Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992

Sewage or other effluents.

59

59.(1) The Minister may, for the purposes of environmental protection and, in particular, for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Directive 91/271/EEC1, make regulations for the collection, treatment, discharge or disposal of sewage or other effluents to waters from—

(a) any plant or drainage pipe vested in or controlled or used by a sanitary authority for the treatment of drinking water, or

(b) any plant, sewer or drainage pipe vested in or controlled or used by a sanitary authority for the treatment and disposal of sewage or other effluents.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations may provide for all or any of the following—

(a) the time within which specified systems or classes of systems for the collection and treatment of sewage effluents shall be provided,

(b) the design, construction and maintenance of collection and treatment systems,

(c) standards or other requirements for effluents specified in subsection (1),

(d) criteria for the designation of areas or classes of areas or waters or classes of waters by such person as may be specified and the times within which such designations shall be made or reviewed for the purposes of subsection (3),

(e) monitoring of sewage or other effluents and of waters to which sewage or other effluents are discharged,

(f) re-use and disposal of effluents.

(3) Standards or other requirements prescribed under subsection (2) may relate to—

(a) all, or specified classes of, or specified volumes of, effluents,

(b) effluents in designated areas or classes of areas or specified plant, sewers or drainage pipes, or specified classes of plant, sewers or drainage pipes, or

(c) effluents discharged to designated waters or classes of waters,

and different standards or other requirements may be prescribed in relation to different effluents or classes of effluents, different areas or classes of areas, different waters or classes of waters or different plant, sewers or drainage pipes or classes of plant, sewers or drainage pipes.

(4) In prescribing standards or other requirements under subsection (2) the Minister shall have regard to any criteria specified and published by the Agency under section 60.

(5) The Minister may make regulations providing for the grant of an authorisation to a sanitary authority by the Agency in respect of the discharge of:

(a) all, or specified classes of, or specified volumes of, effluents,

(b) effluents in designated areas or classes of areas or specified plant, sewers or drainage pipes, or specified classes of plant, sewers or drainage pipes, or

(c) effluents discharged to designated waters or classes of waters,

requiring compliance by such sanitary authority with such standards or other requirements as have been specified under subsection (2) (c).

(6) Where a standard or other requirement is prescribed under subsection (2), the sanitary authority shall, where necessary, take steps as soon as is practicable, or within such period as may be prescribed for compliance with such standard or other requirement, to ensure that the said effluent complies with the standard or other requirement.

(7) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution for an offence under any enactment other than this Act that the act constituting the alleged offence was in compliance with a standard or other requirement specified under subsection (2) (c) or an authorisation granted under this section.

(8) Section 26 of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977, is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1 A) Regulations under this section shall not relate to sewage or other effluents from any works, apparatus, treatment plant, sewer or drainage pipe vested in, or controlled or used by, a sanitary authority for the disposal of sewage or other effluents to any waters.”.

F71[(9) In this section a reference to a sanitary authority shall be construed, subject to the discretion of the Minister in relation to regulations under subsection (5), as including a reference to any person acting on behalf of or jointly with a sanitary authority.]

Annotations

Amendments:

F71

Inserted (31.12.2007) by Water Services Act 2007 (30/2007), s. 107(b), S.I. No. 846 of 2007.

Modifications (not altering text):

C18

Term “sanitary authority” construed in relation to water services (31.12.2007) by Water Services Act 2007 (30/2007), s. 39, S.I. No. 846 of 2007, and (1.01.2014) by Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (50/2013), s. 7(3), (4), S.I. No. 757 of 2013.

Transfer of functions from sanitary authorities.

39.— All functions assigned to sanitary authorities under any other enactment shall, in so far as they relate to the carrying out by a water services authority of functions in relation to the provision of water services, be deemed to be functions of a water services authority, and all references to a sanitary authority in those acts and related enactments are to be construed accordingly.

...

Transfer of functions from water service authorities to Irish Water

7. ...

(3) All functions of sanitary authorities deemed to be functions of a water services authority under section 39 of the Act of 2007 shall, on the transfer day, be transferred to Irish Water.

(4) References to a sanitary authority in any enactment or instrument under any enactment shall, on and after the transfer day, in so far as they relate to any function transferred by subsection (3), be construed as references to Irish Water.

Editorial Notes:

E236

Power pursuant to section exercised (15.07.2004) by Urban Waste Water Treatment (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 440 of 2004).

E237

Power pursuant to section exercised (14.06.2001) by Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 254 of 2001).

E238

Previous affecting provision: power pursuant to section exercised (7.07.1999) by Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (Urban Waste Water Treatment) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (S.I. No. 208 of 1999); revoked (14.06.2001) by Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 254 of 2001), reg. 11.

E239

Previous affecting provision: power pursuant to section exercised (12.02.1999) by Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 (S.I. No. 42 of 1999); revoked (22.12.2013) by European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 9 of 2010), reg. 61, in effect as per reg. 61.

E240

Previous affecting provision: power pursuant to section exercised (12.02.1999) by Protection of Groundwater Regulations 1999 (S.I. No. 41 of 1999); revoked (22.12.2013) by Waste Water Discharge (Authorisation) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 684 of 2007), reg. 47, in effect as per reg. 47.

E241

Previous affecting provision: power pursuant to section exercised (14.12.1994) by Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (Urban Waste Water Treatment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. No. 419 of 1994); revoked (14.06.2001) by Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 254 of 2001), reg. 11.