S.I. No. 399/1992 - The European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1992.

S.I. No. 399 of 1992.

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (WASTE OILS) REGULATIONS, 1992.

The Minister for the Environment in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to the Council Directive of 16th June, 1975 (No. 75/439/EEC)⁽¹⁾ as amended by Council Directive of 22nd December, 1986 (No. 87/101/EEC⁽²⁾ hereby makes the following Regulations:—

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L194/23 25th July, 1975.

⁽²⁾O.J. No. L42/43 12th February, 1987.

PART I Preliminary and General

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1992.

2. (1) In these Regulations:—

"combustion" means the use of waste oils as fuel with heat recovery;

"collection" means an operation whereby waste oils are transferred from a holder to an undertaking which disposes of such oils;

"disposal" means the processing or destruction of waste oils as well as their storage and tipping above or under ground;

"existing operator" means any person who, before the 1st day of February, 1993, is carrying on the business of collecting or disposing of waste oils;

"holder" means a person who has waste oils in his custody or control prior to collection or disposal;

"local authority" means

( a ) in the case of the administrative county of Dublin, excluding the borough of Dun Laoghaire, the council of the county of Dublin,

( b ) in the case of the borough of Dun Laoghaire, the corporation of the borough,

( c ) in the case of a county borough, the corporation of the county borough, and

( d ) in the case of any other administrative county, the council of the county;

"processing" means any operation involving the regeneration and/or combustion of waste oils;

"regeneration" means any process whereby base oils can be produced by refining waste oils, including removal of contaminants, oxidation products and additives;

"waste oils" means any mineral-based lubrication or industrial oils which have become unfit for the use for which they were originally intended, including used combustion engine oils, gearbox oils, mineral lubricating oils, oils for turbines and hydraulic oils.

(2) In these Regulations any reference to a Part, Schedule or article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a Part, Schedule or article of these Regulations.

(3) In these Regulations, any reference to a sub-article or paragraph which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a sub-article or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.

(4) Nothing in these Regulations shall affect the obligations imposed by the European Communities (Waste) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1979 ), the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982 ( S.I. No. 33 of 1982 ) and the European Communities (Waste) Regulations, 1984 ( S.I. No. 108 of 1984 ).

PART II Control of Disposal Arrangements

3. (1) Each local authority shall be responsible for the planning, organisation and supervision of operations for the collection and disposal of waste oils in its area and for the authorisation of disposal arrangements.

(2) Each local authority shall keep a register of persons or undertakings involved in the collection or disposal of waste oils.

(3) In the discharge of its obligations under sub-article (1) a local authority shall take measures to ensure—

( a ) that due priority is given to the processing of waste oils by regeneration,

( b ) that satisfactory arrangements exist for the collection of waste oils from holders.

4. (1) Upon application to it by the person concerned, a local authority may grant a permit to that person to carry on the business of collecting or disposing of waste oils in its area.

(2) A person shall not contravene the terms of a permit under sub-article (1).

(3) Subject to sub-article (4), a permit under sub-article (1) shall be subject to such conditions as the local authority considers appropriate.

(4) The conditions attached to a permit in respect of the disposal of waste oils shall include a requirement that—

( a ) disposal does not endanger human health or the environment,

( b ) due precautions are taken for safe disposal of any residues resulting from the processing of waste oils,

( c ) any processing complies with the relevant requirements in Part III.

(5) Disposal other than by processing shall consist of the safe destruction or the controlled storage or tipping of waste oils.

(6) A person holding or carrying on the business of collecting or disposing of waste oils shall carry out operations in such a way that they will not cause any avoidable demage to human health and the environment, including the taking of any necessary measures to ensure that such waste oils are not mixed with polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated terphenyls or toxic and dangerous wastes within the meaning of the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982 in the course of collection or storage.

5. (1) A person, other than an existing operator, shall not carry on the business of collecting or disposing of waste oils on or after the 1st day of February, 1993, unless a permit under these Regulations is in force in relation to the business.

(2) Subject to sub-article (3), an existing operator shall not carry on the business of collecting or disposing of waste oils on or after the 1st day of March, 1993 unless a permit under these Regulations is in force in relation to the business.

(3) An existing operator shall, in the period before a permit under article 4 of these Regulations is granted or refused, be deemed not to have contravened the provisions of these Regulations: provided that, before the 1st day of March 1993, the existing operator has applied to the local authority for a permit under these Regulations.

