The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

The Env i r onmen t al P r o t ec t i on Agency: A Sea of Change in Env i r onmen t al Law and Pr ac t i ce

By David Meehan, BCL, Solicitor

relevant aims and policies of public authorities and is to adhere to certain general principles (section 52(2)). The functions of the Agency are also coloured by the need to balance costs of environmental protection with exigencies of "infrastructural, economic and social progress and development". These policy considerations find a measure of technical expression in the notion of BATNEEC (best available technology not entailing excessive cost). 1 The licensing innovation of the EPA Act is the introduction by Part IV of integrated pollution control (IPC). This concept is not defined in any single provision of the Act. However, it is clear from sections 82 to 84 that integrated pollution control is designed as a comprehensive appraisal of the recognised pollution impacts of major industrial and agricultural activities, with a view to preventing or reducing environmental degradation. Any person pursuing one of the activities listed in the First Schedule to the Act 4 must be in possession of an IPC licence. The licence evaluation process 5 is a complicated one in which the EPA is to: • have regard to management plans for air quality, water quality and waste, to noise regulations, and to special control area orders; Licensing - Integrated Pollution Control

Calls for public inquiries into pollution incidents brought the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sharply into focus, barely a fortnight after it was established by ministerial order on 26 July 1993.' While in this context it might appear that the Agency is an investigatory body, its nlain functions in fact relate to pollution licensing, giving expert advice to public authorities, and facilitating public access to information. Moreover, investigation is only one element of its enforcement powers and this enforcement will be greatly assisted by the particularly high penalties for criminal offences committed under the EPA Act, 1992. This article introduces the EPA and surveys its impact on regulatory and administrative aspects of environmental protection in Ireland. The EPA is a statutory body created by Part II of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. The EPA itself comprises a Director General and four directors, all five being Government appointees. The Agency's headquarters are located in Wexford. It will, however, devolve certain of its functions to regional environmental units (section 43). Where it feels that any of its functions can be better performed by more specialised units, the Agency may set up committees (section 41). Institutional Matters While the EPA is expected to exercise its environmental protection functions with a large degree of independence, it is subject to a number of significant influences. First, the EPA must take on board recommendations of the Advisory Committee (section 27). This committee is composed of a broad church of experts, practitioners The Advisory Committee

David Meehan, Solicitor.

and interest groups. It provides an external perspective on, for example,

the Agency's general work programme (section 28).

The EPA is to have regard to any general policy directives on environmental protection issued by the Minister for the Environmental (section 79). The Agency is also obliged to consult with public authorities and others as appropriate (section 80).

Functions

The EPA's functions are concisely outlined in section 52(1) of the Act. Its principal roles are those of: • licensing, regulating and controlling certain activities;

• ensure that emissions do not (i) contravene quality standards or

• monitoring emissions and environmental quality;

limit values, (ii) contravene section 106 noise regulations, or (iii) cause significant pollution (section 83(3)); and

• collecting and disseminating information; and • providing support and advisory services to public authorities. 2 The EPA is expected to conduct its affairs in a spirit of cooperation. The Agency is to appraise itself of the

• apply BATNEEC.

Having decided to grant an IPC licence, the EPA may attach mandatory conditions. 6

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