Newsletter Q4 2011
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Welcome to our compendium of industrial environmental compliance news items that appeared on our website www.environet.ie over the past quarter. This is a free service, issued every quarter. If you wish to unsubscribe please click the link at the end of this mail.
Due to the success of our IPPC Licence Management Training Course in October we are running the course again on 25th April 2012. Numbers will again be limited so book early. Booking info on the website.
You can now follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/EnvironetIre where our news items will also appear.
Best Regards
Gerard Kelly
CONTENTS
Guidance Issued on Waste Transfer Forms (WTFs) (21/11/2011)
Useful Information from the European Environment Agency (24/11/2011)
Protected Sites and the NPWS (28/11/2011)
BREF Documents – Get involved in the process (5/12/2011)
EPA launches on-line register for Extractive Industries (7/12/2011)
Guidance Issued on Waste Transfer Forms (WTFs) (21/11/2011)
Under SI No. 324 of 2011 Dublin City Council (DCC) has been designated as the competent authority for the purposes of the control of shipments of hazardous waste within the state. From October 2011 C1 forms are no longer being issued and have been replaced by WTFs. WTFs are issued electronically. The following points are relevant;
- An account must be setup to use the electronic system. The system can be accessed here https://wrms.dublincity.ie/wrms/frontoffice/
- a WTF is purchased at a cost of €6 per form. This is a reduction from the €20 fee originally proposed by DCC and reported by Environet on 28/9/2011.
- the WTF must be signed and accompany the waste while in transit
- the receiving facility logs in to the system and confirms receipt of the waste.
- one WTF can be completed for a number of collections but these must relate to a single facility on a particular day.
- a WTF may be purchased by a consignor, carrier or consignee.
- The Regulations allow for existing pre-purchased C1 blank forms to be used until 31st December 2011.
- while the system for issuing WTFs is electronic it appears that paper records will need to be kept by all concerned.
- Waste oils are not exempted under the new Reguations.
DCC has issued guidance in relation to the new system http://www.dublincity.ie/WaterWasteEnvironment/Waste/National_TFS_Office/Pages/NationalTFSOffice.aspx
Useful Information from the European Environment Agency (24/11/2011)
The EEA is located in Copenhagen and one of its remits is to collate and make available information on the environment. The EEA produces technical reports, briefings and brochures. However its interactive maps are probably the most useful method of extracting data. Much of this information is already available on Irish websites (more on this in later posts) but some is not, such as the E-PRTR information completed by Waste and IPPC licensed facilities annually. Please find below link to the interactive maps.
http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps
The below lists some of the datasets that will be of interest to industry.
- Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive Viewer
- E-PRTR Viewer
- Nitrate Directive Viewer
- Water Framework Directive (WFD): River Basin District Information Viewer
- WFD: Groundwater Viewer
- WFD: Surface Water Viewer
- Bathing Water Quality Data Viewer
- Natura 2000 Interactive Map
- Air Quality Maps
Protected Sites and the NPWS (28/11/2011)
The NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife Service) is the agency which designates and advises on the classification of sites as protected areas in Ireland.
For a number of reasons industrial activities need to confirm whether or not they are on or near protected sites. These have been referred to in other Environet news items and include implications for;
- Environmental Liabilities Directive
- IPPC & Waste Licensing
- Environmental Liabilities Risk Assessments
- Natura Impact Statements
Ireland has 3 main classes of protected sites. These sites are not mutually exclusive.
- NHAs (National Heritage Areas) & pNHAs (proposed National Heritage Areas)
- SACs (Special Areas of Conservation)
- SPAs (Special Protection Areas)
NHAs & pNHAs
148 raised and blanket bogs have to date been designated as NHAs. A further 630 sites have been listed as proposed NHAs. These were listed in 1995 on a non-statutory basis. These include woodlands, lakes and roosting places for bats. For the purposes of assessing impact NHAs and pNHAs are generally given the same status.
SACs
Special Areas of Conservation are selected and designated under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). There are approximately 400 designated SACs in Ireland covering an area of approximately 13,500 km2.
SPAs
Special Protection Areas under the EU Birds Directive protect birds at their breeding, feeding, roosting and wintering areas. There are 121 designated SPAs in Ireland with a further 25 expected to be designated shortly.
If you need to find out more the NPWS has an excellent mapping service which can be accessed here http://www.npws.ie/mapsanddata/.
BREF Documents – Get involved in the process (5/12/2011)
In Ireland the EPA bases, for the most part, its BAT Guidance Note on the equivalent EU BREF document.
As noted in our previous news items, BAT Guidance Notes should be used as a basis for setting BAT for a site. However, more often than not, the achievable emission limit values set out in the guidance note will find there way into the IPPC licence. Therefore the BREF process in Seville is critical in setting the agenda for IPPC & Waste licensed industry in Ireland.
The European IPPC Bureau (EIPPCB) in Seville is tasked with developing BAT Reference documents (BREFS) for sectors covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive (formerly the IPPC Directive). BREFs are supposed to ensure that BAT will be determined in a consistent way across the EU.
The bulk of the work takes place in the so called Technical Working Group (TWG). This group is composed of experts from industry, national regulators and NGOs. Industry representatives on the TWG are usually nominated by an EU or national representative body.
It takes the bureau approximately 3 years to produce a BREF document for a particular sector and the aim is to have BREFs revised on an 8 year cycle.
It is absolutely critical that industry in Ireland engages with the TWG process in Seville. If you feel you have something to contribute you should make your representative body aware of your interest. The current status of BREFs is available at the link below.
http://eippcb.jrc.es/reference/
For further information contact Gerard Kelly at 058-51155.
EPA launches on-line register for Extractive Industries (7/12/2011)
The Waste Management (Management of Waste from the Extractive Industries) Regulations (S.I. No. 566 of 2009) transpose into Irish legislation the provisions of EU Directive 2006/21/EC. These Regulations provide for measures and procedures to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment and any resultant risks to human health brought about as a result of the management of waste from extractive industries such as mines, quarries and peat extraction. The Regulations set out how facilities that manage waste from extractive industries are to be managed and authorised. It also sets out responsibilities and obligations for facility operators and Competent Authorities.
Regulation 19 of the 2009 Regulations requires that Local Authorities maintain a register of all extractive industries within their functional area. The EPA is required under Regulation 19 (2) to prescribe the form and manner in which such information shall be entered and maintained.
Regulation 20 of the Waste Management (Management of Waste from the Extractive Industries) Regulations 2009 Regulation S.I. No. 566 of 2009 requires the maintenance of an inventory of closed waste facilities which cause serious negative environmental impacts or have the potential of becoming a serious threat to human health or the environment.
The register can be accessed here;
http://watermaps.wfdireland.ie/ExtractiveFacilities/SearchTheRegister.aspx