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10 1996

WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT, 1996

PART VII

Miscellaneous

Policy directions by Minister in relation to waste licensing, the movement of waste and other matters.

60. —(1) The Minister may, whenever he or she thinks proper, give general directions in writing to the Agency or each local authority as to policy in relation to, as appropriate—

(a) the making or review of the hazardous waste management plan or a waste management plan,

(b) the management of waste recovery or disposal activities carried on otherwise than under a waste licence,

(c) the granting of waste licences,

(d) the performance by the Agency or local authority of its functions under this Act with respect to movements of waste,

(e) matters related to matters aforesaid.

(2) In performing its functions under this Act, the Agency or each local authority concerned, as the case may be, shall have regard to any directions given to it by the Minister under this section.

(3) Save as respects the matters referred to in paragraph (a) thereof, subsection (1) shall not be construed as enabling the Minister to exercise any power or control in relation to the performance in particular circumstances by the Agency or a local authority of a function conferred on it by or under this Act.

(4) Whenever the Minister gives a direction under this section, he or she shall—

(a) as soon as may be cause a copy of the direction to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas;

(b) cause a copy of the direction to be transmitted to the Agency or each local authority concerned, as the case may be;

(c) cause to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil a notice of the giving of the direction.

(5) A notice under subsection (4)(c) shall specify where a copy of the direction to which it relates may be obtained and the fee (if any) payable in respect of such a copy (which the Minister is hereby empowered to charge).

Detention and forfeiture of certain vehicles and equipment.

61. —(1) (a) Where proceedings are instituted for an offence under section 36 , 39 or 51 and those proceedings are to be prosecuted on indictment, a judge of the District Court for the appropriate District Court district may, on application to him or her in that behalf by the local authority in whose functional area the offence is alleged to have been committed, or by the Agency, make an order requiring the defendant in those proceedings to enter into a bond of an amount equal to the value which the judge estimates to be the value of any vehicle or equipment owned by the defendant that is alleged by the local authority or by the Agency to have been used in the commission of the offence.

(b) In this subsection “appropriate District Court district” means the District Court district in which the offence concerned is alleged to have been committed or the defendant concerned resides or carries on business.

(2) If a defendant fails to comply with an order of a judge of the District Court under subsection (1), the judge may (without prejudice to any other means of enforcing the order) make an order authorising the local authority concerned or the Agency to detain any vehicle or equipment in respect of which the first-mentioned order was made pending the determination of the proceedings for the offence concerned.

(3) If a person is convicted on indictment of an offence under section 36 , 39 or 51 , the court before which the person is convicted may order the forfeiture to the local authority in whose functional area the offence was committed or the Agency of any vehicle or equipment owned by the defendant that was used in the commission of the offence or the amount of any bond entered into by the defendant in compliance with an order under subsection (1).

(4) An order under subsection (3) shall not take effect until the ordinary time for instituting an appeal against the conviction or order concerned has expired or, where such an appeal is instituted, until it or any further appeal is finally decided or abandoned or the ordinary time for instituting any further appeal has expired.

(5) A local authority or the Agency may deal with or (as appropriate) dispose of, as it thinks fit, any vehicle or equipment, or the amount of any bond, forfeited to it under subsection (3).

Power to give effect to Community acts.

62. —(1) The Minister may by regulations provide that the provisions to which this section applies shall have effect with such modifications as may be specified in the regulations for the purpose of enabling the State to give effect to any Community act in relation to waste.

(2) This section applies to the provisions of—

(a) this Act, and

(b) Part IV of the Act of 1992.

(3) In this section “modifications” includes modifications effected by the addition to, or the deletion from, the provision concerned of any matter or thing.

Agreements between Agency and other public authorities.

63. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), section 45 of the Act of 1992 shall apply in respect of any functions which may be performed by the Agency under this Act.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not be construed as enabling the Agency to authorise a public authority to perform any functions under Part II or to grant or refuse to grant a waste licence under Part V .

Mass balances of specified substances.

