Scottish Government

Covering Letter

Environmental Quality Directorate
Waste and Pollution Reduction Division

T: 0131-244 0179 F: 0131-244 0245
E: SEPATeam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

To interested parties

25 February 2009

Dear Sir/Madam

CONSULTATION ON REGULATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY UNDER THE POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2000

I am writing to invite comments on the above consultation paper about the Scottish Government's plans to provide additional powers to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA) to regulate energy efficiency at industrial installations under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 ( PPC).

The Scottish Government has previously concluded that regulations are necessary to achieve this objective and appropriate powers have been transferred from the UK Government to the Scottish Ministers. The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the impact of the proposed regulations and content of the associated Regulatory Impact Assessment.

The practical effect of the regulations is that SEPA will be able to include energy efficiency conditions in new PPC permits and vary, if necessary, existing permits to ensure that installations comply fully with the requirements of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control ( IPPC) European Directive.

The consultation paper comprises:

• Background to the proposals
• Transfer of Functions Order
• Draft regulations (The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2009)
• Draft partial Regulatory Impact Assessment

This consultation, and all other Scottish Government consultation exercises, can be viewed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

A list of the organisations consulted is at the back of the consultation paper. If you are aware of other organisations, businesses or individuals you think should be consulted, please let me know. It would also be helpful if you could confirm if you, or your organisation, no longer wish to be consulted on proposals concerning the PPC regulatory regime.

Comments are welcome on any part of the consultation paper. Written responses are invited by 22 May 2009. Please send your response with the completed Respondent Information Form (see "Handling your response" below) to:

SEPAteam@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

or

If you have any queries please contact Richard Robertson on 0131 244 0179.

The Scottish Government now has an email alert system for consultations ( SEconsult: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/seconsult.aspx). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SG distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SG consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.

Handling your response

We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. If you are responding to this consultation, it is important that you complete and enclose a Respondent Information Form with your response. This will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly. A Respondent Information Form is attached.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4565). You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the Library. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

Following the closing date for the consultation, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence before the regulations and Regulatory Impact Assessment are finalised.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to either of the contacts above.

The Scottish Government Consultation Process

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Government working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Government, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish Government consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

The Scottish Government encourages consultation that is thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under consideration and the nature of the target audience. Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the same.

Typically Scottish Government consultations involve a written paper distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on the Scottish Government web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses. The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence.

If you have any comments about how this consultation has been conducted, please send them to the above e-mail or postal address.

Yours faithfully

Richard Robertson
RICHARD ROBERTSON

RESPONDENT INFORMATION FORM

Please Note That This Form Must Be Returned With Your Response To Ensure That We Handle Your Response Appropriately