Pollution Control

Pollution Prevention & Control

Last updated: 8 February 2012

The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC Directive) Part A

The IPPC Directive was adopted in October 1996 and requires an integrated approach to the permitting of and ongoing regulation of scheduled activities. The requirements of the Directive are similar in many ways to those on processes subject to integrated central control under the Industrial Pollution Control (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, however there are important differences:

the Directive applies an integrated approach to a wider range of activities and
the Directive requires that a wider range of environmental issues are taken into account, such as noise, energy efficiency, site condition, raw material usage

Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) was established in Northern Ireland by The Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (PDF 659Kb) and has three tiers of control. Part A of the regulations requires an intregrated approach to controlling a wide range of environmental issues, while Part B and Part C control emissions to air only. All industrial activities controlled under the PPC regulations are required to have a permit to operate. The activities requiring a permit are set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations.
Part A and Part B activities permits are issued and enforced by the Industrial Pollution and Radiochemical Inspectorate (IPRI) of NIEA, the Part C activities by district councils.
Guidance on the IPPC regime can be found on IPPC A Practical Guide(.PDF 308Kb)

If you prefer you can apply for a Part A or B Permit, variation or transfer ON-LINE.

Application for a Part A Processes:

Application for a Permit, variation, transfer or surrender (IPPC) (.PDF 1.3Mb)

Guidance for a Permit, variation, transfer or surrender (IPPC) (.PDF 891Kb)

Application for a Part B Processes (for control of emissions to air only):

Air Pollution Prevention and Control Part B

An Application for a PPC Part B Permit, Variation or Transfer (.PDF 618Kb)

Guidance for PPC Part B Permit, Variation or Transfer (.PDF 302Kb)

Air Pollution Prevention and Control Part C

Part C permits are issued by district councils, not NIEA. Guidance on Part C regulation, both general and technical, is provided by the Department and can be found on the Industrial Pollution Part C Guidance of the Department of Environment website.