Lesson 6 – Key procedures to determine BAT

While the BAT policies around the world were adopted at different points in time and all have their unique design, here are some valuable insights on some key characteristics of approaches to establish BAT application across countries.

Taking a BAT-based approach to setting emission limit values

The report explores how countries’ environmental legislation defines the association between BAT and emission limit values (ELVs), providing illustrative examples that can guide the development and review of such legislation in other countries. Constituting a key element for setting legally binding ELVs and other permit conditions, BAT serves as crucial technical guidance, helping industrial operators to design, operate, maintain, and decommission their installations so as to prevent or control emissions to air, soil and water.

Engaging stakeholders in industrial pollution management

Official reference documents for BAT or similar concepts result from a series of exchanges of information between a variety of stakeholders, including governmental experts, industry representatives, members of NGOs and research institutes. This approach seeks to ensure an enhanced understanding of each party’s needs in the process to identify BAT. The report highlights the advantages of multi-stakeholder procedures for the determination of BAT, while also stressing the challenges associated with transparency throughout such a process.

Relying on diverse data sources to evaluate techniques

The report offers valuable reflections on essential aspects of the information collection and evaluation procedures involved in the establishment of BAT. Notably, this includes the weighing of environmental, economic, and technical aspects of available techniques, the use of data from monitoring systems and other relevant sources, the balancing between preventive and end-of-pipe techniques, the steps for official approval of techniques as BAT, and the time and resources required to finalize BAT documents.