Air Pollution Act 1987

PART I Preliminary and General

1. Short title.

2. Commencement.

3. Non application of Act.

(i)the disposal at sea of a substance by deliberate combustion for thermal destruction, or

(ii)the use of any radioactive substance or device.

4. Air pollution.

(i)be injurious to public health, or

(ii)have a deleterious effect on flora or fauna or damage property, or

(iii)impair or interfere with amenities or with the environment.

5. Best practicable means.

(2)In considering whether facilities are the most suitable for the prevention or limitation of an emission, regard shall be had—

(a)in the case of industrial plant, other than existing industrial plant, to—

(i)the current state of technical knowledge, and

(ii)the requirements of the environment, and

(iii)the costs which would be incurred in providing, maintaining, using, operating and supervising the facilities concerned, and

(b)in any other case, in addition to the matters specified in paragraph (a) (i), (ii) and (iii), to—

(i)the nature, extent and effect of the emission concerned, and

(ii)the age of the existing industrial plant or other premises, the nature of the facilities installed therein and the period during which the plant or other premises is likely to be used or to continue in operation, and

(iii)the costs which would be incurred in renovating the plant or other premises, or of renovating or replacing the facilities therein, in relation to the economic situation of undertakings or enterprises of the class concerned.

(3)The Minister may, from time to time as occasion demands, issue directions specifying the best practicable means for preventing or limiting such emission as may be specified in the direction either generally, or from premises of a particular class or description, and regard shall be had, in the administration of this Act, to any such directions.

(4)Whenever the Minister issues a direction under subsection (3), he shall cause as soon as may be—

(a)a copy of such direction to be sent to each local authority and to An Bord Pleanála,

(b)notice of the issue of the direction to be published in Iris Oifigiúil, and

(c)a copy of the direction to be made available, on payment of such fee (if any) as may be fixed by the Minister, to every person who makes application for such a copy.

F1[(4A) Directions undersubsection (3)shall not be issued in relation to an activity for the purposes of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, or in relation to any process, development or operation as regards which an order has been made, and remains in force, under section 99B of the said Act.]

(5)In this section “ facilities ” means machinery, plant, equipment, appliances, apparatus, buildings and other structures.

6. Industrial plant and existing industrial plant.

(2)In this Act “ existing industrial plant ” means industrial plant—

(a)in respect of which a permission under Part IV of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, is granted prior to such day (in this subsection referred to as “ the relevant day ”) as may be prescribed by the Minister, or

(b)which is, on the day immediately prior to the relevant day, or was, at any time during the period of twelve months ending on the day immediately prior to the relevant day, used for the purposes of, or incidental to, any industrial process specified in the Third Schedule, other than industrial plant which is an unauthorised structure or the use of which constitutes an unauthorised use.

(3)The Minister may, by regulations, vary, by the addition or deletion of any industrial process, the Third Schedule.

(4)In this section “ unauthorised structure ” and “ unauthorised use ” have the meanings assigned to them by the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963.

7. Interpretation generally.

F2[“Agency”means the Environmental Protection Agency;]

“ air quality management plan ” has the meaning specified in section 46;

“ air quality standard ” means a standard prescribed for the purposes of this Act by the Minister pursuant to section 50;

“ authorised fireplace ” means a fireplace declared to be an authorised fireplace by the Minister in regulations under section 40 (2);

“ authorised fuel ” means a fuel declared to be an authorised fuel by the Minister in regulations under section 40 (3);

“ authorised person ” means F3[(other than in section 12B or 12C or Part IC)] a person who is—

(a)appointed in writing by a local authority to be an authorised person for the purposes of this Act, or

(b)appointed in writing to be an authorised person pursuant to regulations under this Act by a person specified in those regulations;

“ emission ” means, save where the context otherwise requires, an emission of a pollutant into the atmosphere;

“ emission limit value ” means a limit prescribed by the Minister under section 51;

“ fireplace ” includes any furnace, incinerator, grate or stove whether open or closed or any other place of combustion;

F2[“fuel activity”has the meaning given to it bysection 22A;]

F2[“fuel register”means the register established and maintained undersection 22A;]

“ functions ” includes powers and duties;

“ industrial process ” includes any process which is carried on in the course of trade, business or industry and which is for, or incidental to, the making or production of any article, part of an article, substance, energy or thing or the altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, packing or canning, or the adapting for sale, or breaking up or demolition of any article, substance or thing; including, in particular, the getting, raising, taking, carrying away and processing (including size reduction, grading and heating) of minerals, the storage of mineral wastes and the incineration, treatment or recovery of other wastes;

“ licence ”, in relation to a licence granted under section 32, includes, where the context so admits or requires, such a licence as revised pursuant to section 33;

“ local authority ” means—

(a)F4[…]

(b)F4[…]

(c)in the case of a county borough, the corporation of the county borough, and

(d)in the case of any F4[…] administrative county, the council of the county,

and references to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed accordingly;

“ the Minister ” means the Minister for the Environment;

“ monitoring ” includes the inspection, measurement, sampling or analysis, for the purposes of this Act, of any emission or of the ambient air in any locality, whether periodically or continuously;

“ occupier ”, in relation to any premises, includes a lessee, any person entitled to occupy the premises and any other person having, for the time being, control of the premises;

