Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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144. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the measures that have been taken to ensure that waste operators comply with Environmental Protection Agency environmental standards. [10694/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The treatment and management of waste material is subject to a registration and permitting system by local authorities or licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as appropriate, and governed by the Waste Management (Facility Permit & Registration) Regulations 2007 or the Waste Management (Licensing) Regulations 2004, as appropriate. Environmental standards in relation to the collection of waste, and their enforcement, are the responsibility of local authorities and are governed by the Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations 2007.

The primary purpose of the registration, permitting, and licensing system is to facilitate appropriate controls on waste facilities and activities so as to ensure good and consistent waste management practice and the implementation of high standards of environmental protection.

Enforcement of conditions attaching to waste collection permits, certificates of registration, waste facility permits or waste licences are matters for the relevant local authority or the EPA as appropriate. Under section 60(3) of the 1996 Act, I am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance, in specific cases, by a local authority or the EPA of their statutory functions under the Act.