Waste Management (Landfill Levy) Regulations 2015

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 189/2015

INDEX

1. Citation

2. Commencement

3. Interpretation

4. Imposition of a landfill levy

5. Liability for payment of the levy

6. Exemption from the levy

7. Determination of levy liability

8. Payment of levy by an accountable person, other than a local authority

9. Payment of levy by a local authority

10. Payment of levy in respect of an unauthorised landfill

11. Interest arising from late or non-payment of the levy

12. Records and accounts

13. Audit of relevant waste disposal activities

14. Estimation in the case of non-payment

15. Estimation in the case of underpayment

16. Recovery of levy which is due and payable

17. Annual Report

18. Restriction on charges for waste collection services

19. Revocation

SCHEDULE 1

CALCULATION OF WEIGHT OF WASTE IN THE ABSENCE OF A WEIGHBRIDGE

S.I. No. 189 of 2015

WASTE MANAGEMENT (LANDFILL LEVY) REGULATIONS 2015

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 15th May, 2015.

I, ALAN KELLY, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 7 , 18 (3) and 73 of the Waste Management Act 1996 (No. 10 of 1996), hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Waste Management (Landfill Levy) Regulations 2015.

Commencement

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 June 2015.

Interpretation

3. (1) In these Regulations, any reference to a Regulation or Schedule that is not otherwise identified, is a reference to a Regulation or Schedule of these Regulations.

(2) In these Regulations, any reference to a paragraph or subparagraph that is not otherwise identified, is a reference to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.

(3) In these Regulations—

“Regulations of 2011” means the Waste Management (Landfill Levy) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 434 of 2011 ).

“Act of 1992” means the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (No. 7 of 1992) and any amendments thereto;

“accountable person” means the person by whom the levy is payable in respect of a landfill, in accordance with section 73(5) of the Act and Regulation 5;

“accounting period” means each period of one calendar month commencing on 1 June 2015;

“Act” means the Waste Management Act 1996 (No. 10 of 1996) and any amendments thereto;

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

“auditor” for the purposes of Regulation 12, includes a body corporate;

“authorised landfill” means a landfill subject to a waste licence;

“closed landfill” means a landfill operated by a local authority for the recovery or disposal of waste without a waste licence on any date between 15 July 1977 and 27 March 1997 (i.e. prior to the entry into force of the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations, 1997 ( S.I. No. 133 of 1997 ));

“Environment Fund” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74 of the Act;

“landfill” has the meaning assigned to it by Section 5 of the Act;

“Local Government Auditor” means an auditor appointed by the Minister under the Local Government Act 2001 , to carry out, or to assist in the carrying out of, audits of the accounts of local authorities or other bodies;

“relevant local authority” means, in relation to a waste disposal activity which is subject to the levy, the local authority in whose functional area the activity concerned is carried on;

“Recycling” for the purpose of these Regulations is as defined in Section 5 of the Act;

“Stabilised waste” for the purpose of Regulation 6 means waste the decomposition properties of which have been reduced to such an extent that offensive odours are minimised and that either:

(a) In the case of waste deposited before 1 January 2016 the Respiration Activity after four days (AT4) is below 10 mg O2/g dry matter; or

(b) In the case of waste deposited after 1 January 2016, the Respiration Activity after four days (AT4) is below 7 mg O2/g dry matter.

“unauthorised landfill” means a landfill without a waste licence;

“waste from cleansing activities” means waste from street sweepings and the contents of municipal bins;

“waste disposal activity” has the meaning assigned to it by Section 4 of the Act;

“waste licence” means a licence under Part V of the Act or under Part IV of the Act of 1992.

Imposition of a landfill levy

4. (1) Subject to Regulation 6, from 1 June 2015, there shall be chargeable, leviable and payable a levy (which shall be known as a “landfill levy” and is in these Regulations referred to as “the levy”) in respect of the disposal of waste at a landfill by means of a waste disposal activity referred to in paragraph D1 or D5 of the Third Schedule to the Act.

(2) The amount of the levy for all wastes shall be €75 for each tonne of waste disposed of at a landfill.

