STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No. 337 of 2002

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AMENDMENT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT (LICENSING) REGULATIONS, 2000) REGULATIONS, 2002

Dublin

Published by the Stationery Office

S.I. No. 337 of 2002

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AMENDMENT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT (LICENSING) REGULATIONS, 2000) REGULATIONS, 2002

The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ), hereby makes the following Regulations:-

Citation

1.         These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Amendment of Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations, 2000) Regulations, 2002.

-Purpose of Regulations

2.         The purposes for which these Regulations are made include giving effect to provisions of Council Directive 99/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste. ¹

Interpretation.

3.         In these Regulations:

(a)       any reference to a Schedule or article that is not otherwise identified is a reference to a Schedule or article of these Regulations,

(b)       any reference to a sub-article or paragraph that is not otherwise identified is a reference to the sub-article or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs,

(c)       “the 2000 Regulations” means the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations, 2000 ( S.I. No. 185 of 2000 ).

Insertion of new Articles 52 to 57

4.         The 2000 Regulations are hereby amended by the insertion of the following after article 54 --

“Charges for the landfill of waste

55.       (1)       Subject to subsection (5), a landfill operator shall ensure that the charges made for the disposal of waste in the landfill facility concerned shall be such that the aggregate of the amount or amounts of charges imposed by the landfill operator in relation to the facility concerned during the relevant period will not be less than the amount that would meet the total of the costs specified at subsection (2) (irrespective of whether those costs, or any of them, have been or will be met from other financial resources available to the landfill operator).

(2)       The following costs are specified for the purpose of subsection (1) --

(a)        the costs incurred by the landfill operator in the development or acquisition of the landfill facility concerned;

(b)        the cost of operating the facility during the relevant period (including the costs of making such financial provision as is required for the purposes of Section 53(1) of the Act), and

(c)        the estimated costs, during a period of not less than 30 years, of the closure, restoration, remediation and aftercare of the facility concerned.

(3)       (a)        For the purpose of sub-article (1), a landfill operator shall prepare a statement in writing in respect of the determination of charges he or she makes in each calendar year and that statement shall specify the method he or she has employed in making the said determination and the assumptions and any relevant accounting principles he or she has used for the purpose of that method.

(b)       A copy of a statement prepared for the purposes of paragraph (a) shall be furnished to the Agency by the landfill operator concerned, not later than one month following the end of the calendar year to which the said statement relates.

(4)       Where a landfill operator is required to furnish a statement under this article, the Agency may, by notice in writing under Section 18 of the Act, require the operator concerned, within a period to be specified in the notice, to -

(a)       furnish such information or particulars relating to the landfill facility concerned as the Agency considers appropriate, and/or

(b)       produce such evidence as it may reasonably require in order to verify any information or particulars furnished by the landfill operator in, or in relation to, the said statement.

(5)       The Agency, having considered a statement submitted to it (including, where relevant, any information, particulars or evidence furnished under sub-article (4)), may require a landfill operator to amend the said statement in such manner or to such purpose as may be specified by the Agency.

(6)       Without prejudice to such conditions as may be specified by the Agency in granting a waste licence in respect of a relevant landfill facility, this article shall have effect from -

(a)       16 July 2001 in respect of a new landfill facility; and

(b)       16 July 2009, in respect of a landfill facility other than one referred to in paragraph (a).

(7)       In this article --

(a)       “landfill operator” means the holder of a waste licence or an integrated pollution control licence in respect of the disposal of waste in a landfill facility (other than an internal landfill facility),

(b)       “relevant period” means such period (being a period of not less than 30 years) as the Agency determines to be appropriate for the purposes of article 10 of the Landfill Directive in relation to the facility concerned, and specifies in writing for the purpose of these Regulations.

Existing landfill facilities

56.       (1)       Not later than 16 July 2002, a landfill operator shall submit to the Agency a plan (hereafter referred to as a conditioning plan) in respect of the landfill facility concerned, in such form as may be specified by the Agency.

