Dioxin Action Plan

Foreword

Executive Summary

Introduction

Taking Action on Dioxin

Why We Should Take Action

Sources of Discharges to Air

Actions for Waste Disposal Sources

Actions for Other Sources

Application of Actions

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

7 Application of Actions

7.1 Responsibilities and costs

A summary of the responsibilities and costs of implementing the actions proposed in this dioxin action plan is given in Table 2.(See footnote 40)

Primarily, implementation and enforcement costs will fall on regional councils. For some sources, for example outdoor burning, the cost will vary with the level of enforcement chosen by local authorities. In cases where actions within this plan are complementary to activities set out in regional air plans, there will be no additional costs to councils. Presumably, councils intend to implement and enforce their air plan regardless of central government initiatives.

Educational material will be required for some of the actions. This explanatory and promotional material will be prepared by the Ministry for the Environment, in liaison with local authorities and the industry sectors. This will include advising of the existence of a dioxin NES. The material will be available for dissemination by councils, public health, education, and industry groups. In many cases, this material should be able to 'piggy-back' on existing information networks.

Compliance costs to industry will include technology costs if plant upgrades or process modifications are required and initial costs associated with dealing with new regulations. For those industries required to demonstrate compliance against a dioxin discharge limit, there will be the ongoing annual cost of monitoring. Again, for those sources where industry has to comply with equivalent requirements within regional air plans, there will be no additional compliance costs.

The promulgation of a dioxin NES for municipal waste incineration will reduce the initial costs to applicants, regional councils and the Environment Court, because the NES will speed up part of the resource consent process. It will also provide certainty to potential applicants, as their requirements with respect to dioxin discharges will be clear from the outset.

Other expenditure will follow from the proposed actions. This will include costs to:

• monitor the effectiveness of the actions (See footnote 41)
• monitor the implementation of the NES by regional councils.(See footnote 42)

National estimate of costs

Costs need to be distinguished between one-off costs that will follow from the actions proposed and on-going costs for implementation and enforcement by local authorities and on-going compliance costs to industry.

One-off costs: These will include costs of $50,000 to central government for the preparation of information and educational material, $240,000 nationally to regional councils for the identification of sources and information dissemination, $350,000 for research and data collection, and small 'set-up' costs to industry for dealing with new regulations.

A further $400,000 could be expended if regional councils were to review all existing consents for waste incinerators. However, if councils decided not to implement the NES on all incinerators, at least not initially, this cost would be significantly less.

Technology costs to industry to meet the NES discharge limit for waste incinerators is estimated at approximately $3 million assuming the average remaining lifetime of existing small medical waste incinerators is five years. Higher costs will be incurred if regional councils decide to review consents and implement the NES sooner, or alternatively, costs to industry could be close to zero if regional councils were not to require compliance until incinerators reach the end of their useful lives.

On-going costs: Annual costs to local government for enforcement of the ban on dioxin discharges to air are likely to anywhere between $100,000 to $250,000 nationally. Actual costs will depend on the level of action taken by individual councils; these costs can be expected to progressively decrease, as a change in behaviour not to undertake waste burning becomes habitual and adopted as customary practise.

Annual compliance costs to industry to monitor incinerator discharges will depend on how regional councils decide to implement the NES, and whether existing incinerators continue to operate (or continue to burn waste in the case of co-incinerators). As a worst case, compliance costs could be up to $400,000 per year nationally assuming all existing consents were reviewed, and all incinerators were required to meet the NES discharge limit with no transition period. More realistically, compliance costs should be significantly less than this, as regional councils are unlikely to immediately review all existing consents, and of those that are reviewed, not all incinerators will be able to meet the discharge limit. These incinerators could either be replaced with alternative technology or the industry may outsource its waste disposal needs.

