• About us
• Air
• Ambient air quality
• Process industry regulation
• Proposed IE (IPPC) Directive
• IPPC Directive
• Pollution Prevention & Control
• Legislation
• SEPA guidance
• UK technical guidance
• BREFs
• Process guidance notes
• Solvent Emissions Directive
• Intensive agriculture
• PPC permit
• Public Participation Directive
• Application forms
• OPA
• Data
• Forth Energy biomass proposals
• Review of PPC Charging Scheme
• Links
• Large combustion plant
• Pollutant Release Inventory
• Habitats
• Air publications
• Odour
• Climate change
• Flooding
• Land
• Planning
• Radioactive substances
• Waste
• Water
• Science and research
• Customer information...

Operator Performance Assessments and Pollution Hazard Appraisals.

Release of IPC and PPC Part A data for the period 1 Jan 2008 to 31 Dec 2008.

SEPA aims  to allocate its resources in the most efficient way possible and wishes  to focus regulatory effort as appropriate in order to minimise the burden on those operators who perform well. This is in accordance with the principle of risk based regulation.

In order to standardise the way in which regulatory effort is allocated, a series of methodologies specific to each regulatory regime  have been introduced to ensure a common approach across SEPA.

Why are we releasing this data ?

SEPA aims to be a transparent and open Regulator and considers that this information is of interest to our stakeholders.  This is the fifth year of publication of the combined risk assessment undertaken for those processes or activities which are designated “Part A” under either the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes & Substances Regulations 1991 or the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (PPC).

What is the risk assessment method used?

The risk assessment method used for IPC and PPC activities is made up of two parts: the  Pollution Hazard Appraisal and the Operator Performance Assessment. The Pollution Hazard Appraisal makes an assessment of the nature and potential hazard of the operations undertaken, whilst the Operator Performance Assessment is based on a structured assessment by SEPA inspectors on how well those activities are managed, based on evidence provided by Operators

Each part of the assessment is comprised of a number of attributes which are scored against predetermined criteria. Those criteria are available to view in the risk assessment manual.

How are the assessments used?

The assessment is completed annually covering, the previous 12 months of operation.

The outcome of the combined assessment helps determine the regulatory effort, including inspection frequency for the individual site which is then incorporated into SEPA’s annual inspection programme. It is important to recognise firstly that this assessment method is based on SEPA inspectors’ professional judgement and secondly that both parts of the assessment include site specific factors. It is for these reasons that neither part of the assessment can be looked at in isolation. The Pollution Hazard Appraisal is helpful for SEPA to compare within sectors but will not provide a ranking of hazard from the smallest to the largest between sectors.

What has been Published?  

The Pollution Prevention and Control Regime means that there are many new activities which have not been previously regulated by SEPA,  such as food and drink manufacturing and intensive agriculture. A number of activities which were regulated via separate licences may have been combined into a single installation authorisation under PPC. Where a site has not been operational for the full period 1 Jan –31 Dec 2008 no assessment has been published. Where a new PPC licence has been issued partway through this period, then the results have not been reported in this round and will be published when an assessment on a full year’s operation has been made.