - Amendment of Council Directive 1999/31/EC as regards specific criteria for the storage of metallic mercury considered as ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2011)299  |
| date | 27-05-2011 |
Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1102/2008 i stipulates that metallic mercury from four major sources shall be considered as waste and be disposed of in a way that is safe for human health and the environment. According to Article 3, metallic (liquid) mercury may be stored, by way of derogation from Article 5(3)a of Directive 1999/31/EC i, temporarily or permanently in adapted salt mines or deep hard-rock formations, or temporarily in dedicated above-ground facilities. Article 4 i stipulates that requirements for such storage facilities and acceptance criteria shall be adopted in accordance with the comitology procedure referred to in Article 16 of Directive 1999/31/EC and take the form of amendments of Annexes I, II and III of that Directive.
The storage obligation (as well as the export ban according to Article 1 of the Regulation) entered into effect on 15 March 2011.
In order to prepare an appropriate proposal for storage criteria, the Commission (DG Environment) asked for a study on 'Requirements for facilities and acceptance criteria for the disposal of metallic mercury' performed by BiPRO GmbH. The final report was made available in April 2010 i.
Based on the findings of this study but also on other sources, the Commission developed a first preliminary draft of criteria, in form of a working document, and submitted it in June 2010 to Member States experts for comments until 3 September 2010.
During this consultation it became evident that, insofar as permanent storage was concerned, additional assessments of the long-term behaviour of metallic mercury in underground storage are needed for the determination of sound and knowledge-based requirements for permanent storage.
The Commission did however continue to prepare, in close co-operation with Member States experts, criteria for temporary storage of metallic mercury. The issue of criteria for permanent storage will be revisited as soon as the knowledge base has improved, taking into account information from Member States that may develop capacities and are currently running national assessments of environmental safety.
On the basis of the comments received from the first round of consultation, a revised working document was discussed in an informal meeting with waste and mercury experts on 6 October 2010.
With additional remarks and amendments taken on board, the paper was submitted for a debate (without voting) to the Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress established under Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste on 10 December 2010. Taking into account the scrutiny reservation of one Member State and the remarks from two others to be accommodated in an amended version, the document was acceptable to all those present.
The Commission transferred the content of this working paper with the above mentioned amendments into a legislative document, a draft Commission Directive amending Council Directive 1999/31/EC as regards specific criteria for the storage of metallic mercury considered as waste. This draft Directive was submitted to the (re-named) Committee for the 'Adaptation to scientific and technical progress and implementation of the Directives on waste established under Article 39 of Directive 2008/98/EC' on 11 February 2011 for voting under written procedure. The draft contained a reference to correlation tables to be drawn up by Member States. Given that the basic act (the Landfill Directive) does not contain such a reference, it was not deemed as appropriate to include it in the amending act. Therefore a revised version of the draft was subject of a re-launch of the written procedure on 7 March 2011.
By the end of the 30-day period for voting (5 April 2011), no qualified majority was obtained (241 votes in favour, 75 votes against, 29 abstentions).
In accordance with Article 5a paragraph 4 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission, a proposal relating to the measures to be taken shall therefore be submitted to the Council.
According to the proposal, a section concerning specific requirements for the storage of metallic mercury will be added to each of the Annexes I, II and III to the Landfill Directive. The structure of the Directive and its annexes remain unchanged.