Chemicals act 2008

• Enactment Date: 09 July 2008
• Act Number: 13

Number 13 of 2008
CHEMICALS ACT 2008
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
Section
1. Short title and commencement.
2. Interpretation.
3. Service of notices.
4. Expenses.
PART 2
Regulations and Codes of Practice
5. Regulations.
6. Reviews of, and proposals regarding, relevant chemicals statutory provisions.
7. Codes of practice.
PART 3
National Authorities
8. National authorities.
9. Cooperation arrangements.
10. Fees for services.
PART 4
Enforcement
11. Appointment of inspectors.
12. Powers of inspectors.
13. Immunity and indemnification.
14. Directions for improvement plan.
15. Contravention notice.
16. Prohibition notice.
17. Contravention of prohibition notice — application to High Court.
18. Investigations and special reports.
19. Application to High Court regarding activity involving serious risk.
20. Prohibition and restriction on the movement of chemicals.
21. Evidence in proceedings.
22. Powers of officer of customs and excise to detain chemicals.
PART 5
Information
23. Dissemination of information in the public interest.
24. Publication of names of certain persons.
25. Protection for persons reporting breaches of Act.
26. Protection of employees from penalisation for reporting breaches of Act.
27. Power to require information.
28. Prohibition on unauthorised disclosure of information.
PART 6
Offences and Penalties
29. Offences.
30. Penalties.
31. Fixed payment notice.
32. Offences by bodies corporate.
33. Prosecution of offences.
PART 7
Miscellaneous
34. Appeal to Circuit Court from certain orders of District Court.
35. Notice or direction to be in writing.
36. Laying of regulations and orders before Houses of Oireachtas.
37. Amendment of Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
Acts Referred to
Companies Acts Coroners Acts 1962 and 2005 Courts of Justice Act 1924 1924, No. 10 Customs Act 1956 1956, No. 7 Customs and Excise (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1988 1988, No. 10 Customs Consolidation Act 1876 39 & 40 Vict., c. 36 Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 Electronic Commerce Act 2000 2000, No. 27 Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 1992, No. 7 European Communities Act 1972 1972, No. 27 European Communities Act 2007 2007, No. 18 Industrial Development Act 1993 1993, No. 19 Industrial Development (Enterprise Ireland) Act 1998 1998, No. 34 Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 14 & 15 Vict., c.93 Protection of the Environment Act 2003 2003, No. 27 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 2005, No. 10 Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 1994, No. 5 Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 1977, No. 10 Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 Waste Management Acts 1996 to 2003
Number 13 of 2008
CHEMICALS ACT 2008
AN ACT TO REGULATE AND CONTROL THE MANUFACTURE, USE, PLACING ON THE MARKET, EXPORT, IMPORT, TRANSPORT, TESTING, STORAGE, CLASSIFICATION, LABELLING AND PACKAGING OF CHEMICALS; TO MAKE PROVISION IN RELATION TO MAJOR ACCIDENT HAZARDS, AND THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS, INVOLVING CHEMICALS; FOR THOSE PURPOSES TO GIVE FURTHER EFFECT TO REGULATION (EC) NO. 304/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 28 JANUARY 2003 CONCERNING THE EXPORT AND IMPORT OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS 1 , REGULATION (EC) NO. 648/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 31 MARCH 2004 ON DETERGENTS 2 AND REGULATION (EC) NO. 1907/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 18 DECEMBER 2006 CONCERNING THE REGISTRATION, EVALUATION, AUTHORISATION AND RESTRICTION OF CHEMICALS (REACH) AND ESTABLISHING A EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY 3 ; TO CONFER POWER ON THE MINISTER FOR ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT TO MAKE REGULATIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING EFFECT TO CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATIES GOVERNING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND CERTAIN ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THOSE COMMUNITIES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
[9th July, 2008]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
	Short title and commencement.	1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Chemicals Act 2008.
	(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
	Interpretation.	2.— (1) In this Act—
	“ Act of 1972 ” means the European Communities Act 1972 ;
	“ Authority ” means the Health and Safety Authority;
	“ chemical ” includes—
	(a) a chemical, preparation or article within the meaning of the Rotterdam Regulation,
	(b) a detergent within the meaning of the Detergents Regulation, and
	(c) a substance, preparation or article within the meaning of the REACH Regulation;
	“ code of practice ” means a code of practice prepared and published, or approved of, by the Authority in accordance with section 7 , and includes part of a code of practice;
	“ contravention notice ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 15 ;
	“ Detergents Regulation ” means Regulation (EC) No. 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 907/2006 of 20 June 2006 4 ;
	“ European Communities ” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1972;
	“ European Regulations ” means—
	(a) the Rotterdam Regulation,
	(b) the Detergents Regulation, and
	(c) the REACH Regulation;
	“ external authority ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 9 ;
	“ improvement plan ” means a plan required to be submitted under section 14 ;
	“ information notice ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 27 ;
	“ inspector ” means a person appointed under section 11 by a national authority;
	“ Member State ” means a state that is a member of the European Communities and includes states that are parties to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the protocol done at Brussels on 17 March 1993;
	“ Minister ” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;
	“ mutual cooperation arrangements ” means arrangements under section 9 ;
	“ national authority ” means—
	(a) a designated national authority in the State under section 8 (1),
	(b) a competent authority in the State under section 8 (2) or 8 (3), or
	(c) a person prescribed in accordance with section 5 (3);
	“ place ” means any structure, premises, land or other location or part of such place, and includes any container, railway wagon, vessel, aircraft, motor or other vehicle;
	“ prescribed ” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;
	“ prohibition notice ” has the meaning assigned by section 16 ;
	“ REACH Regulation ” means Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and establishing a European Chemicals Agency, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1354/2007 of 15 November 2007 5 ;
	“ record ” includes any memorandum, book, report, statement, register, plan, chart, map, drawing, specification, diagram, pictorial or graphic work or other document, any photograph, film or recording (whether of sound or images or both), any form in which data (within the meaning of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003) are held, any form (including machine-readable form) or thing in which information is held or stored manually, mechanically or electronically, and anything that is a part or copy, in any form, of any of, or any combination of, the foregoing;
	“ relevant chemicals statutory provisions ” means—
	(a) the European Regulations,
	(b) this Act, or
	(c) regulations made under this Act;
	“ relevant Minister ” means, in relation to a national authority that is not a Minister of the Government, the Minister of the Government (other than the Minister) in whom functions are vested in relation to that national authority;
	“ Rotterdam Regulation ” means Regulation (EC) No. 304/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals, as amended by the following:
	(a) Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1213/2003 of 7 July 2003 6 ;
	(b) Commission Regulation (EC) No. 775/2004 of 26 April 2004 7 ;
	(c) Commission Regulation (EC) No. 777/2006 of 23 May 2006 8 ;
	(d) Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1376/2007 of 23 November 2007 9 ;
	“ special report ” means a report made under section 18 .
	(2) Subject to subsection (1), a word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in a European Regulation has the same meaning in this Act that it has in that European Regulation.
	Service of notices.	3.— (1) A notice or other document required or authorised to be served on, sent or given to a person under the relevant chemicals statutory provisions shall, subject to subsection (2), be addressed to the person concerned by name, and may be served on, sent or given to the person in one of the following ways:
	(a) by delivering it to the person;
	(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case where an address for service has been furnished, at that address;
	(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, to that address;
	(d) where the address at which the person ordinarily...