64. —The Act of 1992 is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 96:

“96A.—(1) The Minister may, for the purposes of—

(a) determining the extent of, and making available to members of the public information in relation to, the release of substances to environmental media resulting from the use or consumption of any specified class or classes of substance in any specified class or classes of process, development or operation (whether or not comprising an activity to which Part IV applies),

(b) determining, and making available information in relation to, the relationship (‘the mass balance’) between such a release of a substance and the use or consumption of a substance aforesaid in a process, development or operation aforesaid,

make regulations requiring a person who carries out a process, development or operation aforesaid to make such determination of, and provide to the Agency or specified public authorities, or publish, such information in relation to, the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) as may be specified in the regulations.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may provide for all or any of the following:

(a) requiring the person concerned to make on specified dates or at specified intervals measurements, calculations, estimates or projections of the release of substances to environmental media,

(b) prescribing the methods or procedures to be used in the making of such measurements, calculations, estimates or projections,

(c) requiring records or registers in a specified form to be kept by the person concerned of, or in which there shall be entered by him or her, specified particulars as respects the release of substances to environmental media and the use or consumption of any substance in a process, development or operation that gives rise to such a release,

(d) the intervals and the manner in which information as respects the matters aforesaid shall be provided by the person concerned to the Agency or other public authorities or be published,

(e) matters consequential on, or incidental to, the foregoing.

(3) The Agency and any prescribed public authority shall each publish information that has been provided to it pursuant to regulations under this section in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.”.

Amendment of Act of 1992 and Act of 1987.

65. —(1) The Act of 1992 is hereby amended by—

(a) the deletion in section 3 of “the disposal of” in paragraph (c) of the definition of “emission”;

(b) the insertion in section 83, after subsection (1), of the following subsection:

“(1A) Prior to, and for the purpose of considering an application for, the grant of a licence or a revised licence, the Agency shall carry out or cause to be carried out such investigations as it considers necessary or as may be prescribed.”.

(c) the insertion in section 83, after subsection (3), of the following subsection:

“(3A) Section 53 of the Waste Management Act, 1996, shall apply in relation to a licence or revised licence under this Part, with the substitution for references in that section to the grant or review of a waste licence of references to the grant or review of a licence or revised licence under this Part and with any other necessary modifications.”.

(2) Section 30 of the Act of 1987 is hereby amended by the substitution, in subsections (1) and (2), for “unless a licence under this Act is in force in relation to the plant”, in each place where those words occur, of the following:

“save under and in accordance with a licence under this Act that is in force in relation to the plant”.

Amendment of Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977.

66. —(1) The Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 26:

“Regulations for the prevention or limitation of water pollution.

26A.—(1) For the purpose of preventing or limiting water pollution, the Minister may, by regulations, prohibit or limit or control in a specified manner and to a specified extent, the production, treatment, use (in a process or otherwise), importation, distribution, storage, transport, supply or sale of any specified substance or of any article containing any specified substance.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may—

(a) make different provisions for different substances or articles,

(b) require local authorities or other specified persons to take specified steps for the purposes of securing compliance with the regulations,

(c) contain such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of such regulations.

(3) (a) A person who contravenes a provision of regulations under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £25,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(4) A prosecution for an offence under this section may be taken by the Minister, a local authority, or such other person as may be specified in regulations under this section.”.

(2) Section 3 of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 , is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (3) (inserted by the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act, 1990 ) of the following subsection:

“(3) It shall be a defence to a charge of committing an offence under this section for the accused to prove that he took all reasonable care to prevent the entry to waters to which the charge relates by providing, maintaining, using, operating and supervising facilities, or by employing practices or methods of operation, that were suitable for the purpose of such prevention, and, where appropriate, that the entry to waters to which the charge relates arose from an activity carried on in accordance with a nutrient management plan approved under section 21A (inserted by the Waste Management Act, 1996) of the Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act, 1990 .”.

(3) The Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act, 1990 , is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 21:

“Nutrient Management Plans.

21A.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever a local authority considers that, for the purposes of preventing, eliminating or minimising the entry of polluting matter to waters from an activity referred to in section 21 (1) (b) (being an activity that is carried on in its functional area) it is necessary to do so, it may serve a notice in writing under this section on—

(a) the owner of the land on which the activity is carried on, or

(b) if the owner of the said land is not in occupation thereof, the person who is in occupation of the said land, requiring the person to prepare and furnish to it for its approval under this section a plan (in this section referred to as a ‘nutrient management plan’) in relation to the activity within a specified period, being a period of not less than 5 months beginning on the date of service of the notice.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) shall not be served on a person in relation to an activity the carrying on of which requires the grant of a licence under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 .

