The publication of Regulation (EU) No 736/2013 extending the biocide active substance review programme and the implementation of the new EU Biocides Regulation 528/2012 (EU BPR) on 1 September 2013, will have a significant impact on the expiry dates of COPR-approved products (both new and existing). The European Commission has published Regulation (EU) No 736/2013...

Member state diplomats have approved a compromise struck with MEPs on new social and environmental reporting rules for companies. France, which is understood to be unhappy at the extent to which the proposed corporate social responsibility (CSR) directive has been weakened, insisted that the type of companies covered should be reviewed in future. Other member...

Member state representatives in Brussels have approved a series of reforms to the 2006 groundwater directive after a review of two of its annexes last year but the EU-wide quality standards have not changed. The European Commission decided there was not enough information available to set new quality standards, which means that nitrates and pesticides...

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations 2013 ( S.I. No. 572 of 2013) sets down the minimum requirements for the protection of workers from the health risks associated with biological agents in the workplace. The regulations must be applied to any activity where workers are actually or potentially exposed to biological agents as...

Chemicals intended for ‘product and process orientated research and development (PPORD)’ can be exempted from the obligation to register for five years. Chemicals used in scientific development related to product and process innovation or further development of a substance may fall under the PPORDs definition. However, a substance used in a PPORD activity must not...

Ireland submitted its first National Implementation Report  under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (known as the Aarhus Convention) to the secretariat of the Aarhus Convention on 31st December 2013. The Aarhus Convention lays down a set of basic...

The EU Waste Framework Directive provides the legislative framework for the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of waste, and includes a common definition of waste. The directive requires all member states to take the necessary measures to ensure waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health or causing harm to the environment and includes permitting, registration...

Don’t shoot the messenger – We have listed below the position presented in an article which we saw on the European Parliament website.  Whats your view? “New EU-rules on public procurement will ensure better quality and value for money when public authorities buy works, goods or services, thanks to new award criteria which will put...

The EPA has prepared Guidance on the Authorisation of Direct Discharges to Groundwater. This proposed guidance addresses direct discharges to groundwater from point sources that may have the potential to cause pollution. It supplements the earlier report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled “Guidance on the Authorisation of Discharges to Groundwater” (EPA, 2011) which...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has invited interested parties to comment on a number of proposals for harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) for 10 copper compound substances, all of which are active substances in biocidal products or plant protection products and are widely used as fungicidal and bacteriostatic substances in both agricultural and marine environments....