Category: Environmental Controls

EIA Requirements This section deals with the implementation of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements in Irish planning law. EIAs are also required in relation to a wide range of other statutory consent applications. The Planning and Development legislation and regulations prescribe the classes of activities and thresholds for which EIA is required or […]

Overview Environmental liability refers to legal liability and/or clean up obligations in respect of existing or historical pollution or contamination.  A comprehensive system of liability for contamination was introduced in England and Wales in 1995. This legislation allocated responsibilities for clean up and provided for procedures by which parties could be made liable. European Community […]

Establishment of the Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1992 in order to provide a single national expert monitoring, licensing and enforcement agency, for environmental matters.  The Agency provides a single point of licensing for major industrial projects, thereby avoiding the requirement for multiple authorisations.  It is also the body which enforces […]

Nature of Environmental Impact Assessment The Environmental Impact Assessment must identify, describe and assess in an appropriate manner and in the light of each individual case, the direct and indirect effects of a project on the following environmental factors. Human beings; fauna and flora; soil, water, air, climate and landscape; material assets and the cultural […]