Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

Background

The Act makes a number of amendments to Part 2 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (“the 1997 Order”) designed to clarify and strengthen the existing statutory framework for waste on land. The main purpose of the amendments is to legislate for a partnership approach between the Department of the Environment (“the Department”) and local government in tackling illegal waste activity by giving district councils and the Department largely the same investigative, enforcement and clean up powers to deal with illegally dumped waste.

The Act also makes some changes to the legislative framework contained in Part 3 of the 1997 Order for the management of land which has been contaminated by pollution, mainly to reflect lessons learned through experience of operating the legislation in England and Wales.

In addition, the Act includes a minor amendment to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 to provide an inclusive definition of the Department’s powers of entry and inspection.

The Act received Royal Assent on 10 February 2011.

Links

The Act can be accessed at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/5/contents/enacted

The Explanatory Notes, which summarise the Act in detail, can be accessed at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/5/notes/contents

Consultation

Consultation on the policy proposals was carried out between 6 April and 3 July 2009. A letter to consultees and the consultation document can be accessed through the following links:

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/letter_to_consultees_-_waste_bill_consultation.pdf

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/draft_consultation_paper_5_.pdf

Synopsis of Consultation Responses

The Department would like to thank all those who responded to the consultation. The consultation process greatly assisted the Department in finalising the content of the legislation.

The Synopsis of Consultation Responses can be accessed below:

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/synopsis_of_consultation_responses.pdf

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