Today, on 16 September, the Government of the Republic approved the total limits of emission into the air from stationary and mobile sources of pollution and the deadlines for achieving these limits. This regulation enacts the total emission limits of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia for stationary and mobile sources of pollution, and the deadlines for achieving these limits. These limits provide a basis for issuing integrated environmental permits and ambient air pollution permits to companies, planning new sources of pollution and preparing action programmes for the reduction of pollutant emission. The objective of the regulation is to limit and reduce pollutant emission into the ambient air and to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of pollutants. The limits to be imposed will contribute to the reduction of long-range transboundary air pollution caused by stationary and mobile sources of pollution. The implementation of the regulation will impose additional obligations on both the possessors of pollution sources and the authorities issuing integrated environmental permits and ambient air pollution permits. The possessors will have to submit additional information on reducing emission and achieving the limit values. The authorities issuing permits, i.e. the county environmental services of the Ministry of the Environment, will have to improve the environmental supervision of pollution sources in cooperation with the Environmental Inspectorate. According to the Estonian Environment Information Centre of the Ministry of the Environment, a total of 91.7 thousand tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 37.7 thousand tonnes of nitrogen oxides, 33.3 thousand tonnes of volatile organic compounds and 9 tonnes of ammonia were emitted into the ambient air from stationary and mobile sources of pollution in Estonia in 2001. In Estonia, the ambient air is mainly polluted with sulphur dioxide by powerful combustion plants with the installed heat rating of 50 MW or more on the basis of the amount of fuel fed. The main sources of nitrogen oxide emissions in Estonia are oil-shale power engineering and petrol-based internal combustion engines. The bases for preparing the regulation approved by the Estonian Government today included the research of the Estonian Energy Research Institute at TTU titled “Determination of the Limits of Main Pollutants Emitted into the Ambient Air for 2010-2020 Based on the Analysis of the Future Development of the Estonian Economy”, and the levels of emission permitted to Estonia starting from 2010 by Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. The Regulation of the Government of the Republic “Total Emission Limits of Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Volatile Organic Compounds and Ammonia from Stationary and Mobile Sources of Pollution and the Deadlines for Achieving these Limits” will enter into force on 30 September 2004. Further information: |
