S.I. No. 31/1990:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION BY ASBESTOS) REGULATIONS, 1990.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION BY ASBESTOS) REGULATIONS, 1990.

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment 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 the 19th day of March, 1987, No. 87/217/EEC* which said powers are delegated to me by the Environment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1989 ( S.I. No. 270 of 1989 ), I, MARY HARNEY, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, hereby make the following Regulations:--

*O.J. No. L85/40, 28 March, 1987.

PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Control of Water Pollution by Asbestos) Regulations, 1990.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of March, 1990.

2. In these Regulations:--

any reference to an article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to an article of 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;

any reference to a section is a reference to a section of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 (No. 1 of 1977);

"asbestos" means the following fibrous silicates:

--crocidolite (blue asbestos),

--actinolite,

--anthophyllite,

--chrysotile (white asbestos),

--amosite (brown asbestos),

--tremolite;

"existing plant" means industrial plant built or authorised before the 31st day of December, 1988;

"local authority" and "sanitary authority" have the meanings respectively assigned to them by section 1;

"raw asbestos" means the product resulting from the crushing of asbestos ore;

"waters" has the meaning assigned to it in section 1.

3. (1) A reference in these Regulations to the use of the best available technology shall be construed as meaning the provision and proper maintenance, use, operation and supervision of facilities which, having regard to all the circumstances, are the most suitable for the prevention, limitation or treatment of effluent discharges containing asbestos or, where appropriate, the recycling of effluent containing asbestos.

(2) In considering whether facilities are the most suitable for the prevention, limitation or treatment of a discharge or the recycling of effluent, regard shall be had--

( a ) in the case of industrial plant, other than existing plant, to--

(i) the current state of technical knowledge, and

(ii) the requirements of the environment, and

(iii) the costs which would be incurred in providing, maintaining, using, operating and supervising the facilities concerned, and

( b ) in the case of existing plant, in addition to the matters specified in paragraph (a) (i), (ii) and (iii), to--

(i) the nature, extent and effect of the effluent discharge concerned, and

(ii) the age of the plant, the nature of the facilities installed therein and the period during which the plant is likely to be used or to continue in operation, and

(iii) the costs which would be incurred in renovating the plant or of renovating or replacing the facilities therein, in relation to the economic situation of undertakings or enterprises of the class concerned.

4. These Regulations apply to--

( a ) industrial plant handling more than 100 kilograms of raw asbestos per year and which are concerned with:

(i) the production of raw asbestos ore excluding any process directly associated with the mining of the ore, or

(ii) the manufacturing and industrial finishing of the following products using raw asbestos: asbestos cement or asbestos cement products, asbestos friction products, asbestos filters, asbestos textiles, asbestos paper and card, asbestos jointing, packaging and reinforcement materials, asbestos floor coverings, asbestos fillers, and

( b ) activities other than those in paragraph (a) which are liable to cause asbestos to enter waters.

PART II PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF WATER POLLUTION BY ASBESTOS.

5. In this Part--

"licence" means a licence under section 4 or 16 and includes, where the context permits, such a licence revised under section 7 or 17;

"review" means review under section 7 or 17.

6. (1) Subject to sub-articles (2) and (3) a local authority or, as the case may be, a sanitary authority shall, in the exercise of their functions under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977 , ensure that industrial plant to which article 4 (a) applies use the best available technology.

(2) In the case of industrial plant manufacturing asbestos cement--

( a ) all aqueous effluent shall be recycled where the local authority or the sanitary authority concerned is satisfied that it is economically feasible to do so,

( b ) in all other cases the local authority or sanitary authority shall ensure that conditions are attached to the licence specifying--

(i) a limit value not exceeding 30 grams of total suspended matter per m³ of aqueous effluent discharged, and

(ii) the volume of effluent discharges or the total quantity of suspended matter discharged per tonne of product.

(3) In the case of industrial plant manufacturing asbestos paper or board, all aqueous effluent shall be recycled, unless the effluent is produced during routine cleaning or maintenance of the plant, in which case the local authority or sanitary authority concerned may grant a licence for the discharge specifying a limit not exceeding 30 grams of suspended matter per m³ of water.

7. The provisions of sub-articles (2) and (3) of article 6 shall apply to existing plant with effect from the 30th day of June, 1991.

8. Activities to which article 4 (b) applies shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, be carried out in such a manner as not to cause or permit asbestos to enter waters.

9. Local authorities and sanitary authorities shall review licences granted in respect of effluent discharges from industrial plant and activities referred to in article 4 so as to ensure that the provisions of aricle 6, or article 8, as appropriate, are complied with.

PART III MONITORING AND ANALYSIS OF EFFLUENT DISCHARGES.

10. (1) The local authority or the sanitary authority concerned shall carry out, or arrange for, monitoring at regular intervals of effluent discharges from industrial plant manufacturing asbestos cement or asbestos paper or board to which sub-article (2) (b) or (3) of article 6 applies.

(2) For the purposes of sub-article (1):

( a ) Samples shall be taken in such a way as to be representative of the effluent discharge over a 24-hour period.

( b ) The reference method of analysis to determine total suspended matter (filterable matter from the non-precipitated sample) as expressed in mg/1 shall be filtering through a 0.45 um filter membrane, drying at 105°c and weighing. The determination shall be conducted to a precision of ± 5% and an accuracy of ± 10%.

( c ) Other methods of analysis may be used where the local authority or sanitary authority is satisfied that the results are equivalent to results obtained by the methods specified in paragraph (b).

Dated this 8th day of February, 1990.

MARY HARNEY,

Minister of State at the Department

of the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give effect to the water pollution control provisions of Council Directive No. 87/217/EEC of 19 March 1987, (O.J. No. L85/40, 28 March 1987) on the prevention and reduction of environmental pollution by asbestos. The Regulations impose a general obligation to prevent the entry of asbestos to waters and specify the measures to be applied to certain industrial plant using asbestos. They also provide for the monitoring of effluent discharges from industrial plant.