S.I. No. 107/1984 - The European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1984


S.I. No. 107 of 1984.

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (WASTE OILS) REGULATIONS, 1984

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*, hereby makes the following Regulations:

*O.J. No. L 194/23, 25 July, 1975.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Waste Oils) Regulations, 1984.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1984.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"authorised person" means a person appointed by a local authority to be an authorised person for the purposes of these Regulations;

"dispose of" includes processing for the purpose of recycling (but does not include the placing of waste oils at the disposal of a person holding a permit under these Regulations) and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

"local authority" means—

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

(b) in the case of the borough of Dún 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;

"waste oils" means any semi-liquid or liquid used product totally or partially consisting of mineral or synthetic oil, including the oily residues from tanks, oil-water mixtures and emulsions, but excluding substances to which 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 ) relate.

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

4. (1) A local authority may issue a permit to any person to carry on the business of disposing of waste oils in their area.

(2) A permit under this article may be subject to conditions and shall require that, as far as possible, disposal of waste oils thereunder shall be by way of regeneration or combustion (not being cumbustion which is solely for the purpose of destroying the waste oils) and that residues from the processing of waste oils are disposed of in a manner specified in the permit.

(3) A person other than a local authority shall not carry on a business of disposing of waste oils without a permit under this article or in a manner contravening the terms of such a permit.

(4) A person carrying on a business of collecting or disposing of waste oils shall carry out these operations in such a way that there will be no avoidable risk of water, air or soil pollution.

5. (1) Where a local authority consider that more than 500 litres of waste oils is or is likely to be produced, collected or disposed of yearly on any premises in their area they may, 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 such records accordingly and give information derived from such records to the local authority on request.

(2) A person producing or collecting more than 500 litres of waste oils yearly shall, if unable to dispose of such waste oils in such a way that there will be no avoidable risk of water, air or soil pollution, make them available to a person holding a permit under article 4 or to a local authority.

(3) A person who disposes of waste oils shall, when requested by notice in writing by the local authority in whose area the disposal takes place, give to that authority any information specified in the notice regarding the disposal or temporary storage or deposit of such waste oils or residues thereof.

6. Where a person is a holder of waste oils and the quantity of waste oils held by him in any of the categories set out in the Table to this article exceeds, or is likely to exceed, 500 litres at any time he shall ensure that the waste oils belonging to each category are handled and stocked separately from waste oils of each other category.

TABLE

Categories of waste oils

(1)

Spent motor lubricants.

(2)

Oily wastes and oil sludges from tank bottoms and oily wastes from oil separators.

(3)

Other oil waste and oil mixtures including those arising from the use of machine oil, cylinder oil, turbine oil, gear spindle oil, cutting and drawing oils and quench oils but excluding waste oils of category (4).

(4)

Spent water soluble cutting oils and other oil emulsions.

7. (1) An authorised person may at all reasonable times enter and inspect any structure, premises or vehicle which he has reasonable cause to believe is being used in connection with the storage, treatment or disposal of waste oils and may examine and take samples of any waste oils which he finds in the course of his inspection.

(2) When exercising any powers conferred by this article, an authorised person shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority.

(3) A person shall not obstruct or interfere with an authorised person in the exercise of a power conferred on him under this article.

8. (1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £800 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

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

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment

this 30th day of April, 1984.

LIAM KAVANAGH,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations implement EEC Directive 75/439/EEC* of 16th June, 1975 on the disposal of waste oils.

*O.J. No. L 194/23, 25 July, 1975.

The Regulations make local authorities responsible for the planning, organisation and supervision of disposal operations and introduce a permit system in respect of actual disposal undertaking. Local authorities are also empowered to require the keeping of records in respect of any premises on which more than 500 litres of waste oils is produced, collected or disposed of annually and may appoint an "authorised person" for inspection purposes.