The committee adopted the draft recommendation for second reading (codecision procedure) by Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN (EPP-ED, NL) amending the Council's common position. The amendments were essentially designed to limit derogations and toughen up emission limits.
The committee deleted a number of exemptions, for example, those applicable to solid fuel plants operating less than 2,200 hours per year, a derogation allowing Spain to exceed the SO2 emission levels on a wide scale, and other exemptions applicable to LCPs burning lignite, where Member States would have been allowed to permit higher emissions of SO2, NOX and dust. The committee also stipulated that the Council's proposal to exempt existing plants from the scope of the directive for a maximum of 20,000 operational hours in total after 1 January 2008 should only apply up to 31 December 2012, after which all derogations would cease.
The committee also tightened up the limits laid down in the annexes. In the case of solid fuels it wanted an SO2 limit starting at 1200 mg/Nm3 for 50 MWth plants, decreasing to 300 mg/Nm3 for 300 MWth plants. For liquid fuels, it called for a starting figure of 1200 mg/Nm3 for 50 MWth plants, decreasing to 300 mg/Nm3 for 300 MWth plants. The committee also voted for lower limits for NOX, namely 350 mg/Nm3 for solid and liquid fuel and 250 mg/Nm3 for gaseous fuel. In the case of LCPs over 300 MWth, the figure would be 200 mg/Nm3. However, the committee did not change the limits for dust.