The Environmental Audit, Assessment and Review Regulations, 2000

PART B: EXISTING UNDERTAKINGS

Preparation of Environmental Audit Reports

4. (1) The Authority shall -

(a) identify and maintain a list of undertakings which cause concern to the Authority or to the public because of their impact on the environment and shall publish the list of these undertakings in its annual report;
(b) require an operator of an identified or listed undertaking to submit an EA report and a CMP to the Authority and that operator shall submit to the Authority the EA report and the CMP within six (6) months after notification to do so.

(2) An operator on whom a notice to submit an EA report and CMP is served under sub-regulation 1 shall -
(a) submit these documents together with the fee prescribed in the Third Schedule to the Authority within six (6) months of the date of the notice;
(b) indicate any information in these documents which the operator considers should not be made public on the basis that it is commercially confidential or that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest and shall indicate the grounds for maintaining the confidentiality of the information; and
(c) bear the costs of the preparation of the EA report and the CMP.

(3) The Authority shall consider any EA report and CMP submitted to it and shall -
(a) issue a notice of acceptance to the operator if the Authority considers that the EA report and the CMP -
(i) comply with the requirements of these Regulations and to any relevant guidelines published by the Authority; and
(ii) are satisfactory to enable a decision to be made as to whether or not the Authority should issue an environmental compliance certificate, and if so, to determine the terms and conditions on which it should be issued; or
(b) notify the operator of the amendments to the EA report and/or the CMP which the Authority requires and the date by which the amended document must be resubmitted to the Authority together with the fee prescribed in the Third Schedule; and
(c) where the Authority is satisfied that some of the information in the EA report or the CMP should not be made public on the grounds of commercial confidentiality or in the public interest, the Authority shall, by notice in writing, require the operator to submit a summary of that EA report and/or the CMP which excludes the confidential information, to the Authority within 15 days of the notice.

(4) Where the Authority is not satisfied that an amended EA report or CMP which has been submitted in response to a notice under sub-regulation (3)(b), complies with the requirements of these Regulations and to any relevant guidelines published by the Authority; the Authority may itself amend the EA report or CMP and issue a notice of acceptance in respect of the amended document and charge the operator the fee prescribed in the Third Schedule.

(5) Where the Authority is not satisfied that a summary which has been submitted in response to a notice under sub-regulation (3)(c), is sufficiently clear, comprehensive or accurate to enable the public to appreciate the full environmental implications of the undertaking bearing in mind the need to maintain the confidentiality of certain information, the Authority shall require the operator to submit a revised summary within a period specified by the Authority and where the operator does not submit a revised summary which is acceptable to the Authority within the period specified, the Authority may itself amend the summary and issue a notice of acceptance in respect of the amended document on payment of the fee prescribed in the Third Schedule.

(6) The Authority shall distribute copies of the EA report and the CMP to every ministry concerned or responsible for the control of the project for its comments.

(7) A ministry required under sub-regulation (3) to comment shall submit its comments to the Authority within a period of four (4) weeks after receipt of the copies of the EA report and the CMP.

(8) Any EA report, CMP or summary of one of these documents, in respect of which the Authority has issued a notice of acceptance, shall be a public document and may be inspected by the public at a place designated by the Authority and may be copied subject to payment of the cost of the copies.

(9) The Authority may make available copies of an EA report and the CMP or any summary of these documents for inspection by members of the public at selected locations in the vicinity of a project, to which it relates, for a period of not less than twenty (20) days.

(10) The procedure for public review, inspection, submission of comments and objections shall be in accordance with regulation 11.