(3) Before a local authority decides to exercise the power conferred by subsection (1), (whether generally as respects activities referred to in section 21 (1) (b) carried on on lands in its functional area or as respects such activities carried on on lands in a particular part of its functional area) it shall consult with such body or bodies as may be prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) A notice under this section—

(a) shall require that the nutrient management plan—

(i) provide such particulars of the activity concerned as are specified in the notice,

(ii) specify the quantities of such nutrients in animal and other waste as are specified in the notice (which may include nutrients in waste as aforesaid produced from sources other than the land concerned) which it is estimated will be used in each year of the relevant period on the land concerned,

(iii) provide that a determination of the types and concentration of nutrients in the soil of the land concerned shall be made in accordance with a programme of sampling and analysis to be determined by the local authority after consultation with the person on whom the notice is served (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘the relevant person’),

(iv) specify the maximum quantities of such nutrients as are specified in the notice that, in the opinion of the relevant person, having regard to each of the matters referred to in subsection (5), ought, in each year of the relevant period, to be applied to, or injected into, the land concerned, or such parts thereof as are specified in the notice, or applied to crops growing on that land or such parts as are so specified,

(v) specify the times during the relevant period when the application to, or the injection into, the land concerned, or the application to crops growing thereon, of animal and other waste and chemical fertiliser ought, and ought not, in the opinion of the relevant person, to be carried out, having regard to any crop requirements and the objective of preventing, eliminating or minimising the loss of nutrients to waters,

(vi) require the keeping and maintenance of records in respect of each year, or, in the case of the matters referred to in clause (III), the year or years concerned, of the relevant period, containing such particulars as may be determined by the local authority after consultation with the relevant person in relation to—

(I) the doing of the following things during the year concerned by the said person, namely—

(A) the production, treatment, receiving from, or transfer to, another person by him of animal or other waste,

(B) the application to, or the injection into, the land concerned or the application to crops growing thereon, by him of animal or other waste and the times and rates at which such application or injection is carried out,

(II) the types and quantities of chemical fertiliser applied to the land concerned during the year concerned and the times and rates at which such application is carried out,

(III) the results of the determination referred to in subparagraph (iii) made in relation to the land concerned and, as the case may be, of any further determination of such kind made, pursuant to a requirement under paragraph (b) (ii), during the year concerned,

(vii) require such information in relation to the matters referred to in this paragraph and, as the case may be, paragraph (b), as is specified in the notice to be furnished to the local authority,

(b) may require that the nutrient management plan—

(i) shall require the keeping and maintenance of records in respect of each year of the relevant period containing particulars as may be determined by the local authority after consultation with the relevant person of the concentration of such nutrients in animal or other waste as are specified in the notice that have been applied to, or injected into, the land concerned during the year concerned,

(ii) shall provide that a further determination of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) (iii) (whether in respect of nutrients generally or nutrients of a class specified in a notice served by the local authority on the relevant person for the purposes of this sub-paragraph) shall be made at specified intervals after the determination referred to in that provision has been made,

(iii) shall address such other matters as the local authority considers necessary for the purpose of preventing, eliminating or minimising the entry of nutrients to waters from the activity concerned and specifies in the notice.

(5) The matters referred to in subsection (4) (a) (iv) are—

(a) the nature of the activity concerned,

(b) the type of soil concerned and the types and concentration of nutrients in that soil,

(c) the types of crop previously grown on the land concerned and the types of nutrient previously applied to, or injected into, that land and the rates of such application or injection, where relevant,

(d) the types of crop grown or to be grown on the land concerned,

(e) the intensity of the stocking of animals (if any) on the land concerned and of any other agricultural activities carried on on that land, and

(f) the need to make efficient use of nutrients having regard to any crop requirements and the objective of preventing, eliminating or minimising the loss of nutrients to waters.

(6) In subsection (4) and the subsequent provisions of this section ‘the relevant period’ means the period of 12 months, or such longer period as may be specified in the notice concerned under subsection (1) or (8), as appropriate, beginning on the date that is 2 months after the approval of the nutrient management plan concerned under this section by the relevant local authority.

(7) A local authority may, as respects a nutrient management plan prepared and furnished to it in accordance with a notice under subsection (1), refuse to approve of the plan or approve thereof without modifications or make such modifications therein as it considers proper and approve of the plan as so modified.

