NETHERLANDS: DRAFT OF MULTI-YEAR PLAN ON HAZARDOUS WASTE II The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. G/TBT/Notif.96.360. 1. Member to Agreement notifying: Netherlands. If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2): 2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification can be indicated if different from above: National Enquiry Point. 3. Notified under Article 2.9.2. 4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): The draft of the Multi-Year Plan on Hazardous Waste II (MJP-GA II) contains technical regulations in the form of minimum (technical) standards for treating and processing hazardous waste. These minimum standards are included in the sector plans under the heading ``Treating/Processing'' (from page 48 onwards). A general introduction to the principle of how the minimum standards work is described on page 34 et seq. and on page 43, in particular. In addition, the sector plan ``Waste to be incinerated'' indicates the technical criteria on the basis of which the incineration of (hazardous) waste is deemed as a useful application or as final removal, as specified in Appendix IIb and Appendix IIa respectively of the Framework Directive on waste (75/442). 5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Draft of Multi-Year Plan on Hazardous Waste II (Dutch designation: MJP-GA II). 6. Description of content: The MJP-GA constitutes a legally binding framework for the provinces and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment when granting licences and assessing notifications under Regulation 259/93/EEC. This plan is revised every four years. The draft of the first comprehensive revision has now been submitted. The MJP-GA II specifies minimum standards for the processing of hazardous waste. Only companies which meet a minimum standard will qualify for a licence allowing them to treat or process a relevant category of waste in the Netherlands. Furthermore, criteria are listed for the waste to be incinerated (the conditions under which the incineration is considered recovery or final disposal). An inportant amendment to the first MJP-GA is that in the case of transport for recovery, the idea of national self-sufficiency has been abandoned. This has led, amongst other things, to the scrapping of capacity tests when licences are granted to treatment and processing plant in the Netherlands. 7. Objective and rationale: The minimum standards are based on an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) in which the overall environmental effects of processing options have been compared for a large number of categories of waste by means of an lca (life cycle analysis). Usually, the most environmentally-friendly alternative has been opted for, provided it has been adequately documented and is operational. The point of departure used when differentiating between recovery and final disposal has been: if the primary objective of incineration is to reduce the volume or the mass of hazardous characteristics, then this is a case of final disposal; the other cases are designated as recovery. 8. Relevant documents: (a) The Environmental Management Act contains the obligation to draw up a National Environmental Policy Plan at least once every four years. The MJP-GA is to be drafted on the basis of this plan. (b) An EIS has been drafted for this MJP-GA, such EIS has been submitted together with the draft MJP-GA II for pursual. The results of the EIS have been incorporated in the draft MJP-GA. (c) A trend study has also been carried out. This contains forecasts of the supply of hazardous waste for the period 1993-2005. This trend study has been appended to the draft MJP-GA. 9. Proposed date of adoption: Proposed date of entry into force: April 1997. 10. Final date for comments: 3 October 1996. (302)

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