Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established as an independent body in order to monitor the quality of the environment and to ensure overall compliance with environmental protection legislation. The legislation passed by the Oireachtas to establish the EPA provides that the Agency is entirely independent of the Minister in the exercise of its functions.

The EPA is the statutory authority with responsibility for granting specified licences under the EPA Act 1992, as amended, and the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended.

A valid application for a licence must contain the information prescribed in the relevant statutory instruments and information is available on the EPA website. The Acts and Regulations set out the statutory requirements for information to accompany a licence application.

The time taken to process an application for a license by the EPA will vary depending on a range of circumstances and factors, including the nature and complexity of the activity/installation and the quality of the information submitted.  The information provided as part of the licence application must meet the statutory requirements.

In respect of Industrial Emissions (IE) and Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence applications, which are issued under the EPA Act 1992, as amended, once the Agency has received a complete application it has a statutory period of 8 weeks in which to issue a Proposed Determination (PD).

Following the publication of the PD, there is further period of 28 days where objections may be made.  If there are no objections, the Agency can issue a Final Determination (FD).  If objections are received, or a request for an oral hearing, the Agency has a further maximum 4 months statutory deadline before a FD must be issued. 

In respect of waste licence applications, which are issued under the Waste Management Act 1996 as amended, there is no statutory period in which to issue a PD. Following the publication of the PD, the remainder of the process is the same as for IE and IPC described above. Further information on the licensing processes can be found on the EPA website at; and www.epa.ie/radiation/lic/needtoknow/.