Liability for payment of the levy

5. For the purpose of section 73(5) of the Act, the levy shall be payable—

(a) in the case of an authorised landfill, by the holder of the said waste licence;

(b) in the case of a waste disposal activity at a facility which is deemed not to contravene the provisions of Part V of the Act by virtue of compliance with the requirements of section 39(3) of the Act, by the applicant for the relevant waste licence; or

(c) in the case of an unauthorised landfill by the person who carried on or is carrying on the waste disposal activity or, where that person does not for whatever reason discharge the levy liability or, in the event that responsibility for the waste disposal activity cannot be imputed to any person or corporate body, by the owner of the unauthorised landfill concerned.

Exemptions from the Landfill Levy

6. (1) Regulation 4 shall not apply in respect of the disposal to an authorised landfill, of the following—

(a) non-hazardous waste from construction and demolition activity, comprising concrete, bricks, tiles, road planings or other such similar materials, with a particle size of 150mm or less, which is used for landfill site engineering, restoration or remediation purposes;

(b) non-hazardous waste, predominantly originating from construction and demolition activity, comprising concrete, bricks, tiles, road planings or other such similar materials, with a particle size of 10mm or less, which,

(i) contains a maximum of 5% by weight of gypsum, and

(ii) displays a proven respiration activity after four days (AT4) of

(A) less than 10mgO2/g dry matter, or equivalent until 1 January 2016; and

(B) less than 7 mg O2/g dry matter thereafter.

(c) excavation spoil comprising clay, sand, gravel or stone, which is used for landfill site engineering, restoration or remediation purposes;

(d) stabilised waste arising from the composting of the biodegradable fraction of municipal waste, to which fraction sewage sludge may have been added and which has undergone a separation process to remove plastic, metal or other non-organic material from the stabilised waste;

(e) waste arising from cleansing activities carried on by or on behalf of a local authority; having undergone a separation process to remove material suitable for recycling or recovery;

(f) waste which has been deposited without a waste licence and is, for the purpose of preventing environmental pollution, subsequently removed by or on behalf of a local authority or the Agency for disposal, but does not include waste which has been deposited elsewhere without a waste licence and is subsequently required to be removed for disposal by a person at the direction of a local authority or the Agency;

(g) waste which has been deposited in a closed landfill but is, for the purpose of preventing environmental pollution, subsequently removed by or on behalf of a local authority or the Agency for disposal in work associated with the remediation of a closed landfill;

(h) waste arising from local clean-up activities carried on by community or environmental groups, where such activity is approved in advance by the relevant local authority for the purposes of exemption from the levy and which has undergone a separation process to remove material suitable for recycling or recovery;

(i) residues from filtration during the extrusion of recycled polymeric material;

(j) waste arising from a process which meets the energy efficiency threshold specified in paragraph R1 of the Fourth Schedule to the Act;

(k) dredge spoil from inland waterways and harbours; and

(l) waste repatriated from Northern Ireland under agreement between the Minister and the relevant Northern Ireland Minister.

(2) Regulation 4 shall not apply in respect of—

(a) the disposal of waste in a landfill, where such a facility is connected or associated with an activity specified in the First Schedule to the Act of 1992, other than the activity referred to in paragraph 11.5 of the First Schedule (amended by Regulation 23 of the European Union (Industrial Emissions) Regulations 2013 ( S.I. No. 138 of 2013 )), and is subject to a licence or revised licence granted by the Agency under section 83 of the Act of 1992; and

(b) the deposition in a quarry of natural material arising from the excavation of that quarry, where such material is in a chemically unaltered state.

Determination of levy liability

7. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of determining the amount of the levy which is payable in the case of an authorised landfill, the weight of waste disposed of shall be determined by means of a weighbridge at the facility concerned.

(2) In the case of a landfill at which—

(a) there is not a weighbridge, or

(b) a weighbridge is not for the time being capable of operation,

the weight of waste disposed of shall be determined by means of any one of the methods set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(3) In the case of an unauthorised landfill...