7.2 Transition provisions for an NES

The promulgation of an NES for dioxin discharge to air will require transitional provision arrangements. The nature of the transition provisions will be subject to whether the discharge is:

1. prohibited by the NES
2. permitted by the NES, setting an upper discharge limit of 0.1 ng TEQ/Sm³
3. from a new or existing source.(See footnote 43)

Discharges that are prohibited

All discharges that are banned by the NES must meet the requirements of the standard from the time the NES comes into force.

New sources complying with an upper discharge limit

Discharges from new sources will be required to meet the upper discharge limit of 0.1 ng TEQ/Sm³ from the time the NES comes into force.

Existing sources complying with an upper discharge limit

The NES will not automatically apply retrospectively to any existing resource consent, but, at the discretion and instigation of regional councils, consent conditions may be reviewed when the NES comes into force. The transition provisions of the NES will apply to partly processed resource consent applications to discharge dioxin to air.

For existing resource consents reviewed by regional councils in response to promulgation of the NES, the transitional provisions will be set on a case-by-case basis. In determining appropriate transition provisions, account should be taken of the:

1. existing discharge concentration relative to the upper discharge limit of 0.1 ng TEQ/Sm³ specified within the NES
2. potential for adverse environmental and human health effects of the discharge
3. remaining life of the plant
4. cost of compliance with the NES.

Transition provisions commonly applied to waste incinerators in Europe and the United States typically allow three to five years for existing sources to achieve compliance with a dioxin standard.

An NES will override regional air plans, and some review and revision of air plans will be necessary, particularly with respect to the provisions covering open fires and open domestic burning.

7.3 Collection of additional data

The action plan highlights two areas of particular uncertainty concerning dioxin discharges to air that need to be addressed. These are the potential for dioxin discharge from secondary metals processing (both ferrous and non-ferrous metals) and from the combustion of contaminated wood as fuel in wood-fired boilers (co-incineration). Present estimates identify these two sources as comprising 5% and 3% respectively of current total dioxin discharge to air, but there is insufficient data available to be confident about these estimates.

Under the action plan it is proposed to collect additional information before deciding whether further policy interventions should be followed to reduce dioxin discharges from these sources. The Ministry for the Environment must clearly specify the data required.

1. The information is volunteered: in this scenario, the Ministry designs and implements a study cooperatively with regional councils and affected industries. The major part of the costs of the study are likely to be borne by the government.
2. Required reporting: in this scenario, the Ministry in liaison with regional councils specifies the nature of data needed. Regional councils then require the reporting of the data as a condition of resource consents. This would apply to any new consents and existing consents upon review. The major part of the costs of data collection will be borne by the respective facility owners.

The Ministry for the Environment prefers the voluntary method as the more efficient and targeted way of collecting data. The necessary study could be initiated immediately funding was available and without having to wait for the review of existing consents. If funding was not available, the required reporting method could be progressed. The level of funding required to collect the necessary data is estimated at up to $300,000.

It is recommended that data collection for both foundry operations and contaminated wood combustion be undertaken and completed within three years of the release of this action plan.

Research on the discharge of dioxin from accidental fires would enable more reliable estimates to be made for this source. This research would include an assessment of the quantity of materials consumed in building fires in New Zealand, and the availability of alternatives to chlorinated material for building construction. Possibly, this research could be undertaken using existing funding sources.(See footnote 44) It is recommended that a report be completed within five years of ratification of the Stockholm Convention.

Footnotes:
40 Providing cost estimates for the proposed actions does not necessarily mean that these actions will proceed.

41 This could include studies of breast milk or serum to measure peoples' exposure to dioxin, and to establish whether the current trend of declining exposure continues. The Ministry for the Environment's Environmental Performance Indicators Programme already proposes the use of breast milk as an indicator of toxic contaminants, including dioxin, in the environment.

42 Under section 24(f) RMA, the Minister for the Environment has a statuary responsibility of "monitoring of the effect and implementation of this Act (including any regulations in force under it)".

43 The Stockholm Convention on POPs establishes more stringent requirements for reducing dioxin discharges from new sources than from existing sources.

44 For example, the New Zealand Fire Service Commission operates a contestable research fund.