(8) (a) A local authority, where it refuses to approve of a nutrient management plan under subsection (7), may, by service of a notice in writing on the person who furnished the plan to it, require that person to prepare and furnish to it another such plan and subsection (3) and the other provisions of this section shall apply to such a notice and such a plan as they apply to a notice under subsection (1) and a plan furnished to it pursuant to a notice under that subsection.

(b) The reference in subsection (2) to a notice under subsection (1) includes a reference to a notice under this subsection.

(9) If, upon the expiration of the period of 2 months from the date of receipt by it of a nutrient management plan prepared and furnished in accordance with a notice under this section, the local authority concerned has neither given a decision under subsection (7) to refuse to approve of the plan nor a decision thereunder to approve of the plan (by either of the means referred to in that subsection), the local authority shall be deemed to have approved of the plan under that subsection.

(10) A nutrient management plan may, with the prior written consent of the local authority which approved of the plan under this section, be varied during the relevant period.

(11) A person who fails to comply with a notice under subsection (1) or (8) within the period specified in the notice shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

(12) Proceedings for an offence under this section may be brought by the local authority which served the notice concerned.”.

Immunity of the Agency and local authorities.

67. —(1) No action or other proceeding shall lie or be maintainable against the Agency or a local authority for the recovery of damages in respect of any injury to persons, damage to property or other loss alleged to have been caused or contributed to by a failure to exercise any power or carry out any duty conferred or imposed on the Agency or local authority by or under this Act.

(2) Where a local authority or the Agency is satisfied that any authorised person appointed by that local authority or the Agency, or any officer or employee of that local authority or the Agency, has carried out his or her duties in relation to the performance by that local authority or the Agency of its functions under this Act in a bona fide manner, the local authority or the Agency, as the case may be, shall indemnify the authorised person, officer or other employee against all actions or claims howsoever arising in respect of the carrying out by him or her of his or her said duties.

Adaptation of certain references and transitional provisions.

68. —(1) References in any enactment (other than this Act) to a permit under—

(a) the European Communities (Waste) Regulations, 1979,

(b) the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982, or

(c) the European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1992,

shall be construed as references to, as appropriate—

(i) such a permit that is for the time being in force by virtue of subsection (6),

(ii) a waste collection permit under Part IV ,

(iii) a waste licence under Part V .

(2) Section 3 (1) of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “waste management plan”:

“‘waste management plan’ means—

(a) a plan prepared under Article 4 (2) of the European Communities (Waste) Regulations, 1979, or a special waste plan within the meaning of the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982, or

(b) a waste management plan or a hazardous waste management plan within the meaning of the Waste Management Act, 1996,

that is for the time being in force;”.

(3) The provisions of section 62 of the Act of 1992 shall, in so far as they apply or have effect in relation to a particular landfill facility, cease to have effect upon the grant of a waste licence under section 40 in respect of that facility.

(4) Section 83 (7) (b) of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended by—

(a) the deletion in subparagraph (ii) of “or”,

(b) the addition of the following subparagraph after subparagraph (iii):

“or

(iv) section 57 or 58 of the Waste Management Act, 1996,”.

(5) Section 102 of the Act of 1992 is hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion in subsection (1), after “ Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 ”, of “or a waste management plan under section 22 of the Waste Management Act, 1996”,

(b) the insertion in subsection (2), after “ Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 ,”, of “or sections 22 , 23 and 25 of the Waste Management Act, 1996,”.

(6) (a) A permit issued under the European Communities (Waste) Regulations, 1979, the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982, or the European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1992, being a permit to which this subsection applies, shall, notwithstanding the revocation of the said Regulations by this Act, continue in force in accordance with its terms but shall cease to have effect upon, as the case may be—

(i) the grant to the holder of the permit of, as appropriate—

(I) a waste collection permit referred to in paragraph (b), or

(II) a waste licence referred to in the said paragraph, or

(ii) the making of a decision by the Agency or the local authority concerned to refuse to grant to the said holder such a permit or licence.

(b) This subsection applies to an aforesaid permit if—

(i) the holder thereof has applied before the appropriate date referred to in section 39 (1) for the grant of a waste licence, or, as the case may be, applied before the date referred to in section 34 (1) for a waste collection permit, in respect of the activity to which the first-mentioned permit relates, and

(ii) the said application is made in accordance with the requirements of regulations under this Act.

