John Gormley
Question:116 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans he has in regard to the new Environmental Protection Agency (Amendment) Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5124/01]
Written Answers. - Environmental Policy.
The primary purpose of the EPA (Amendment) Bill will be to amend the integrated pollution control licensing provisions of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 and the waste licensing provisions of the Waste Management Act, 1996. These amendments are necessary to give full effect in national law to EU directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control.
The principal amendments will be to change the technical basis of the licensing systems from BATNEEC – best available technology not entailing excessive costs – to BAT – best available techniques, to give more formal recognition to emission limit values as the operational basis of integrated pollution control licensing and waste licensing by EPA; to make additional provision for the impact of transboundary emissions to be considered and addressed in individual cases; to provide for the adoption and application of general binding rules to replace individual licence conditions for certain categories of licensable activity; and to provide for the EPA in determining licences to have regard to national or sectoral ceilings for emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases.
The integrated pollution control and waste licensing regimes administered by EPA under the 1992 and 1996 Acts are well-established and substantially in line with the provisions of the IPPC directive. The amendments outlined above are technical refinements to the legislative basis of both regimes in order to bring them fully into line with the directive. The Bill will also make a number of amendments to strengthen the Litter Pollution Act, 1997. The general scheme of the Bill has been approved by Government. The Government's legislative programme provides for its publication mid-2001.
John Gormley
Question:117 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department has any plans to introduce measures to ensure that local authorities are more account able in terms of environmental protection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5125/01]
Implementation of access to information on the environment regulations from 1993 and of freedom of information legislation from 1998, together with enhanced state of the environment and other reporting by EPA since its establishment, have all served to increase the overall level of transparency and accountability in local authority operations.
As part of the programme for local government renewal, local authorities are increasingly conducting their business on a partnership basis with the aim, inter alia, of achieving greater transparency and accountability. For example, community and sectoral interests are represented on strategic policy committees and participate in the development and monitoring of local authority policies, including policies related to environmental protection. Moreover, local authorities are at present preparing corporate plans in the framework of the strategic management initiative which are due to be published in March 2001 and customer action plans incorporating service indicators are being developed. These initiatives also will enhance local authority accountability across the range of services provided locally.
As far as the environment is concerned, the EPA has a statutory function to oversee the performance by local authorities of their responsibilities in relation to its protection. In this context, the agency is developing a management system which will assess the performance of local authorities; a pilot phase is currently in operation and the agency expects the system to be introduced to all local authorities by 2002. This structured assessment by the agency will significantly strengthen the accountability of local authorities for their performance in the area of environmental protection.