6. A local authority may review a permit under article 4 and may amend any conditions attached to such permit or attach new conditions to a permit in the light of changes in disposal technology or in the state of the environment.

7. A person producing waste oils or a holder of waste oils shall not contract for the collection or disposal of waste oils with a person other than a person who holds a permit under article 4.

8. A person producing or disposing of waste oils or a holder or collector of such oils shall take measures to prevent—

( a ) any discharge of such waste oils to waters or drainage systems,

( b ) any harmful deposit or discharge of such waste oils to the soil.

9. Where a local authority considers that more than 500 litres of waste oils is or is likely to be produced, collected or disposed of yearly on any premises in its area it shall, by notice in writing, require the person in charge of such premises to keep records relating to the production, collection and disposal of such oils and such person shall keep records accordingly and provide information thereon to the local authority on request.

10. A local authority may, for any purpose relating to its functions under these Regulations, by notice in writing require any person producing or disposing of waste oils or a holder or collector of such oils to furnish to the authority the particulars specified in the notice regarding the holding, collection or disposal of waste oils or residues thereof.

PART III Additional Provisions for Permits in Relation to Processing.

11. In this part—

"best practicable means" has the meaning assigned to it by section 5 of the Air Pollution Act, 1987 ;

"lower heating value" means the net calorific value of the fuel.

12. A permit under article 4 shall not be issued by a local authority in respect of processing unless it is satisfied that—

( a ) all appropriate environmental and health protection measures are taken,

( b ) the best practicable means are used to prevent or limit emissions of air pollutants,

( c ) emissions from combustion do not cause any significant level of air pollution,

( d ) waste oils used as fuel do not constitute a toxic and dangerous waste for the purposes of the European Communities (Toxic and Dangerous Waste) Regulations, 1982 or contain polychlorinated biphenyls or polychlorinated terphenyls in concentrations of more than 50 ppm,

( e ) base oils containing polychlorinated biphenyls or polychlorinated terphenyls in concentrations of more than 50 ppm are not derived from regeneration.

13. (1) Subject to sub-articles (2) and (3), in the case of a permit granted under article 4 in respect of the combustion of waste oils in any plant with a thermal input of 3 MW or more based on the lower heating value—

( a ) the emission limit values set out in Column 2 of the Schedule in respect of the substances listed in Column 1 of the Schedule may not be exceeded where waste oils are combusted, or

( b ) where emissions of substances listed in Column 1 of the Schedule may additionally arise from heating products, the emission limit values set out in Column 2 of the Schedule shall apply to the concentration of the substances in the emissions arising from the combustion of waste oils.

(2) The emission limit values set out the permissible concentrations of emissions of the substances concerned in waste gas in terms of the volume of waste gas expressed at reference conditions 273k, 101.3kPa, 3% oxygen and dry gas.

(3) The means of assessing compliance with the emission limit values shall be agreed with the local authority.

PART IV Enforcement and Penalties

14. In this Part "authorised person" means a person appointed by a local authority to be an authorised person for the purposes of these Regulations.

15. (1) An authorised person shall have power to enter, inspect, examine and search at any reasonable time any structure, land or container which he has reasonable cause to believe is being used for the storage, treatment or disposal of waste oils or may examine and take samples of any waste oils or other matter as may be necessary for the enforcement of these Regulations.

(2) When exercising any power conferred by these Regulations, an authorised person shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority.

16. (1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of these Regulations or who furnishes information which is false or to his knowledge misleading in a material way or who obstructs or interferes with an authorised person in the exercise of a power conferred by these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution for an offence under these Regulations for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable care to ensure compliance with the requirements of these Regulations.

(3) A prosecution for an offence under these Regulations may be taken by a local authority in whose area the offence is committed.

17. The European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1984 ( S.I. No. 107 of 1984 ) are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE

Article 13

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment, this 16th day of December, 1992.

MICHAEL SMITH,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give effect to Council Directive No. 87/101/EEC of 22nd December 1986 (O.J. No. L42/43 of 12th February, 1987) amending Council Directive No. 75/439/EEC of 16th June 1975 (O.J. No. L194/23 of 25th July, 1975) on the disposal of waste oils. They revoke the European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1984 ( S.I. No. 107 of 1984 ).

The Regulations make local authorities responsible for the planning, organisation and supervision of collection and disposal operations, in particular through the implementation of a permit system.