IRISH ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

An Act to provide for the establishment of a fund to be known as the carbon fund to be utilised for the acquisition of Kyoto units and other such instruments or assets by the state to meet international climate change obligations under the united nations framework convention on climate change done at New York on 9th May 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol to the convention done at Kyoto on 11th December 1997, to designate the national treasury management agency as the agent for the acquisition, including on foot of existing or future agreements to which the state is or becomes bound, of Kyoto units and such other instruments or assets on behalf of the state, to provide for the making available of financial resources to and the use and management of the carbon fund, to provide for consequential amendments to existing legislation and to provide for related matters.

These Regulations provide for the transposition into Irish planning law of provisions in EU Directive 2003/35/EC amending the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC) regarding public participation in the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. These Regulations amend the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 by providing for revised procedures to enhance public participation in the environmental impact assessment of projects having transboundary environmental impacts.

The Regulations provide ancillary and supplementary measures necessary for a series of EC Regulations relating to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and animal by-products to have full effect.

his order provides for the commencement of Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4 of the Sea Pollution (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 . The Sea Pollution (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 amends the Sea Pollution Acts 1991 to 1999 to give effect to a number of instruments which have been agreed at the International Maritime Organisation relating to the protection of the marine environment. Part 3 (sections 20 to 33, the second, third and fourth definitions in section 34 (c), and section 35) gives effect to the Protocol to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-Operation 1990 (OPRC) Part 3 (other than those sections listed above) updates our legislation in relation to the International Convention on the control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems 2001 (AFS Convention), Annex VI as added to the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) by the Protocol of 1997, and the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments 2004 (BWM Convention). Part 4 amends the Harbours Act 1996 (No. 11 of 1996) to provide that port companies and harbour authorities shall enjoy immunity from proceedings for the recovery of damages in respect of injury to persons, damage to property or other loss alleged to have been caused by a failure to perform or to comply with any of their functions with regard to the licensing of the storage of petroleum spirit under the Dangerous Substances Act 1972 (No. 10 of 1972).

This Order re-establishes the Irish Water Safety Association as a Corporate body under its new title úIrish Water Safetyù; expands the services to be provided by the Body; and incorporates other minor miscellaneous amendments.

These Regulations revoke, and re-enact with amendments, the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2005 ( S.I. No. 788 of 2005 ). These Regulations come into effect generally on 1 August 2006 with later commencement dates for certain provisions.

These Regulations provide statutory support for good agricultural practice to protect waters against pollution from agricultural sources and include measures such as -

• set periods when land application of fertilisers is prohibited
• limits on the land application of fertilisers
• storage requirements for livestock manure, and
• monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures in terms of agricultural practice and impact on water quality.

The Regulations give further effect to several EU Directives including Directives in relation to protection of waters against pollution from agricultural sources ("the Nitrates Directive"), dangerous substances in water, waste management, protection of groundwater, public participation in policy development and water policy (the Water Framework Directive).

1. O.J. No. L 194/39,25 July 1975

2. O.J. No. L 129/23,18 May 1976

3. O.J. No. L 20/43,26 January 1980

4. O.J. No L 375/1, 31 December 1991

5. O.J. No. L 327/1, 22 December 2000

6. O.J. No. L 156/17, 25 June 2003

These Regulations give effect to Annex IV of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships, adopted by the International Maritime Organization on 2 November, 1973 and as amended by its Protocol adopted on 17 February, 1978, and as further amended by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization. The Regulations apply to all Irish ships, wherever they may be, and to all other ships when they are in the territorial seas and inland waters of the State. The Regulations prohibit and control the disposal of sewage into the sea in accordance with the type of sewage for disposal and the geographical location of the ship. They also provide for the availability of adequate facilities at ports and terminals for the reception of sewage

The main provisions of these regulations include, inter alia, the lifting of the ban on imports into the State from the United Kingdom of certain bovine animals, meat or other product derived from a bovine animals and the updating of provisions in relation to specified risk material and animal by-products.