The Environment Agency has updated its ‘Best available techniques’ (BAT) guidance. BAT means the available techniques which are the best for preventing or minimising emissions and impacts on the environment.
The European Commission produces BAT reference documents or BREF notes. Any that were published before 1 January 2020 apply in the UK. The European Commission has also published ‘BAT conclusions’ (BATC) documents which are legal requirements that an operation must meet. From 1 January 2020, UK BATC documents started to be produced – see UK BATC. These will have the same legal status as the EU BATC. The UK regulators have agreed cross-cutting BATC interpretation guidance for the implementation of BAT and interpreting common issues arising in the interpretation of BREFs and BATC.