Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an analysis of the industrial air pollution control regime which preceded Integrated Pollution Control (IPC). It also provides a discussion of the unsuccessful calls for pollution policy reform in the early 1970s. The book analyses the events of the 1980s which led to the creation of HM Inspectorate of Pollution (HMEP) and IPC’s introduction. It offers how HMIP and IPC appeared at the time to signal a shift toward more formal regulation. The book examines HMIP’s derivation of Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Cost pollution standards for organic chemical processes. It describes how individual HMIP Inspectors negotiated IPC authorisation conditions with individual process operators. IPC’s policy output, the actions of operators and inspectors, has been measured through a content analysis of the IPC public register.