Waste Management Act, 1996
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Waste collection permits. |
34.—(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a person other than a local authority shall not, for the purposes of reward, with a view to profit or otherwise in the course of business, collect waste, on or after such date as may be prescribed, save under and in accordance with a permit (in this Act referred to as a “waste collection permit”) granted by the local authority in whose functional area the waste is collected. | |
(b) The Minister may make regulations providing that paragraph (a) shall not apply in respect of the collection of any class or classes of waste where such collection is carried out in compliance with such requirements (which may include a requirement as to the entry of specified particulars concerning the person carrying out the collection in the register maintained by the local authority concerned under section 19 ) as are specified in the regulations. | ||
(c) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) or any requirement of regulations under paragraph (b) shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(2) (a) The Agency may give such guidance or directions to a local authority or local authorities generally as it considers appropriate in relation to the control to be exercised or the measures to be taken by it or them of, or with regard to, the collection of hazardous waste by persons in its or their functional area or areas or the grant by it or them of waste collection permits in respect of such waste. | ||
(b) A local authority shall have regard to any guidance and comply with any direction given to it under paragraph (a) in performing any of its functions under this section or section 33 , as appropriate. | ||
(3) On an application being made to a local authority for the grant of a permit under this section, the authority may decide to grant the permit, subject to, or without, conditions or to refuse to grant the permit. | ||
(4) A local authority shall not grant a waste collection permit unless it is satisfied that the activity in question would not, if carried on in accordance with such conditions as may be attached to the permit, cause environmental pollution, and that the grant of the permit is in accordance with any relevant provisions of that authority's waste management plan and the hazardous waste management plan, as the case may be. | ||
(5) (a) Without prejudice to subsections (3), (4) and (6), an application for a waste collection permit may be refused, or a waste collection permit may be revoked, if the applicant, permit holder or any other relevant person has been convicted of an offence under this Act prescribed for the purposes of this subsection, or of an offence under any other enactment, or instrument under an enactment, as may be so prescribed. | ||
(b) The reference in paragraph (a) to a relevant person is a reference to a person whom the local authority determines to be relevant for the purposes of considering the application concerned or, as the case may be, of deciding whether to revoke the waste collection permit, having had regard to any criteria that the Minister by regulations provides it is to have regard to in determining such a matter. | ||
(6) A local authority may at any time review, and decide to amend conditions attached to, or revoke, a permit which it has granted under this section. | ||
(7) Conditions attached to a permit granted under this section shall specify the requirements to be complied with in respect of the activities to which the permit relates (“the activities concerned”) and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such requirements may include requirements in relation to— | ||
(a) the types and quantities of waste which may be collected (“waste concerned”); | ||
(b) the place or places to which waste concerned may or shall be delivered for recovery or disposal; | ||
(c) the methods, receptacles, including skips, and vehicles, to be employed in the collection of waste concerned (including requirements regarding the periods during which receptacles may be left in a public place, and the supervision of their use by the holder of the permit); | ||
(d) identifying marks to be displayed on any such receptacle or vehicle; | ||
(e) technical, environmental or safety standards to be complied with (including standards regarding the segregation, packaging or labelling of waste concerned or categories of such waste); | ||
(f) documentation that shall accompany each consignment of waste concerned or that shall be carried on each vehicle which is used for the activities concerned; | ||
(g) the keeping and preservation of records and the information to be supplied to the local authority concerned or any other person by the holder of the permit in relation to the activities concerned; | ||
(h) the effecting and maintenance of a policy of insurance by the holder of the permit insuring him or her as respects any liability on his or her part to pay damages or costs on account of injury to person or property arising from the activities concerned; | ||
(i) matters consequent on measures that may be taken under section 35 . | ||
(8) (a) A local authority, before making a decision in relation to an application made to it for the grant of a waste collection permit, shall consider any submissions made to it under and in accordance with regulations under subsection (11) in relation to the application. | ||
(b) A local authority shall, if it decides— | ||
(i) to grant, or amend any conditions that it has attached to, a waste collection permit, or | ||
(ii) to refuse to grant, or revoke, such a permit, | ||
forthwith notify the applicant therefor or its holder, as the case may be, of the decision and the reasons for the decision. | ||
(9) (a) An applicant for, or the holder of, a waste collection permit may, within one month of the date of a notice under subsection (8), appeal against the decision of the local authority concerned to the judge of the District Court for the District Court district in which the principal office of the local authority is situate. | ||
(b) On the hearing of an appeal under this subsection, the judge of the District Court may make an order giving such directions to the local authority concerned as he or she thinks proper in relation to the grant or revocation of a waste collection permit or the amendment of conditions attached to such a permit. | ||
(10) A contravention of any provision of section 32 or 39 , or of any condition of a waste collection permit, by any person employed by or on behalf of, or otherwise carrying out any waste collection activity for, or on behalf of, the holder of the permit, shall be deemed to also be a contravention of the provision or condition, as the case may be, by that holder. | ||
(11) (a) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of this section. | ||
(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), regulations under this subsection may make provision in relation to all or any of the following matters— | ||
(i) the form in which an application for the grant of a waste collection permit (“a permit”) shall be made and the form of a permit; | ||
(ii) information and particulars to be submitted by an applicant for the grant of a permit, and verification of such information and particulars; | ||
(iii) specifying the period within which an application for the grant of a permit shall be dealt with by a local authority; | ||
(iv) matters in respect of which a local authority must be satisfied prior to the granting of a permit; | ||
(v) requiring a local authority to attach specified conditions to a permit; | ||
(vi) specifying conditions that a local authority may attach to a permit; | ||
(vii) the amendment of conditions attached to, or the revocation of, a permit and the grounds for such amendment or revocation; | ||
(viii) the making available for inspection by members of the public of an application for the grant of a permit, and the making of submissions by members of the public to a local authority, within a specified period, in relation to such an application; | ||
(ix) the publication by a local authority of decisions made by it in relation to permits; | ||
(x) requiring an applicant for the grant of a permit to defray, or contribute towards, any costs incurred by the local authority concerned in carrying out an investigation in relation to the application. | ||
(12) The collection of waste shall, in the period before a waste collection permit in relation to such collection is granted or refused, be deemed not to have contravened the provisions of this section if, before the date prescribed under subsection (1) (a), an application has been made for a waste collection permit in respect of such collection and the requirements of regulations under subsection (11) in relation to the application have been complied with by the applicant therefor. | ||
(13) The reference in subsection (1) (a) to a local authority, where it first occurs, shall be construed as including a reference to the corporation of a borough of any kind and the council of an urban district. |