IRISH ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

The purpose of these Regulations is to give further effect in Irish law to Directive No. 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. The primary purpose of the Regulations is to amend section 13A of the Foreshore Act to include all deep drilling within the scope of the Annex to the Directive. This section sets out the developments/activities that may require environmental impact assessment in relation to consents under the Foreshore Act 1933 . The Regulations also provide that, in respect of a petroleum activity where a foreshore lease or licence is being sought, it is not necessary for the appropriate Minister to carry out a screening for an environmental impact assessment, or an environmental impact assessment, or a screening for an appropriate assessment, or an appropriate assessment, if the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has already carried out such screening or assessment or will be doing so in respect of that petroleum activity.

These Regulations amend Article 21(4)(b) of the the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2014. This amendment inserts a date after which non-selective herbicide may be used, in specific circumstances.

These Regulations amend the European Union (Installations and Activities Using Organic Solvents) Regulations 2012 ( S.I. No. 565 of 2012 ) by removing the provision for indictable offences whereby a person guilty of an offence was liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding 100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment. The provision for summary offences remains.

These Regulations provide for the establishment and composition of a Water Policy Advisory Committee and related procedural and ancillary matters. The Regulations also transfer certain local authority responsibilities provided for in the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 to the Environmental Protection Agency and to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

These Regulations amend the European Union (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2012 ( S.I. No. 513 of 2012 ) in order to give effect to the provisions of the following Commission Delegated Directives: (a) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/1/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead as an alloying element for bearings and wear surfaces in medical equipment exposed to ionising radiation; (b) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/2/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for cadmium in phosphor coatings in image intensifiers for X-ray images until 31 December 2019 and in spare parts for X-ray systems placed on the EU market before 1 January 2020; (c) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/3/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead acetate marker for use in stereotactic head frames for use with CT (Computed Tomography) and MRI and in positioning systems for gamma beam and particle therapy equipment; (d) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/4/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead enabling vacuum tight connections between aluminium and steel in X-ray image intensifiers; (e) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/5/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in solders on printed circuit boards, termination coatings of electrical and electronic components and coatings of printed circuit boards, solders for connecting wires and cables, solders connecting transducers and sensors that are used durably at a temperature below 20¬?C under normal operating and storage conditions; (f) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/6/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in the surface coatings of pin connector systems requiring non-magnetic connectors which are used durably at a temperature below 20¬?C under normal operating and storage conditions; (g) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/7/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in solders, termination coatings of electrical and electronic components and printed circuit boards, connections of electrical wires, shields and enclosed connectors which are used (a) in magnetic fields within the sphere of 1 m radius around the isocentre of the magnet in medical magnetic resonance imaging equipment, including patient monitors designed to be used within this sphere, or (b) in magnetic fields within 1 m distance from the external surfaces of cyclotron magnets, magnets for beam transport and beam direction control applied for particle therapy; (h) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/8/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in solders for mounting cadmium telluride and cadmium zinc telluride digital array detectors to printed circuit boards; (i) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/9/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead and cadmium in metallic bonds creating superconducting magnetic circuits in MRI, SQUID, NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) or FTMS (Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer) detectors; (j) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/10/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in alloys, as a superconductor or thermal conductor, used in cryo-cooler cold heads and/or in cryo-cooled cold probes and/or in cryo-cooled equipotential bonding systems, in medical devices (category 8) and/or in industrial monitoring and control instruments; (k) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/11/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for hexavalent chromium in alkali dispensers used to create photocathodes in X-ray image intensifiers until 31 December 2019 and in spare parts for X-ray systems placed on the EU market before 1 January 2020; (l) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/12/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in solders on printed circuit boards of detectors and data acquisition units for Positron Emission Tomographs which are integrated into Magnetic Resonance Imaging equipment; (m) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/13/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in solders on populated printed circuit boards used in Directive 93/42/EEC class IIa and IIb mobile medical devices other than portable emergency defibrillators; (n) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/14/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for 3,5 mg mercury per lamp in single capped compact fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes < 30 W with a lifetime equal to or above 20 000 h; (o) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/15/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in reused spare parts, recovered from medical devices placed on the market before 22 July 2014 and used in Category 8 equipment placed on the market before 22 July 2021 provided that reuse takes place in auditable closed-loop business to business return systems and that the reuse of parts is notified to the consumer; (p) Commission Delegated Directive 2014/16/EU of 18 October 2013 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex IV to Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead as an activator in the fluorescent powder of discharge lamps when used for extracorporeal photopheresis lamps containing BSP (BaSi 2 O 5:Pb) phosphors.

These Regulations amend the Waste Management (Facility Permit and Registration) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No 821 of 2007) by strengthening conditions in relation to traceability of material being recovered or recycled by,in particular, putting an onus on proof of ownership and full traceability for material purchased at permitted waste facilities.

These Regulations are designed to promote the recycling of waste batteries. They will facilitate in particular the achievement of the targets for the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste batteries in an environmentally sound manner established by European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and waste batteries and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC. The Regulations impose obligations on persons who supply batteries to the Irish market, whether as retailers, importers or manufacturers. An exemption from these obligations is available to persons who participate in a scheme for the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste

These Regulations replace the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations 2007 as amended and are designed to promote the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. They are intended, in particular, to facilitate the achievement of the targets for the recovery of packaging waste established by Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/12/EC of 11 February 2004 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, so that by 31st December 2008: (a) a minimum of 60% of packaging waste by weight is recovered; and (b) a minimum of 55% of packaging waste by weight is recycled in total, including material specific recycling targets as follows: (i) 60% by weight for glass, (ii) 60% by weight for paper and board, (iii) 50% by weight for metals, (iv) 22.5% by weight for plastics, and (v) 15% by weight for wood. The Regulations impose obligations on producers who supply packaging (i.e. packaging material, packaging or packaged products) to the Irish market. An exemption from certain obligations is available to major producers who participate in a packaging waste recovery scheme operated by an approved body. The Regulations provide that a producer may not supply packaging or packaged products to the Irish market unless the packaging concerned complies with specified essential requirements as to its nature and composition. The Regulations also provide for limits on the concentration levels of certain heavy metals in packaging.