5.5 Categorising Facilities with Environmental Risks

A system should be established in which a regulatory agency issues a regulation which requires a particular category of facilities whose environmental risks are understood; and relatively small to enable compliance with some conditions which are similar to those contained in the individual permits, such as discharge standards, operational guidelines, and self-monitoring requirements.

A facility covered by the regulation will be deemed to have been licensed and will not need to undergo a formal application and review process, (ELI, 1999). In this way the regulatory agency is relieved of the burden and costs of operating the licensing system, but can enforce judicial proceedings against facilities that have not complied with the applicable conditions.