The committee adopted the report by Jonas SJOSTEDT (GUE/NGL, SE) amending the Council's common position under the 2nd reading of the codecision procedure. It reinstated, either wholly or partially, many amendments adopted by Parliament at 1st reading which had not been taken up by the Council. It also modified a number of new provisions that the Council had introduced into the proposal. The key amendments were as follows:
- Article 2(3): the new category ("non-hazardous non-inert waste") created by the Council, for which the Member States are given broad scope for derogations from the directive, should be deleted on the grounds that it has no scientific basis;
- Article 3: reiterating Parliament's demand at 1st reading, the committee deleted the time-periods linked to waste deposits included in the definition of "waste facility";
- Article 7(2): applications for a waste facility permit should contain information about the type of mineral(s) extracted and the overburden, as the precautionary measures that have to be taken will depend to a large extent upon this information;
- Article 13(4): direct discharges of waste into rivers and seas must be explicitly prohibited;
- new Article 13(4)a: the committee reinstated this 1st reading amendment providing for excavation voids to be subject to adequate controls;
- Article 14(1): the financial guarantee for rehabilitation should apply not just to the land within the site but also to "land directly affected by the waste facility";
- Article 20: the
committee retabled one of the most important 1st reading amendments. Member States should be obliged to make an inventory of
all closed sites (e.g. tailings ponds) within three years to tackle the
problem of chronic water pollution, which is particularly acute in Central
and
- Article 24(3): the committee deleted this paragraph on the grounds that it would encourage hasty closures of existing facilities to avoid the application of important provisions, which could have an impact on the environment and on human health.