Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Waste Management Licensing (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and shall come into operation on 17th August 2015.

Amendment of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

2.—(1) The Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(2) are amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (6)—

(2) For regulation 3 (Technical Competence) substitute—

“3.—(1) Without prejudice to the European Communities (Recognition of Professional Qualification) Regulations 2002, Schedule 1 has effect to prescribe the qualifications and experience required of a person if that person is to be considered technically competent for the purposes of Article 3(3)(b) of the 1997 Order (management of activities to be in the hands of a technically competent person).

(2) A person holding an existing Certificate of Technical Competence shall be required to acquire a relevant up-to-date qualification as detailed in Schedule 1 within 24 months of the date of operation of these Regulations.

(3) A person who has acquired technical competence must undertake an assessment every 24 months to ensure that that competence is kept up to date.”.

(3) Regulation 4 (Technical competence - transitional provisions) is revoked.

(4) In regulation 5 (Pre-qualification technical competence) for paragraph (1)(a) substitute—

“(a)a person has applied to the Waste Management Industry and Advisory Board (“WAMITAB”) for an Operator Competence Certificate in relation to one of the types of activities mentioned in paragraph (2);”.

(5) In regulation 5(1) for paragraph (d) substitute—

“(d)the Department is satisfied that but for regulation 3 he would be a technically competent person, then, in relation to the activity in respect of which the application mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) was made and until the expiry of 12 months from the grant of a licence pursuant to that application, regulation 3 shall not apply to that person and he shall be treated as technically competent for the purposes of Article 3(3)(b) of the 1997 Order.”.

(6) For Schedule 1 substitute—

Regulation 3

“SCHEDULE 1

1.  The qualifications required of a person if he is to be regarded as technically competent for the purposes of Article 3(3)(b) of the 1997 Order to carry on an activity of a description listed in the Table below are that that person must hold one of the certificates awarded by WAMITAB, the codes of which are specified in relation to that description of activity in that Table; or for operations not covered by WAMITAB, the Department will make its own assessment of technical competence, based primarily on the specific activity and the knowledge and experience in waste management practice of the person wishing to operate it.

2.  Anyone carrying out an activity listed in the Table must obtain a relevant Operator Competence Certificate except where that activity is being carried out by way (virtue) of an exemption from waste management licensing. In the event of a person carrying out activities without the appropriate level of qualification, that person will not be deemed to be a fit and proper person, which may result in that person’s application being refused or their licence being revoked.

3.  Where appropriate, the Department will recognise the Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) “Level Certificate in Waste and Resource Management” as demonstrating operator competence where that certificate has been obtained as part of the WAMITAB Operator Competence Scheme.”

“4.  In Table 1—

• “civic amenity site” or “household recycling centre” means a place provided by virtue of Article 25(1)(b) of the 1997 Order;

• “closed landfill” means a landfill site which ceased to accept waste on or after 19th December 2003;

• “landfill site” means a waste disposal site for the deposit of waste onto or into land, including—

  (a)

  subject to sub-paragraph (b), any site which is used for more than a year for the temporary storage of waste; and

  (b)

  any internal waste disposal site, that is to say a site where a producer of waste is carrying out his own waste disposal at the place of production; but excluding—

  (i)

  any facility where waste is unloaded in order to allow its preparation for further transport for recovery, treatment or disposal elsewhere;

  (ii)

  any site where waste is stored as a general rule for a period of less than three years prior to recovery or treatment; and

  (iii)

  any site where waste is stored for a period of less than one year prior to disposal;

• “non-hazardous” waste means any waste which is not covered by the definition of hazardous waste;

• “single waste stream” in relation to a waste disposal site refers to a site where the producer of all of the waste disposed of at that site is also the holder of a waste management licence, a relevant authorisation under the Landfill Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 or a permit under the Pollution, Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013;

• “transfer station” means a facility where waste is unloaded in order to allow its preparation for further transport for treatment, keeping or disposal elsewhere; and

• “waste” is “inert waste” if—

  (a)

  it does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformations;

  (b)

  it does not dissolve, burn or otherwise physically or chemically react, biodegrade or adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact in a way likely to give rise to environmental pollution or harm to human health; and

  (c)

  its total leachability and pollutant content and the ecotoxicity of its leachate are insignificant and, in particular, do not endanger the quality of any surface water or groundwater.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 8th July 2015.

Wesley Shannon

A senior officer of the

Department of the Environment

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend regulations 3 to 5 of and Schedule 1 to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (the 2003 Regulations) and prescribe the accepted technical competencies for the purpose of determining if a person can be deemed a fit and proper person to hold a waste management licence.

Regulation 2(2) updates regulation 3 of the 2003 Regulations and introduces the requirement for existing operators to obtain up-to-date certification within 24 months of the operational date of these Regulations. It also introduces a requirement for operators to renew their certification every 24 months.

Regulation 2(3) revokes regulation 4 of the 2003 Regulations, which was transitional and is outdated and no longer required.

Regulations 2(4) and 2(5) amend regulation 5 of the 2003 Regulations and reduce the maximum amount of time allowed to acquire technical certification from 2 years to 12 months.

Regulation 2(6) replaces Schedule 1 to the 2003 Regulations with an updated list of Operator Competence Certificates, which takes account of new waste technologies.