Environmental Protection Agency Act , 1992

PART I Preliminary and General

1. Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.

2. Commencement.

2.—(1)Part I (other than section 18 (1)), Part II (other than section 43), Part III, Part IV (other than section 93) and Part VI will come into operation on the passing of this Act.

(2)The remaining provisions of this Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by any order or orders of the Minister, either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision or with reference to a particular area or areas, and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act and for different areas.

3. Interpretation.

F1[3.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

"activity" means any process, development or operation specified in the First Schedule and carried out in an installation;

"the Act of 1996" meansthe Waste Management Act 1996;

"the Act of 2000" meansthe Planning and Development Act 2000;

F2["the Act of 2022" means theDevelopment (Emergency Electricity Generation) Act 2022;]

"the Agency" shall be construed in accordance withsection 19(1);

"atmosphere" means the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth, and includes air;

"authorised person" means a person who is appointed in writing by the Minister, a local authority, the Agency or such other person as may be prescribed to be an authorised person for the purposes of this Act or any Part or section thereof;

F3["BAT conclusions" means a document containing the parts of a BAT reference document laying down the conclusions on best available techniques, their description, information to assess their applicability, the emission levels associated with the best available techniques, associated monitoring, associated consumption levels and, where appropriate, relevant site remediation measures;

"BAT reference document" in relation to an industrial emissions directive activity, means a document drawn up by the Commission of the European Union in accordance with Article 13 of the Industrial Emissions Directive, resulting from the exchange of information in accordance with that Article of that Directive and describing, in particular, applied techniques, present emissions and consumption levels, techniques considered for the determination of best available techniques as well as BAT conclusions and any emerging techniques, particular consideration having been given to the same matters as are specified insubparagraphs (i)to(xii)ofsection 5(3)(b);]

F2["designated application" means an application made to the Agency for a licence underPart IVin relation to designated development, after an application has been made under section 4 of the Act of 2022 to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications for approval under section 7 of that Act to carry out the designated development, and does not include an application made to the Agency—

(a) for a revised licence underPart IV, or

(b) by the licensee undersection 90(1)(b)for a review of a licence or a revised licence;]

F2["designated development" has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2022;]

"development" has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Act of 2000;

"the Directive" shall be construed in accordance withsection 3A(1);

"disposal", in relation to waste, has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1996;

F4["EIA Directive" means Directive No. 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011^3on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014^4;]

F3["emerging technique" means a novel technique for an industrial emissions directive activity that, if commercially developed, could provide either a higher general level of protection of the environment or at least the same level of protection of the environment and higher cost savings than existing best available techniques;]

"emission" means, in relation to an activity referred to inF5[Part IV, IVA, IVB or IVC], any direct or indirect release of substances, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in the activity into the atmosphere, water or land, and includes—

(a) an emission into the atmosphere of a pollutant within the meaning ofthe Air Pollution Act 1987,

(b) the release of a greenhouse gas or a precursor of a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere,

(c) a discharge of polluting matter, sewage effluent or trade effluent within the meaning ofthe Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977, to waters or sewers within the meaning of that Act, or

(d) waste,

but does not include a radioactive substance within the meaning of Council Directive 96/29/Euratom^1, a genetically modified micro-organism within the meaning of Council Directive 90/219/EEC^2or a genetically modified organism within the meaning of Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council^3;

F3["emission levels associated with the best available techniques" means the range of emission levels obtained under normal operating conditions using a best available technique or a combination of best available techniques, as described in BAT conclusions, expressed as an average over a given period of time, under specified reference conditions;]

"emission limit value" means the mass, expressed in terms of a specific parameter, concentration or level of an emission, or both a specific concentration and level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time;

"employee of the Agency" does not include the Director General or other Director of the Agency;

"enactment" includes any instrument made under an enactment;

F6[“environmental impact assessment”shall be construed in accordance withsection 83(2A);]

F4[“environmental impact assessment report”shall be construed in accordance withsection 83(2A)(dd);]

F7[…]

F8[“environmental impact statement” means a statement of the direct and indirect effects that a proposed activity will have or is likely to have on the environment and shall include the information specified in Annex IV to Directive No. 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011^1on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment;]

"environmental protection", "environmental pollution", "environmental medium" and "environmental quality standard" have the meanings respectively assigned to them bysection 4;

