Communicating PRTR systems to the public 4 th

Communicating PRTR systems to the public 4 th PRTRs Now! Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health Budapest, Hungary – 23 June 2004 Dmytro Skrylnikov Co-director, Association of Environmental Law of CEE & NIS/ ECO Forum

• Pollution information… The use of public information tools on pollution sources has greatly increased. As we grapple to improve protection of our environment, it is very important to know what activities contribute to which problem, and a number of countries have begun to catalogue the sources and quantities of pollutants and wastes periodically. 12/16/2021 2

• …and environmental democracy With an increasing emphasis on public participation and access to information world-wide, PRTRs are an elegant mechanism which help engage the public in pollution and regulation issues. But not only do PRTRs implement public right-to-know, they increase the accountability of companies and create pressure to reduce the emissions. 12/16/2021 3

• The visibility of the information to the public – an absolutely essential part of such a system - stimulates efforts at better management, safer alternatives, cleaner technologies and reductions in the use of toxic chemicals. - it can also lead to more consistent and thorough regulation. - emissions information allows countries to allocate resources more effectively, and prioritise chemicals, industries or environmental media for regulatory action. 12/16/2021 4

Article 7 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS <…> 5. Each Party shall require the owners or operators of the facilities required to report under paragraph 2 to complete and submit to its competent authority, the following information on a facility-specific basis: (a) The name, street address, geographical location and the activity or activities of the reporting facility, and the name of the owner or operator, and, as appropriate, company; (b) The name and numerical identifier of each pollutant required to be reported pursuant to paragraph 2; (c) The amount of each pollutant required to be reported pursuant to paragraph 2 released from the facility to the environment in the reporting year, both in aggregate and according to whether the release is to air, to water or to land, including by underground injection; (d) Either: (i) (ii) The amount of each pollutant required to be reported pursuant to paragraph 2 that is transferred off-site in the reporting year, distinguishing between the amounts transferred for disposal and for recovery, and the name and address of the facility receiving the transfer; or The amount of waste required to be reported pursuant to paragraph 2 transferred offsite in the reporting year, distinguishing between hazardous waste and other waste, for any operations of recovery or disposal, indicating respectively with ‘R’ or ‘D’ whether the waste is destined for disposal or recovery pursuant to annex III and, for transboundary movements of hazardous waste, the name and address of the disposer or recoverer of the waste and the actual disposal or recovery site receiving the transfer; <…> 12/16/2021 5

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Towards a more comprehensive PRTR? Here is a very brief summary of some issues that did not make it into the final Protocol, even though their inclusion was debated. • • Criteria for helping establish the pollutant list Nuclear sector and radioactive substances Petrochemical storage facilities An indicative list of diffuse sources (e. g. traffic, small- and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture) • On-site transfers (i. e. within the boundaries of a facility) • Transfers of pollutants through products • Storage of pollutants …> 12/16/2021 7

Towards a more comprehensive PRTR? • Destinations of domestic transfers of off-site wastes • An indicative list of databases of information to which a PRTR should be linked, such as radioactive substances, radiation, noise • Water use, energy use • Resource use (a concept which was not discussed in detail – it could cover individual pollutant use or more economic related resources such as timber, coal, iron ore) • Distinction between extraordinary/accidental and routine releases • Parent company identification Any country can go further than the Protocol, thus there may be scope for including some of these items in your own country’s PRTR. 12/16/2021 8