UN body gives green light to new information law on
pollution
Geneva, 3 October 2000
The Committee on Environmental Policy1 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) has given the go-ahead at
its annual meeting for work to start on a new legally binding instrument requiring
companies to report to the public on their polluting emissions to the environment.
The new law is expected to require countries to establish pollution
inventories known as pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs). Under PRTR systems,
potentially polluting companies are required to report periodically (e.g. annually) on
their emissions of certain polluting substances to air, water and land, as well as their
off-site transfers of such substances for treatment or disposal. The reported information
is provided in electronic form and made accessible to the public, including through the
Internet, subject to limited exemptions.
The new law will be established under the auspices of the Aarhus
Convention - the UN/ECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Convention is expected
to enter into force some time during 2001. The new PRTR instrument is to be ready for
adoption at the Fifth Ministerial Conference in the ‘Environment for Europe' series,
scheduled to take place in either 2002 or 2003.
« PRTRs are powerful and cost-effective tools for systematically
bringing information on emissions into the public domain, » said Mr Kaj Bärlund,
Director of the UN/ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division. « This creates
public pressure to reduce pollution. »
PRTRs have been extremely effective in reducing pollution – even
though they only regulate information about pollution, rather than pollution itself. The
US system, known as the Toxics Release Inventory, is one of the most well-established
PRTR systems. During its first decade, reporting companies reduced their emissions by one
half, preventing over 600,000 tonnes of toxic chemicals from being released into the
environment2. Few countries in Europe have so far
developed PRTR systems, though some have plans to do so.
To date, the Aarhus Convention has mainly focussed on information held
by public authorities, but it is expected that the main obligations arising from the new
instrument will apply to the private sector. After initial reservations when it was
introduced, many companies in the United States now welcome the impact that the US PRTR
system has had on their operations3. Generally it has led
to better management of chemicals and less wastage.
« PRTR is a win-win-win solution. Governments, industry and the
public can all benefit from PRTRs, » said Mr Bärlund. « And most important,
the environment wins too. »
Negotiations on the new instrument will start early in 2001 in an
intergovernmental working group established for the purpose. Non-governmental
organisations and business interests will be invited to participate as well as
intergovernmental organisations which are active in the field, such as OECD.
For further information, please contact:
Jeremy WATES
Secretary to the Aarhus Convention
UN/ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations, office 332
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: (+41 22) 917 23 84
Fax: (+41 22) 907 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/
____________
Notes
1 The Committee on Environmental Policy is a high-level
committee of senior environmental officials from all the ECE member States, which include
Europe, US, Canada, the five Central Asian States which were part of the former USSR, and
Israel.
2 US EPA, 1997 Toxics Release Inventory Public Data Release
Report (Washington, US EPA, 1999).
3 For example, the Vice President of Environment, Health
& Safety of the large US chemical company Merck has noted that "by all
accounts, the TRI has been the most cost-effective emission reduction regulation ever
issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency". The US Chemical Manufacturers
Association has said: "CMA and its members believe that PRTRs can provide valuable
information, and stimulate actions to reduce emissions" (Proceedings of OECD
International Conference on PRTRs, Tokyo, September 1998).
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