"established activity" means—

(a) an activity which on 29 October 1999, or such other date as may be prescribed in relation to the activity, was being carried on and did not involve or have an association with unauthorised development within the meaning of the Act of 2000, or

(b) an activity—

(i) in respect of which permission under section 34 of the Act of 2000 had beengranted, or an application for such permission had been made, before 30 October 1999, or such other date as may be prescribed in relation to the activity, and

(ii) which on 29 October 2000, or such other date as may be prescribed in relation to the activity—

(I) was being carried on, and

(II) did not involve or have an association with unauthorised development within the meaning of the Act of 2000;

"functions" includes powers and duties;

"greenhouse gas" means—

(a) carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, any hydrofluorocarbon or any perfluorocarbon, and

(b) such other gases as may be prescribed,

in so far as the emission of any such gas contributes to global climate change;

F3["groundwater" has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 3 of the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 9 of 2010);

"hazardous substances" means substances or mixtures as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No. 1272/20081 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures;

"hazardous waste" means waste that displays one or more of the properties which render it hazardous specified in the Second Schedule (amended by Regulation 24 of the European Communities (Waste Directive) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 126 of 2011)) to the Act of 1996;

"industrial emissions directive activity" means a process, development or operation specified in paragraph 1.1.1, 2.1, 3.1.1, 3.2.1, 3.3.1, 3.4.1, 3.6.1, 4.2.1, 4.3, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.16, 5.17, 6.1, 6.2, 7.2.1, 7.4.1, 7.7.1, 7.8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5.1, 8.6.1, 8.7, 9.3.1, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 11.1 (in so far as the process, development or operation specified in paragraph 11.1 is carried on in an installation connected or associated with another activity that is an industrial emissions directive activity), 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 12.2.1, 12.3, 13.4.1, 13.5 or 13.6 of the First Schedule (amended by Regulation 23 of the European Union (Industrial Emissions) Regulations) and carried out in an installation and an activity shall not be taken to be an industrial emissions directive activity if it is carried out at an installation solely used for research, development or testing of new products and processes;

"Industrial Emissions Directive" means Directive 2010/75/EU2 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (Recast);]

"installation" means a stationary technical unit or plant where the activity concerned referred to in the First Schedule is or will be carried on, and shall be deemed to include any directly associated activity, whether licensable under this Part or not, which has a technical connection with the first-mentioned activity and is carried out on the site of that activity;

F3["integrated pollution control activity" means a process, development or operation specified in paragraph 1.1.2, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 3.1.2, 3.2.2, 3.3.2, 3.4.2, 3.5, 3.6.2, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 4.1, 4.2.2, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11, 7.1, 7.2.2, 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.3.3, 7.4.2, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7.2, 8.4, 8.5.2, 8.6.2,F9[8.8,]9.1, 9.2, 9.3.2, 9.4.4, 10.1, 11.1 (in so far as the process, development or operation specified in paragraph 11.1 is carried on in an installation connected or associated with another activity that is an integrated pollution control activity), 12.1, 12.2.2, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 or 13.4.2 of the First Schedule (amended by Regulation 23 of the European Union (Industrial Emissions) Regulations) and carried out in an installation;]

F10["ionising radiation" has the same meaning as it has in theRadiological Protection Act 1991;]

"land" includes soil;

"local authority" means—

(a) in the case of a city, the city council, and

(b) in the case of a county, the county council,

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

"the Minister" means the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;

"monitoring" includes the inspection, measurement, sampling or analysis for the purposes of this Act of any emission, or of any environmental medium in any locality, whether periodically or continuously;

"noise" includes vibration;

"occupier", in relation to any installation or premises, includes the owner, a lessee, any person entitled to occupy the installation or premises and any other person having, for the time being, control of the installation or premises;

"person in charge" includes an occupier of an installation or premises or a manager, supervisor or operator of an activity;

"planning authority" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2000;

"plant" includes any equipment, appliance, apparatus, machinery, works, building or other structure or any land or any part of any land which is used for the purposes of, or incidental to, any activity specified in theFirst Schedule;

"premises" includes any messuage, building, vessel, 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 by the Minister under this Act;

"previous Part IV" shall be construed in accordance withsection 82(1);

