The EPA is an independant public body estblished under the Environmental
Protection Agency Act, 1992. The other main instruments from which the
EPA derive their mandate are the Waste Management Act 1996, and the
Protection of the Environment Act, 2003.
They have a wide range of functions to protect the environment, and their primary responsibilities include:
- Environmental Licensing
- Enforcement of Environmental Law
- Environmental Planning, Education and Guidance
- Monitoring,Analysing and Reporting on the environment
- Regulating Irelands greenhouse gas emissions
- Environmental Research Development
- Strategic Environmental Assessment
- Waste Management
One of the main function of the Agency has been the licensing and contril of specified activities that are listed in:
- Third and Fourth Schedules to the Waste Management Act 1996 as amended, and
- the First Schedules to the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 as amended
Under these acts, the Agency has to date granted waste licences and IPPC licence respectively.
The Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU), as it has been transposed into Irish legislation,has
changed the existing situation and has introduced a third class of
licence that can be granted by the Agency, the Industrial Emissions
Licence. The European Union (Industrial Emissions) Regulations have
amended the First Schedule of the EPA Acts to state which activities are
licensable in accordance with Annex I of the Industrial Emissions
Directive and will require an Industrial Emissions Licence.
McCarthy Keville O'Sullivan offer extensive services in providing environmental consultancy services to the EPA regulated sectors. We have worked across the full range of the industry operations, from timber treatment to waste. Industrial facilities can out-source their environmental monitoring requirements to McCarthy Keville O'Sullivan, with a specialist team capable of taking on all sampling, monitoring & reporting obligations.
Services that we provide in this area include:
- ELRA- Environmental Liability Risk Assessment:Assess the risk associated with incidents occuring at a facility such as fires,spills,leaks etc
- CRAMP- Closure Restoration & Aftercare Management Plans:
Determine the steps to be taken and likely cost to ensure that a
facility is closed and decommissioned in a manner that does not give
rise to environmental pollution and to identify the need for and extent
of any post closure monitoring and aftercare.
- Firewater Retention Risk Assessment:
Evalution of the risk a facility poses to the environment during fire
where water/ chemicals used to extinguish a fire comes into contact with
substances that have the potential to cause significant pollution
- Licences Application:
Guide through the IE licence/waste licence application process
including determining the need for a licence, pre-application
consultations with the EPA and submission.
- Environmental Impact Assessments: Assess the potential environmental impacts of an industrial project and plan for the mitigation of identified impacts.
- Site & Construction Supervision:
Monitor the construction operations of a manufacturing plant of
industrial project to ensure works are not giving rise to environmental
nuisances or pollution.
- EIA Screening: Determine if an
industrial or manufacturing facility's development projects requires an
Environmental Impact Assessment.
- Environmental Monitoring:
Monitor environmental factors such as water, noise and dust, to comply
with planning or operational requirements or EIS mitigation measure
limits, or to ensure mitigation measures are operating as planned.
- Annual Environmental Reports: Compile, prepare and submit annual environmental reports to EPA.