Waste Management (Management of Waste From the Extractive Industries) Regulations 2009
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Waste Management (Management of Waste from the Extractive Industries) Regulations 2009.
(2) These Regulations, other than Regulation 23(2), shall come into effect on 31 December 2009.
(3) Regulation 23(2) shall come into operation on 1 January 2011.
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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations provide for measures, procedures and guidance to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment, in particular water, air, soil, fauna and flora and landscape, and any resultant risks to human health, brought about as a result of the management of waste from the extractive industries and transpose Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from Extractive industries 1 into Irish legislation. Any implementing and amending measures adopted under article 22 of Directive 2006/21/EC shall also be covered by these Regulations.
(2) Subject to subparagraphs 3 and 4, these Regulations cover the management of waste resulting from the prospecting, extraction, treatment and storage of mineral resources and the working of quarries, hereinafter ”extractive waste”.
(3) The following shall be excluded from the scope of these Regulations:
(a) waste which is generated by the prospecting, extraction and treatment of mineral resources and the working of quarries, but which does not directly result from those operations,
(b) waste resulting from the offshore prospecting, extraction and treatment of mineral resources,
(c) injection of water and re-injection of pumped groundwater as defined in the first and second indents of Article 11(3)(j) of Directive 2000/60/EC 2 , to the extent authorised by that Article.
(4) Inert waste and unpolluted soil resulting from the prospecting, extraction, treatment and storage of mineral resources and the working of quarries and waste resulting from the extraction, treatment and storage of peat shall not be subject to Regulation 7, 8, 11(1) and (3), 12, 13(6), 14 and 15, unless deposited in a Category A waste facility.
(5) Without prejudice to other Community legislation, waste which falls within the scope of these Regulations shall not be subject to Directive 1999/31/EC 3 as transposed into Irish legislation.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations any reference to a Regulation, paragraph or Schedule, which is not otherwise identified, is a reference to respectively a Regulation of these Regulations or to a paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.
(2) In these Regulations:
(a) no time-period for Category A waste facilities and facilities for waste characterised as hazardous in the waste management plan,
(b) a period of more than six months for facilities for hazardous waste generated unexpectedly,
(c) a period of more than one year for facilities for non-hazardous non-inert waste,
(d) a period of more than three years for facilities for unpolluted soil, non-hazardous prospecting waste, waste resulting from the extraction, treatment and storage of peat and inert waste.
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paragraphs: (1) The operator shall take the necessary measures to ensure that extractive waste is managed without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment, and in particular without risk to water, air, soil and fauna and flora, without causing a nuisance through noise or odours and without adversely affecting the landscape or places of special interest.
(2) The competent authority shall ensure that the provisions of paragraph 1 are met by the operator and shall also take the necessary measures to prohibit the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled depositing of extractive waste.
(3) The competent authority shall ensure that the operator takes all measures necessary to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment and human health brought about as a result of the management of extractive waste. This includes the management of any waste facility, also after its closure, and the prevention of major accidents involving that facility and the limiting of their consequences for the environment and human health.
(4) The measures referred to in paragraph 3 shall be based, inter alia, on the best available techniques, without prescribing the use of any technique or specific technology, but taking into account the technical characteristics of the waste facility, its geographical location and the local environmental conditions.
5. (1) (a) The operator shall draw up a waste management plan (to be known as an Extractive Waste Management Plan) for the minimisation, treatment, recovery and disposal of extractive waste, taking account of the principle of sustainable development.
(b) The competent authority shall ensure that the provisions of paragraph 1(a) are met by the operator.
(2) The objectives of the extractive waste management plan shall be to:
(a) prevent or reduce waste production and its harmfulness, in particular by considering:
(i) waste management in the design phase and in the choice of the method used for mineral extraction and treatment,
(ii) the changes that the extractive waste may undergo in relation to an increase in surface area and exposure to conditions above ground,
(iii) placing extractive waste back into the excavation void after extraction of the mineral, as far as is technically and economically feasible and environmentally sound in accordance with existing environmental standards at Community level and with the requirements of Directive 2006/21/EC 1 where relevant,
(iv) putting topsoil back in place after the closure of the waste facility or, if this is not practically feasible, reusing topsoil elsewhere,
(v) using less dangerous substances for the treatment of mineral resources,
(b) encourage the recovery of extractive waste by means of recycling, reusing or reclaiming such waste, where this is environmentally sound in accordance with existing environmental standards at Community level and with the requirements of Directive 2006/21/EC 1 where relevant,
(c) ensure short and long-term safe disposal of the extractive waste, in particular by considering, during the design phase, management during the operation and after-closure of a waste facility and by choosing a design which:
(i) requires minimal and, if possible, ultimately no monitoring, control and management of the closed waste facility,
(ii) prevents or at least minimises any long-term negative effects, for example attributable to migration of airborne or aquatic pollutants from the waste facility, and
(iii) ensures the long-term geotechnical stability of any dams or heaps rising above the pre-existing ground surface.
(3) The extractive waste management plan shall contain at least the following elements: