Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 26th July, 2011.

I, PHIL HOGAN, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Article 32 of Council Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009¹ on the geological storage of carbon dioxide hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

2. In these Regulations-

"the 2010 Regulations" means the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 9 of 2010 ).

3. Regulation 8(b) of the 2010 Regulations is hereby amended by the insertion after subparagraph (iii) of the following-

"(iii)(A) injection of carbon dioxide streams for storage purposes into geological formations which for natural reasons are permanently unsuitable for other purposes, provided that such injection is made in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide1 or excluded from the scope of that Directive pursuant to its Article 2(2)."

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

15 July 2011.

PHIL HOGAN,

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

These Regulations amend the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 9 of 2010 ).

The purpose of this amendment is to facilitate the possibility of Carbon Capture and Storage following the transposition of Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide.

1 OJ L140, 5.6.2009, p.114