European Union (Paints, Varnishes, Vehicle Refinishing Products and Activities) Regulations 2012

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 564/2012

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 Directive 2004/42/CE of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 April 20041 as amended by Directive 2010/79/EU of 19 November 20102 , hereby make the following regulations—

PART I

Preliminary and General

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Paints, Varnishes, Vehicle Refinishing Products and Activities) Regulations 2012.

Commencement

2. These Regulations come into operation on 1 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);

“approved assessor” means a person approved by the Agency in accordance with Regulation 8;

“Commission” means the European Commission;

“Competent authority” has the meaning assigned by Regulation 6;

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

“Directive” means Directive 2004/42/CE of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 April 2004 as amended by Directive 2010/79/EU of 19 November 2010;

“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;

“Operator” means the person who owns or otherwise has responsibility for a premises that serves as a vehicle refinishing installation;

“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;

“Vehicle refinishing installation” means any industrial or commercial coating activity and associated degreasing activities performing the coating of road vehicles as defined in Directive 2007/46/EC3 , or part of them, carried out as part of vehicle repair, conservation or decoration outside of manufacturing installations.

Objective and Scope

4. (1) The purpose of these Regulations are—

(a) to control the placing on the market of paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products listed in Schedule 1, and

(b) to regulate and control emissions from vehicle refinishing activities.

(2) These Regulations limit the total content of volatile organic compounds in certain paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products in order to prevent or reduce air pollution resulting from the contribution of volatile organic compounds to the formation of tropospheric ozone.

(3) The Regulations do not prejudice or affect measures, including labelling requirements, to protect the health of consumers, and of workers and their working environment.

Savings

5. A person shall not be entitled solely by reason of compliance with these Regulations to—

(a) place on the market products containing volatile organic compounds, and

(b) operate a vehicle refinishing installation using vehicle refinishing products containing volatile organic compounds.

Competent Authority

6. (1) The Agency is the competent authority in the State for the purposes 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) For the purposes of verifying compliance with these Regulations the Agency may carry out, or cause to be carried out, random inspections of

(a) manufacturers, producers, suppliers, wholesalers and major retailers of any or all of the products listed in Schedule 1, and

(b) vehicle refinishing installations.

(4) The Agency may publish best practice guidelines regarding the operation of vehicle refinishing installations.

Role of Local Authority

7. (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 respect of its functional area and in the format specified by the Agency, establish and thereafter maintain a register of-

(a) manufacturers, producers, suppliers, wholesalers and major retailers of any or all of the products listed in Schedule 1, and

(b) vehicle refinishing installations that have been issued with a certificate of compliance by a local authority under Regulation 17.

(3) Each local authority shall, in respect of its functional area, ensure that the following information is made available to the public on the local authority website-

(a) a list of certified operators of vehicle refinishing installations and the address of their premises, and

(b) a copy of these Regulations and any best practice guidelines published by the Agency under Regulation 6(4) regarding the operation of installations to which these Regulations apply.

(4) Each local authority shall carry out, or cause to be carried out—

(a) such random inspections as it deems necessary or as may be required by the Agency for the purposes of verifying compliance with Regulations 9 and 11; and

(b) such sampling and analysis of products as it deems necessary or as may be required by the Agency for the purposes of paragraph (a).

Approved Assessors

8. (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 vehicle refinishing 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 vehicle refinishing installations 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 vehicle refinishing installations with these Regulations.

(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 Chapter V of Council Directive 2010/75/EU4 of 24 November 2010 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 a vehicle refinishing 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 the national panel to offset the costs incurred by the Agency in auditing the performance of the 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 vehicle refinishing installation.

(10) The Agency or local authority may at any time accompany an approved assessor for the purpose of witnessing the assessment of a vehicle refinishing installation.

(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

PART II

Placing on the Market of Products Listed in Schedule 1

Placing on the Market Prohibition

9. (1) A person or body shall not sell or place on the...