F5[“pollutant”means any substance specified in the First Schedule or any other substance (including a substance which gives rise to odour) or energy which, when emitted into the atmosphere either by itself or in combination with any other substance, may cause air pollution;]

“ premises ” includes any messuage, building, structure or land (whether or not there are structures on the land or whether or not the land is covered with water) or any hereditament of any tenure, together with any out-buildings and curtilage;

“ prescribed ” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“ private dwelling ” means any building or structure or any part of any building or structure (including any ancillary building or structure) which is used, or intended to be used, solely for human habitation but does not include—

(a)a curtilage or garden, or

(b)an ancillary building or structure, or part of a building or structure, having a fireplace with a maximum heating capacity exceeding 45kW which serves more than one dwelling;

“ public place ” means any street, road, seashore or other place to which the public have access, whether by right or by permission, or whether subject to, or free of charge;

“ the register ” means the register kept pursuant to section 17;

“ reserved function ” means—

(a)in relation to the council of a county F4[…], a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1985,

(b)in relation to the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough;

“ smoke ” includes soot, ash, grit, and any other particle emitted in smoke;

“ special control area ” means an area in relation to which a special control area order is in operation;

“ special control area order ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 39.

(2)In this Act, a reference to a section, Schedule or Part is a reference to a section, Schedule or Part of this Act unless there is an indication that a reference to any other enactment is intended.

(3)In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless there is an indication that a reference to some other provision is intended.

(4)A reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by any subsequent enactment.

8. Application of Act to premises belonging to State.

9. Repeals.

(2)Each Statutory Instrument mentioned in column (2) of Part II of the Second Schedule is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Part of that Schedule.

10. Regulations.

(a)for prescribing any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed,

(b)in relation to any matter referred to in this Act as the subject of regulations, and

(c)for the purpose of giving full effect to this Act.

(2)Regulations made under this Act may make different provisions in relation to different areas, different circumstances and different classes of cases.

(3)Where it is proposed to make regulations under section 6, a draft of the regulations shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.

(4)Every regulation made by the Minister under this Act (other than a regulation made under section 6) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under it.

11. Offences.

(2)Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate or by a person acting on behalf of a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other official of such body, such person shall also be guilty of an offence.

(3)In this section, a reference to the contravention of a provision includes, where appropriate, a reference to a refusal, or a failure, to comply with that provision.

12. Penalties.

(a)on summary conviction, to F7[a class A fine] (together with, in the case of a continuing offence, F7[a class E fine] for every day on which the offence is continued and not exceeding in total an amount which, when added to any other fine under this paragraph in relation to the offence concerned, F7[equals €5,000]), or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment,

(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding F8[€500,000] (together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a fine not exceeding F8[€5,000] for every day on which the offence is continued), or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment.

F9[(1A) A person guilty of a relevant offence, within the meaning ofsection 12A(6), shall be liable on summary conviction to a Class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.]

(2) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, shall apply in relation to an offence to which subsection (1) relates as if, in lieu of the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of the said section 13, there were specified therein the penalties provided for in subsection (1) (a), and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of the said section 13 to the penalties provided for in the said subsection (3) shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

12A. F10[Fixed payment notice.

12A. —(1) Where an authorised person has reasonable grounds for believing that a person has committed a relevant offenceF11[…], the authorised person may give to the person a notice (F12[in this section]referred to as a "fixed payment notice") in writing and in the prescribed form stating that—

(a)the person is alleged to have committed that offence,

(b)the person may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to the local authority concerned at the address specified in the notice a payment of the amount specified insubsection (4)in respect of that offence, accompanied by the notice,

(c)the person is not obliged to make the payment specified in the notice, and

(d)a prosecution of the person to whom the notice is given in respect of the relevant offence concerned will not be instituted during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of that offence will be instituted.

(2) Where a fixed payment notice is given—

(a)the person to whom it applies may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to the local authority concerned at the address specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice, accompanied by the notice,

(b)the local authority concerned shall receive the payment and shall, upon receipt of the payment, issue a receipt for it and any payment so received shall not be recoverable by the person who made it and the local authority shall retain the money for disposal in accordance withsubsection (5), and

(c)a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted in the period specified in the notice, and if the payment so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) InF13[…]proceedings for a relevant offence it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he or she has made a payment in accordance with this section, pursuant to a fixed payment notice issued in respect of that offence.

F14[(4) The amount to be specified in a fixed payment notice in respect of a relevant offence is—

(a)€1,000, where the relevant offence consists of a contravention of regulation 5(1) of the Fuel Regulations,

(b)€500, where the relevant offence consists of a contravention of regulation 5(2)(a), 5(2)(b), 5(4)(b), or 7(1)(c) of the Fuel Regulations, or

(c)€250, where the relevant offence consists of a contravention of regulation 5(5) or 7(1)(d) of the Fuel Regulations.]

(5) Moneys received by a local authority pursuant to the giving of a fixed payment notice shall be lodged to the credit of the local fund maintained by the local authority concerned pursuant to, and in accordance with, section 97 (amended by the Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006) of the Local Government Act 2001 and expended in accordance with that section.

F15[(6) In this section—

"Fuel Regulations" means the Air Pollution Act (Marketing, Sale, Distribution and Burning of Specified Fuels) Regulations 2012 ( S.I. No. 326 of 2012 );