In April 2009 the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland (DOENI) asked for views on proposals to amend waste management and contaminated land legislation in Northern Ireland. The DOENI has reviewed responses to the consultation, and the Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Bill was introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 22 March 2010.
The aim of the Bill is to ensure that both the DOENI and local councils have sufficient powers to deal effectively with illegal waste activity.
The Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Act came into force on 10 February 2011.
What does the Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 cover?
- To give local councils new powers, currently restricted to the DOENI, to carry out investigations into illegal waste activity and, where appropriate, to prosecute for alleged offences.
- To give the DOENI and councils the option to issue fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping offences. This will provide a more flexible and cheaper alternative to prosecution for less serious illegal dumping offences.
- To give the DOENI new powers, currently restricted to local councils, to require the clean up of illegally deposited waste and to strengthen the powers of both the DOENI and councils.
- To remove the 24 hour notice period currently required before enforcement officers can bring machinery onto premises or enter residential premises (which may be used as a work place by those committing waste crimes).
- To make it an offence to have an unlawful deposit of waste on your land, whether or not you know about it, but to allow the possible defence where you, if accused, can show that you took all reasonable care to prevent the incident.
- To amend references in the regulations to waste in or on land, to cover the illegal deposit of waste in, on, over or under land.
- To make it an offence to fail to pay subsistence fees for a waste management licence.
- To allow the DOENI to hold on to a seized vehicle suspected of involvement in the illegal transport of waste until the case goes to court.
- To make changes to the proposed contaminated land regime, yet to be introduced in Northern Ireland, to take into account some shortcomings experienced by similar schemes in the rest of the UK.
- To clarify the powers of local councils to enter into waste management contracts with the private sector.
- To make minor amendments to producer responsibility obligations to clarify the DOENI’s powers of entry and inspection.
Who will the Act affect?
The Act will affect:
- businesses and individuals that transport and handle controlled waste
- landowners and developers of potentially contaminated sites.
Further information
Legislation.gov.uk: Full text of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendement) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
Consultation documents can be downloaded from the DOENI website.
DOENI: Consultation document - proposals for a Waste Bill (Adobe PDF - 285KB)
DOENI: Synopsis of consultation responses (Adobe PDF - 90KB)