Transfer of functions in relation to waste licences.

69. —(1) The Minister may by order transfer the functions of the Agency under this Act to a local authority in so far as those functions relate to waste licences authorising the carrying on within the functional area of that local authority of such activity or activities as is or are specified in the order.

(2) An order under this section may contain such ancillary, subsidiary and incidental provisions as the Minister may determine, including provisions modifying or adapting any provision of this Act for the purpose of enabling the order to have full effect.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), an order under this section may specify terms, conditions and restrictions upon and subject to which a function transferred by the order is to be performed by the local authority to which the function is transferred.

(4) If an order under this section is revoked the functions to which it relates shall thereupon become and be vested in the Agency.

(5) The Minister shall cause an order under this section to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

Exclusion of certain enactments relating to public health.

70. —Section 107 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, and section 27 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890, shall not apply in relation to waste within the meaning of this Act.

Abandoned vehicles.

71. —(1) A vehicle shall not be abandoned on any land.

(2) Where there is a contravention of subsection (1)

(a) the person who placed the vehicle at the place where it was abandoned, and

(b) if there is a registered owner of the vehicle and the person aforesaid is not its registered owner, the registered owner,

shall each be guilty of an offence.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (2), it shall be a good defence to prove—

(a) that the act complained of constituted the transfer of control of the vehicle concerned to a person, with his or her consent, at a facility provided by or on behalf of that person for the purpose of the recovery or disposal of vehicles (including a facility referred to in section 38 (3)) and that such transfer of control was not effected in contravention of section 32 , or

(b) in case the defendant is the registered owner of the vehicle concerned, that the abandonment of the vehicle was not authorised by him or her.

(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of sections 55 (6) and 56 , and notwithstanding the provisions of any regulations made under section 97 (inserted by section 63 of the Road Traffic Act, 1968 ) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 , a local authority may enter on any land upon which a vehicle has been abandoned and remove the said vehicle; a local authority shall not, other than with the consent of the occupier, enter into a private dwelling under this subsection unless it has given to the occupier of the dwelling not less than 24 hours notice in writing of its intended entry.

(5) Where, in relation to a vehicle removed from land by a local authority under subsection (4)

(a) the local authority is of the opinion that the condition of the vehicle is such that it is capable of being used as a vehicle or can, by the expenditure of a reasonable amount of money, be rendered capable of being so used, and

(b) the local authority can, by reasonable inquiry, ascertain the name and address of the owner of the vehicle,

the local authority shall store or arrange for the storage of the vehicle and shall serve a notice on the owner informing him or her of the removal and storage and of the address of the place where the vehicle may be claimed or recovered, and such a notice shall require the owner to claim or recover it within 2 weeks of the date of the service of the notice and inform him or her of the consequences specified in subsection (7) of his or her failure to do so.

(6) A vehicle to which subsection (5) applies shall be given to a person claiming the vehicle if, but only if, he or she makes a declaration in such form as may be specified by the local authority concerned or in a form to the like effect, stating that he or she is the owner of the vehicle or is authorised by its owner to claim it, and pays to the local authority the amount of the expenditure reasonably incurred by the local authority in respect of the removal and storage of the vehicle.

(7) Where a vehicle is removed from land by a local authority under subsection (4), and—

(a) subsection (5) (a) does not apply in respect of the vehicle, or

(b) the name and address of the owner of the vehicle cannot be ascertained by the local authority by reasonable inquiry, or

(c) the said owner fails to claim the vehicle and remove it from the place where it is stored within 4 weeks of the date on which a notice under subsection (5) has been served on him or her,

the vehicle shall become the property of the local authority.

(8) No action shall lie in respect of anything done in good faith and without negligence in the course of the removal or storage of a vehicle under this section.

(9) A person who makes a declaration under subsection (6) which to his or her knowledge is false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence.

(10) For the purposes of this section—

abandoned”, in relation to a vehicle, includes left in such circumstances or for such period that it is reasonable to assume that the vehicle has been abandoned, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

local authority” includes the corporation of a borough of any kind and the council of an urban district;

registered owner” has the meaning assigned to it by the Road Traffic Act, 1961 .