Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the annual cost to British businesses of the EU's pollution directive.

There are a number of EU directives covering a wide range of pollution issues. This answer refers to the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU), which was transposed into law in England and Wales in February 2013. The Directive requires operators in a range of industrial sectors to comply with certain standards to ensure the reduction of emissions from their activities.

Prior to transposition of the Directive, our impact assessment estimated that the annual regulatory and compliance costs for the main affected sectors would be £105m for operators of large combustion plants and £0 - £15m for a range of other installations in the waste treatment and wood treatment sectors.

The impact assessment estimated that the annual human health benefits due to a reduction in emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter from large combustion plants alone would be £188m. Other benefits for human health and the environment were also expected to arise from other pollutants that could not be monetised.