European Union (Installations and Activities Using Organic Solvents) Regulations 2012

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 565/2012

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 1st January, 2013.

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 Chapters I, V and VII of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 24 November 20101 , hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Installations and Activities Using Organic Solvents) Regulations 2012.

Commencement

2. These Regulations come into operation on 01 January, 2013.

Definitions

3. (1) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.

(2) In these Regulations—

“Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency established under section 19 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (No. 7 of 1992);

“activity” means an activity falling within the scope of Schedule 1 where the activity is operated above the specified solvent consumption thresholds set out in column 3 of Schedule 2;

“approved assessor” means a person approved by the Agency in accordance with Regulation 7;

“Certificate of compliance” means a written authorisation issued by a local authority to an operator of an installation under Regulation 18;

“Commission” means the European Commission;

“Competent authority” has the meaning assigned by Regulation 5;

“Connected persons” means brothers, sisters, ancestors or lineal descendants, uncles, aunts, nieces or nephews.

“Directive” means Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions;

“Local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37 of 2001);

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government;

“Premises” means any messuage, building, vessel, vehicle, container, structure or land or any hereditament of any tenure, together with any out-buildings and curtilage;

“Record” includes, in addition to a record in writing—

(a) a disc, tape, sound-track or other device in which information, sounds or signals are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form,

(b) a film, tape or other device in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form, and

(c) a photograph.

Scope

4. (1) These Regulations apply to installations using organic solvents where the activity is listed in Schedule 1 and is operated within or above the specified solvent consumption thresholds set out in column 3 of Schedule 2.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to installations using organic solvents that are licensed by the Agency under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (No. 7 of 1992).

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph 2, when licencing installations using organic solvents that are operated within or above the specified solvent consumption thresholds set out in column 3 of Schedule 2, under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 the Agency shall apply, as appropriate, licensing requirements that are at least equivalent to the requirements of Chapter V and Annex VII of the Directive.

Competent Authority

5. (1) The Agency is the competent authority in the State for the purposes of Chapter I, V and VII of the Directive and these Regulations.

(2) The Agency shall exercise general supervision over the functions and actions of local authorities to which responsibilities are assigned by these Regulations and shall provide guidance, advice or binding instructions, as appropriate.

(3) The Agency may carry out, or cause to be carried out, random inspections of installations to which these Regulations apply for the purposes of verifying compliance.

(4) The Agency may publish best practice guidelines regarding the operation of installations to which these Regulations apply.

Role of Local Authorities

6. (1) Each local authority is responsible for the enforcement of these Regulations within their functional area and shall take such steps as are necessary for this purpose.

(2) Each local authority shall, in the format specified by the Agency, establish and thereafter maintain a register of installations in its functional area that have been issued with a certificate of compliance under Regulation 18.

(3) Each local authority shall ensure that the following information is made available to the public on the local authority website:

(a) a list of certified operators and the address of their premises; and

(b) a copy of these Regulations and best practice guidelines published by the Agency under Regulation 5(4) regarding the operation of installations to which these Regulations apply.

(4) Each local authority shall ensure that the following information is made available to the public for inspection at the local authority offices:

(a) a copy of each operator’s current certificate of compliance; and

(b) the results of monitoring of emissions required under Regulation 11.

(5) Each local authority shall carry out, or cause to be carried out, such inspections of installations to which these Regulations apply as it deems necessary or as may be required by the Agency for the purposes of verifying compliance with these Regulations.

Approved Assessors

7. (1) The Agency may appoint as approved assessors such persons or bodies as it considers possesses the appropriate knowledge, training and experience to assess the compliance of installations with these Regulations.

(2) The Agency shall, within 14 days of these Regulations coming into effect, appoint an interim approved assessor for the purpose of assessing the compliance of installations to which these Regulations apply until such time as the establishment of a national panel of approved assessors.

(3) The Agency shall, before 30 September 2013, establish a national panel of approved assessors for the purpose of assessing the compliance of installations to which these Regulations apply.

(4) The Agency shall thereafter review the national panel of approved assessors at least every three years.

(5) An approved assessor appointed by the Agency under Regulations giving effect to Article 13(2) of Council Directive 2004/42/CE2 of 21 April 2004 may also be appointed by the Agency as an approved assessor for the purpose of these Regulations.

(6) An approved assessor shall not assess the compliance of an installation—

(a) which is owned by him or her,

(b) which is owned by a connected person,

(c) which is to be sold or let by him or her or a connected person in their capacity as a sales or letting intermediary, or

(d) in any other circumstances in which they have a material or financial interest in the outcome of preparing the report other than the fee charged for carrying out the inspection.

(7) An administration fee payable to the Agency, which shall not exceed €500, shall accompany an application for appointment or renewal as an approved assessor.

(8) The Agency may charge an annual fee, which shall not exceed €200, to approved assessors from the date twelve months after their appointment to offset the costs incurred by the Agency in auditing the performance of approved assessors.

(9) An approved assessor shall provide information to the Agency or local authority for the purposes of allowing the Agency or local authority to audit the performance of the approved assessor including, where requested, the dates, times and locations of any forthcoming assessment visits of any installation to which these regulations apply.

(10) The Agency or local authority may at any time accompany an approved assessor for the purpose of witnessing the assessment of an installation to which these regulations apply.

(11) The Agency may at any time revoke with immediate effect the appointment of any person or body as an approved assessor and remove such person or body from the national panel of approved assessors established under paragraph 3 and shall notify the person or body in writing together with the reasons for the revocation and the person or body may appeal the refusal or revocation in the manner set down by the Agency.

(12) The Agency may, with the consent of the Minister, appoint one or more persons who, in the opinion of the Agency, have the relevant knowledge and experience in relation to carrying out an inspection of an installation to which these Regulations apply to be an appeals officer for the purposes of this regulation (in this regulation referred to as an ‘appeals officer’)

(13) An appeals officer shall be independent in the performance of his or her functions under this Regulation.

(14) An appeals officer shall consider an appeal and shall, in accordance with any procedures, allow or refuse the appeal

Compliance of Installations to which these Regulations apply

8. (1) Installations to which these Regulations apply shall not commence to operate, or continue in operation, without a current certificate of compliance issued by a local authority in accordance with Regulation 18.

(2) The operator of an installation to which these Regulations apply shall display their current certificate of compliance at their premises.

(3) The operator of an installation shall operate the installation at all times in accordance with the relevant waste management legislation.

Substitution of hazardous substances

9. (1) Until 31 May, 2015 substances or mixtures which, because of their content of volatile organic compounds classified as carcinogens, mutagens, or toxic to reproduction under Regulation (EC) No....