45 214. Again in connection with whether all reasonable steps have been taken by Greece to adapt plant and mining equipment to the "best available techniques", the documents produced by the parties show that, however one determines the requirements, an assessment of the plant in question, the local geographical and environmental conditions and the economic implications of the decisions to be made shows that the DEH was slow to act and the measures it did introduce were only partially successful or are simply programmed for the future. 215. The Government does admittedly claim that measures to monitor and record emissions are equivalent to adapting to "best available techniques". Apart from the fact that this argument is irrelevant and clearly incompatible with Greece's European commitments, the Committee has in any case found that Greece has failed to show that the checks concerned were sufficiently effective, since the Greek authorities considered it satisfactory to carry out these checks prior to the authorisation process and deemed it acceptable to distinguish between operational and environmental authorisation. 216. In connection with the measures that the authorities were required to take to develop a sense of individual awareness among exposed groups towards the health risks arising from lignite mining, the Committee notes firstly that Greek regulations satisfy all the requirements concerning information to the public about and their participation in the procedure for approving environmental criteria for projects and activities. For example, prefectures are obliged to publish the preliminary environmental evaluation and appraisal and the environmental impact study in the local press. However, the circumstances surrounding the granting and extension of several authorisations, at least those concerning the joint authorisation for several plants and the case of the “Dytiko Pedio” mine, show that in practice the Greek authorities do not apply the relevant legislation satisfactorily. 217. The publication on the Internet of such a complex document as the first national allocation plan (NAP1) for just four days (20-24 December 2004) also reveals the Greek authorities' manifest disregard for the obligation to enter into fair and genuine consultations with those exposed to environmental risks. 218. The Committee also notes the Greek authorities' tendency not to pass on information at their disposal, even if they have been asked to do so, as in the Megalopolis case. 219. The Government maintains that it is following a policy of health promotion and culture in accordance with the objectives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and that those concerned have been presented with the results of epidemiological studies undertaken at the request of the state. The Committee considers that this is too vague to amount to a valid education policy aimed at persons living in lignite mining areas. The Committee also notes, as does the complainant organisation, that the figures quoted by the Government to show that it organises environmental health education courses in primary and secondary schools themselves reveal the shortcomings in this area. 220. The Committee has already noted (§ 200) the health risks that lignite mining poses for local inhabitants. However, as the Government itself acknowledges, despite the importance the latter claims to ascribe to systematic epidemiological monitoring of