(2)       A conditioning plan shall include information and particulars regarding --

(a)        the extent to which the facility concerned, and its management and operation (or, where relevant, its restoration, remediation and aftercare) complies with the relevant requirements of the Landfill Directive,

(b)       such financial provision as --

(i)       is proposed to be made by the landfill operator, having regard to the provisions of articles (7)(i) and (8)(a)(iv) of the Landfill Directive, or

(ii)      has been made in respect of the facility concerned for the purposes of Section 53(1) of the Act or Section 83(3A) of the Act of 1992,

as the case may be, and

(c)       such further measures as the landfill operator considers will be necessary in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Landfill Directive.

(3)       Where a landfill operator is required to submit a conditioning plan under this article, the Agency may, by notice in writing under Section 18 of the Act, require the operator concerned, within a period to be specified in the notice, to -

(a)        furnish such information or particulars relating to the landfill facility concerned as the Agency considers necessary to enable it make a determination under sub-article (4), and/or

(b)        produce such evidence as it may reasonably require in order to verify any information or particulars furnished by the landfill operator in, or in relation to, the conditioning plan.

(4)       The Agency, having considered --

(a)       a conditioning plan submitted to it (including, where relevant, any information, particulars or evidence furnished under sub-article (3)), or

(b)       in the event of a failure to comply with sub-articles (1) and (3), such information as is otherwise available to the Agency in relation to the landfill facility concerned,

shall as soon as possible determine whether, as the case may be --

(i)         there is a reasonable prospect that the said facility can be operated in compliance with the requirements of the Landfill Directive (other than paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 of that Directive) by a date not later than 16 July 2009, or

(ii)        in the case of a landfill which has finally ceased to accept waste for disposal, the extent to which the requirements of Annex III of the Landfill Directive are complied with.

(5)       Where necessary, having made a determination under sub-article (4), the Agency may review the relevant waste licence or integrated pollution control licence, as the case may be, in order that the results specified in sub-article (6) are achieved.

(2)       The results referred to in sub-article (5) are that --

(a) where, in the view of the Agency, a landfill facility cannot be operated in compliance with the requirements of the Landfill Directive, the disposal of waste at that facility shall cease as soon as possible;

(b) where, in the view of the Agency, a landfill facility may continue to operate, such further measures are undertaken as are considered by the Agency to be necessary (having regard to the relevant conditioning plan or otherwise) in order to ensure compliance with the relevant requirements of the Landfill Directive not later than 16 July 2009;

(c) where a landfill facility is closed, the requirements of Annex III of the Landfill Directive are complied with.

(3)       In this article, “landfill operator” means, as the case may be --

(a)        an applicant for or the holder of a waste license in respect of the disposal of waste in a landfill facility (other than a new landfill facility), or

(b)        the holder of an integrated pollution control licence to which a landfill facility (other than a new landfill facility) is subject.

Exemptions from the Landfill Directive and these Regulations

57.       (1)       Articles 52 to 56 do not apply in respect of --

(a)        any landfill facility that ceased to accept waste for disposal prior to 16 July 2001,

(b)        the spreading of sludges (including sewage sludges and sludges resulting from dredging operations) and similar matter on soil for the purposes of fertilisation or improvement,

(c)        the use of inert waste for redevelopment, restoration or construction purposes in a landfill facility,

(d)        the deposit of --

(i)         non-hazardous dredging sludges alongside small waterways from which they have been dredged,

(ii)        non-hazardous sludges in surface waters, including the bed and its sub-soil, and

(iii)       unpolluted soil or non-hazardous inert waste resulting from prospecting for, and the extraction, treatment and storage of, mineral resources and the operation of quarries.”.

(2)        It is hereby declared that the activities specified in sub-articles 3.3 and 3.5 of the Landfill Directive shall be exempt from the relevant provisions of the Directive to the extent specified therein.”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations, 2000 for the purpose of giving legal effect to certain requirements of Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste (the Landfill Directive)

The 2000 Regulations, as amended, impose a requirement that charges for the disposal of waste in a landfill facility reflect the full costs of the development, operation, closure and aftercare of the facility and establish procedures whereby the Environmental Protection Agency shall determine whether existing landfills can be operated in accordance with the requirements of the Landfill Directive, or require to be closed.

These Regulations also provide for the exemption of specified landfill facilities and activities from the Landfill Directive and the 2000 Regulations.

¹ O.J. No. L 182/1, 16 July 1999