Integrated Environmental Authorization (AAI)
Comprehensive processing of environmental permits for industrial facilities
The Integrated Environmental Authorization (AAI) is the permit required by industrial and livestock facilities listed in Annex 1 of the Consolidated Text of the Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (Royal Legislative Decree 1/2016). It combines in a single resolution the conditions regarding atmospheric emissions, discharges, waste production and management, and the protection of soil and groundwater, and requires the facility to apply the best available techniques (BAT) for its sector.
We prepare the application, process it through to a decision, and then assist the facility with monitoring, modifications, and permit renewals.
Which facilities require an integrated environmental authorization?
The activities listed in Annex 1 of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2016 that exceed the capacity threshold set for each one. These include:
- Combustion facilities and power generation.
- Metal production and processing.
- Mineral industries: cement, lime, glass, and ceramics.
- Chemical industry.
- Waste management: landfills and recovery and disposal facilities.
- Agri-food industry and slaughterhouses.
- Paper and cardboard manufacturing, the textile industry, and tanning.
- Intensive poultry and swine farms.
If you’re not sure whether your business qualifies, the first step is to compare its production capacity with the threshold for the corresponding category. This is a check we perform at the start of every project.
How can we help you?
Some of our services are:
- Drafting of integrated environmental authorization projects
- Integrated environmental authorisation renewal projects
- Processing of substantial and non-substantial modifications of AAI.
- Development and execution of environmental monitoring plans
- Drafting of complementary reports
How Does the Process Work?
- Diagnosis. Checking whether the activity falls under Annex 1, comparing it with the applicable BAT conclusions and reviewing the actual situation of the facility: emission sources, discharges, waste and soil condition.
- Documentation. Basic project proposal, urban planning report from the city council, soil and groundwater assessment report when handling relevant hazardous substances, and, if required by the project, an environmental impact study.
- Processing. Public notice for at least 30 days, reports from the relevant agencies (such as the river basin authority), a proposed resolution, and a public hearing. The maximum time limit for reaching a decision is nine months.
- After approval. Environmental monitoring plan, annual emissions report to the PRTR register, adaptation to new BAT conclusions and management of changes to the facility.
Why choose TAXUS for integral authorizations?
- Exhaustive knowledge of the legal and technical framework of AAI.
- Experience in industrial sectors with demanding environmental requirements.
- Complete processing: report, surveillance, renewal, reports.
- Integration of emissions, wastes and discharges in a single procedure.
- Smooth coordination with the administration and the developer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Integrated Environmental Permitting
How long does it take to resolve an AAI?
The law sets a maximum period of nine months to reach a decision and issue notification. If that period elapses without an explicit decision, the application is deemed to have been denied. In practice, the time frame depends on the regional authority and on whether the application is submitted with all required documentation, since requests for additional documentation are the most common cause of delays.
What is a substantial modification of the AAI?
It is a change to a facility that may have significant negative effects on people or the environment. Royal Decree 815/2013, the regulation on industrial emissions, sets forth the criteria: increases in capacity, emissions, water or raw material consumption, or waste generation above certain percentages. A substantial modification cannot be carried out until the permit is amended, whereas a non-substantial modification only requires notification to the environmental agency.
How often is the AAI reviewed?
The AAI does not expire on a fixed date. The competent authority must review it when new findings regarding best available techniques for the facility’s main activity are published, within four years of their publication. It may also review it on its own initiative, for example, if the pollution caused by the facility warrants it or if regulations change.
What are BATs?
Best Available Techniques (BAT): the most effective and economically viable techniques for preventing or reducing emissions in each sector. These are outlined in the European Reference Documents (BREFs) and in the BAT conclusions published by the European Commission, and the AAI’s emission limit values are set based on them.