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Brussels, 31.5.2006

COM(2006) 242 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Article 7(4)(a) of Regulation (EC) 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants provides that the content of the substances listed in Annex IV is below the concentration limits to be specified in Annex IV before 31 December 2005, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 17(2). In accordance with Article 17(1), the Commission shall be assisted by the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC, for matters relating to waste under this Regulation.

Accordingly, the Commission submitted a draft Regulation for vote in the Committee established under Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste on 25 January 2006. There was no qualified majority for the draft Regulation.

Thus in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 5 of Decision 1999/468/EC a Proposal for a Council Regulation is submitted to Council. If the Council has not acted within three months from the date of referral of the proposal, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

In accordance with Article 7(6) and 14(3) of Regulation (EC) 2004/850 the Commission had intended to also propose to adopt a measure on the solidification of wastes to be otherwise recovered exceeding the concentration of 1 μg/kg PCDD/PCDF, but complying with the low concentration limit of 15 μg/kg PCDD/PCDF. This additional measure depends on the adoption of the low concentration limit for PCDD/PCDF. As there was no qualified majority for the draft Regulation on the low concentration limit of 15 μg/kg PCDD/PCDF, the additional measure alone would be meaningless and was not proposed for vote yet.

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC[1], and in particular Article 7(4)(a) and 14(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The Commission conducted a study on the implementation of waste-related provisions of Regulation No 850/2004.

(2) The proposed concentration limits in Annex IV are considered the most appropriate to ensure a high level of protection in view of the destruction or irreversible transformation of the persistent organic pollutants.

(3) For toxaphene, a mixture of over 670 substances, no agreed and relevant analytical methodology to determine the total concentration is available. However the above mentioned study has not identified any stocks consisting of, containing or contaminated with toxaphene in the European Union. In addition the study demonstrates that, whenever any persistent organic pollutant pesticides were detected in wastes, their concentrations were usually high when compared with the proposed concentration limits. For the time being, the available analytical methodologies for the determination of toxaphene can be considered as sufficiently fit for the purpose of this Regulation.

(4) The concentration limit for PCDF/PCDD is expressed in toxic equivalent concentration (“TEQ”), using the 1998 World Health Organisation toxic equivalency factors (“TEFs”). Available data on dioxin-like PCB is not sufficient to include these compounds in the TEQ.

(5) Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) is the name of a technical mixture of various isomers. The effort to completely analyse them would be inadequate. Only alpha-, beta- and gamma-HCH is of toxicological relevance. Therefore the concentration limit exclusively refers to them. Most commercially available analytical standard mixtures for the analyses of this compound class only identify these isomers.

(6) Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7) The Committee established under Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 has not delivered an opinion on the measures laid down in a draft Commission Regulation, following its consultation, on 25 January 2006, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17(2) of that Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004/EEC is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

ANNEX

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 is replaced by the following:

ANNEX IV

“LIST OF SUBSTANCES SUBJECT TO WASTE MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS

SET OUT IN ARTICLE 7

SUBSTANCE | CAS No | EC No | CONCENTRATION LIMIT REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 7(4)(a) |

Aldrin | 309-00-2 | 206-215-8 | 50 mg/kg |

Chlordane | 57-74-9 | 200-349-0 | 50 mg/kg |

Dieldrin | 60-57-1 | 200-484-5 | 50 mg/kg |

Endrin | 72-20-8 | 200-775-7 | 50 mg/kg |

Heptachlor | 76-44-8 | 200-962-3 | 50 mg/kg |

Hexachlorobenzene | 118-74-1 | 200-273-9 | 50 mg/kg |

Mirex | 2385-85-5 | 219-196-6 | 50 mg/kg |

Toxaphene | 8001-35-2 | 232-283-3 | 50 mg/kg |

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) | 1336-36-3 and others | 215-648-1 | 50 mg/kg* |

DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethane) | 50-29-3 | 200-024-3 | 50 mg/kg |

Chlordecone | 143-50-0 | 205-601-3 | 50 mg/kg |

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) | 15 μg/kg** |

The sum of alpha, beta- and gamma- HCH | 58-89-9, 319-84-6, 319-85-7 | 206-270-8, 206-271-3 and 200-401-2 | 50 mg/kg |

Hexabromobiphenyl | 36355-01-8 | 252-994-2 | 50 mg/kg |

* Where applicable, the calculation method laid down in European standards EN 12766-1 and EN 12766-2 shall be applied

** The limit is calculated as PCDD and PCDF according to the following toxic equivalency factors (TEFs):

PCDD | TEF |

2,3,7,8-TeCDD | 1 |

1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD | 1 |

1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDD | 0.1 |

1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD | 0.1 |

1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD | 0.1 |

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD | 0.01 |

OCDD | 0.0001 |

PCDF |

2,3,7,8-TeCDF | 0.1 |

1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF | 0.05 |

2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF | 0.5 |

1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF | 0.1 |

1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDF | 0.1 |

1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDF | 0.1 |

2,3,4,6,7,8-HxCDF | 0.1 |

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF | 0.01 |

1,2,3,4,7,8,9-HpCDF | 0.01 |

OCDF | 0.0001 |

“

[1] OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 7; corrected version in OJ L 229, 29.6.2004, p. 5.