The European Commission’s environment department has launched the first of four consultations on new bans under the RoHS directive that deals with hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. This is the start of a consultation process that will end in November 2013 with the publication of a final report on a methodology to identify...

The EPA have launched the new ALDER/EDEN web portal for Licensees and Local Authorities. The purpose of ALDER to remove the need for paper based communications for many activities and will benefit both licensees and the EPA. The functionality of the ALDER online web portal will be developed and rolled out in phases. The first...

The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DoECLG) has published the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 to regulate wastewater discharges from all homes that are not connected to the public sewer network. This is as a result of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment made against Ireland in 2009 (Case C-188/08) in relation to...

The Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption was implemented in Ireland by S.I. No. 278/2007  – European Communities (Drinking Water) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 These Regulations prescribe quality standards to be applied, and related supervision and enforcement procedures in relation to supplies of drinking water, including requirements as to sampling frequency,...

As part of the Action Plans for Jobs 2012 Forfás has reviewed 159 licences for key sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, food and drink, retail, hospitality and leisure, waste management, road haulage and construction. The key findings from the review include the relevant licensing authorities to: Proceed towards development of integrated licensing systems for retail,...

Ireland has been fined €3.5m by the European Court of Justice for failing to comply with environmental law. In two judgements the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Ireland has to pay financial penalties for failure to comply with earlier Court judgments that established a breach of EU environmental law. This is...

Directive 98/15/EC replaces directive 91/271/EEC and provides standards for treatment for urban waste water. The directive is implemented in Ireland by S.I. 254/2001 Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations, 2001 and S.I. 440/2004 Urban Waste Water Treatment (Amendment) Regulations, 2004 Parameter & Quality Values ECOS Environmental Consultants Limited

The obligations under Irish law in respect of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are derived from obligations incurred as a result of membership of the European Community within the terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act and Regulations. An EIA is to be conducted before consent is given for projects likely...

Environmental related legislation documents and weblinks are available on from Envirocentre including: Water Pollution Control as it affects Industry Waste Legislation Environmental Impact Assessment Strategic Environmental Assessment Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Ambient Air Quality Legislation Control of Noise Emissions Control of Major Accident Hazards involving Dangerous Substances Regulations (CoMAH) Energy using Products Directive Planning...

The use and marketing of certain dangerous chemicals will (for the first time) be subject to the first elements of a prior approval system as early as February 2013. This system known as Authorisation under REACH requires companies using listed chemicals to apply to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in order to continue to use...