Microbeads (Prohibition) Act 2019

Disposal of microbeads

4. (1) A person shall not dispose, or cause the disposal, of a substance containing microbeads in—

(a) the maritime area or the inland waters of the State,

(b) any drain, service connection or waste water works,

(c) any domestic waste water treatment system, or

(d) on the high seas from an Irish ship.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to show that he or she took all measures reasonably necessary to prevent a contravention of subsection (1).

(4) In this section—

“Act of 2007” means the Water Services Act 2007 ;

“domestic waste water treatment system” has the meaning assigned to it by Part 4A (inserted by section 4 of the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 ) of the Act of 2007;

“drain”, “groundwater”, “service connection” and “waste water works” have the meanings assigned to them by the Act of 2007;

“inland waters” means all inland or internal waters of the State (whether or not artificially created) and includes all rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, aquifers, canals, reservoirs and groundwater;

“maritime area” has the meaning assigned to it by Part 5 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018.