"public authority" means—

(a) a Minister of the Government,

(b) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland,

(c) a local authority for the purposes ofthe Local Government Act 2001,

(d) a harbour authority within the meaning ofthe Harbours Act 1946,

(e) a health board,

(ii) the Eastern Regional Health Authority, or

(iii) an Area Health Board established underthe Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act 1999,

(f) a board or other body (but not including a company underthe Companies Act 1963to 2001) established by or under statute,

(g) a company under the Companies Acts 1963 to 2001, in which all the shares are held—

(i) by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government,

(ii) by directors appointed by a Minister of the Government, or

(iii) by a board or other body referred to in paragraph (f) or by a company to which subparagraph (i) or (ii) applies,

(h) such other body as may be prescribed for the purposes of any provisions of this Act;

"public place" includes any place to which the public have access, whether by right or by permission, or whether subject to, or free of charge;

F11["radioactive substance" has the same meaning as it has in theRadiological Protection Act 1991;]

F10["radiological protection" means the prevention, limitation, elimination, abatement or reduction of the harmful effects of ionising radiation;]

"recovery", in relation to waste, has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1996;

"sanitary authority" means a sanitary authority for the purposes of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts 1878 to 2001;

"soil" means the top layer of the land surface of the earth that is composed of disintegrated rock particles, humus, water and air;

"statutory undertaker" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2000;

"vessel" means a waterborne craft of any type, whether self propelled or not, and includes an air cushion craft and any structure in or on water;

F12["waste" means any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard;]

"waste management plan" means a waste management plan or a hazardous waste management plan within the meaning of the Act of 1996 that is for the time being in force;

"waters" has the meaning assigned to it bythe Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977;

"works", in relation tosections 106and107, has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2000.

(2) In this Act a reference to—

(a) the date on which a licence or revised licence is granted is a reference to the date on which the licence or revised licence is sealed with the seal of the Agency, and

(b) the date on which a decision by the Agency to refuse a licence or a revised licence is made is a reference to the date on which that decision, as reduced to writing, is so sealed.

F13[(2A) Subject to this Act, a word or expression that is used in this Act and that is also used inF14[EIA Directive]has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in that Directive.]

F15[(2B) Subject to this Act, a word or expression that is used in this Act in so far as it relates to an industrial emissions directive activity and that is also used in the Industrial Emissions Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in that Directive.]

(3) In this Act a reference to a section, Part or Schedule, is a reference to a section or Part of, or a Schedule to, this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(4) 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 it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(5) In this Act a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by or under this or any subsequent enactment.

(6) The activities to which this Act applies include activities operated by or in the charge of the State.]

3A. F18[Community act given effect to by certain amendments of this Act.

3A.—(1) The purposes for which the amendments of this Act by the Protection of the Environment Act 2003 are made include the purpose of giving effect toF19[Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008]concerning integrated pollution prevention and control^1(in this Act referred to as "the Directive").

(2)F20[…]

(3)F20[…]]

3B. F21[Power to amend First Schedule in certain circumstances.

3B.—The Minister may by regulations amend theFirst Scheduleif either or both of the following conditions is or are satisfied—

(a) as a result of an act adopted by an institution of the European Communities, the continued operation of that Schedule andsection 82would, unless such amendment were to be made, not be in conformity with that act,

(b) the amendment proposed to be made does not, in the opinion of the Minister, involve any deviation from the principles or policies of that Schedule andsection 82.]

3C. F22[Industrial Emissions Directive.

3C.(1) The amendments of this Act effected by the European Union (Industrial Emissions) Regulations 2013 are made for the purpose of giving effect to the Industrial Emissions Directive.

(2) The Agency shall be the competent authority for the purposes of the Industrial Emissions Directive.

(3) As competent authority for the purposes of the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Agency shall, amongst other things—

(a) keep itself informed of developments in best available techniques and of the publication of any new or updated BAT conclusions and shall make that information publicly available,

(b) maintain such data and information, provide for the supply of data to the Commission of the European Union and undertake such reporting as may be necessary for the proper implementation of relevant Union acts (including compliance with the requirements of Article 72(1) of the Industrial Emissions Directive), and

(c) when requested to do so by the Minister, participate in the Committee to assist the Commission of the European Union on the basis provided for in Article 75 of the Industrial Emissions Directive.]