13 April 2004
The IFC has released the Terms of Reference for the PPAH review, laying out a rough timeline for the two-year project and identifying key areas that need to be addressed.
Under the leadership of the IFC, a draft work plan for updating the Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook (PPAH) is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2004. The review of the PPAH itself will be a multi-institutional endeavor, which indicates a certain amount of buy-in to the guidelines of the Handbook by other multilateral development banks and institutions. The PPAH guidelines are widely referenced by Export Credit Agencies, donor agencies, and private lenders. Consequently, revision of the PPAH will affect the standards applied by a wide range of project financiers.
Background
The PPAH was developed jointly by the World Bank and IFC and currently includes environmental guidelines for 39 sectors and industries. As of 4 June 2003, the IFC uses both the PPAH, which went into official use on 1 July 1998, and a series of environmental, health and safety updates that were written by IFC staff in 1991-1993 and for which there are no parallel sections in the PPAH.
The bulk of the PPAH is comprised of two complementary sections:
- “Implementing Policies in Practice” – A compilation of good-practice points on policy implementation taken from World Bank and International Financial Institution (IFI) projects.
- “Project Guidelines” – Provides detailed guidelines covering 39 industrial sectors to be applied in the planning and implementation of World Bank Group projects, on how to reduce pollution in industrial processes.
One of the original stated objectives of the PPAH was to be a document that is continuously updated and revised to reflect current best practice and best available technology standards. The PPAH has not been revised since it was released in 1998.
Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference (TOR) of the review, which have been publicly released, but are currently not available on the IFC's website, stress the need to "clarify" uncertainties and inconsistencies in the PPAH. These include:
- Lack of explanation as to how the guidelines should be used in project contexts,
- Lack of clarity surrounding situations where numerical levels are not met, or are exceeded,
- The need to address sectors not covered, and
- The need to update outdated sectors and numerical values.
The TOR also includes a detailed timeline (without specific dates), listing priority tasks for each three month period for the duration of the 2 year project.