ERA issued the following clarification with respect to TOM Article dated Saturday, August 11, 2018 titled “In spite of 57 beach cleaners… tons of seaweed sit at two Gozo beaches- ERA still has to give green light for removal”

Beach cleaning is subject to the “Operating Procedures on Beach Cleaning” which were issued by ERA in 2017 to ensure minimal impact on local beaches during cleaning operations. Consultations on these Procedures were held with all stakeholders throughout the development of this document.

In the instance of Daħlet Qorrot the removal of seaweed can be undertaken without the requirement of a permit from ERA, unless MGOZ determine the need to deviate from the provisions of the said Operating Procedures. In this regard, MGOZ has been informed accordingly.

To note is that the Operating Procedures criteria do not apply to all beaches across the board, as certain beaches are remote or more environmentally sensitive and need to be cleaned with great care and only following the application for a Nature Permit for each beach cleaning operation. San Blas qualifies as a remote and sensitive beach, therefore an environmental permit is required when the beach is cleaned in accordance to a method statement prepared by the applicant and approved by ERA. An application for the removal of seaweed from San Blas was received by ERA, however the Authority is not in a position to continue processing this application in view that the applicant has not yet provided the infomation requested.

Additionally, MGOZ expressed interest in removing the seaweed at Ramla l-Ħamra, however to date, no application has been received.​

 

Following the public call for the post of Director of Compliance and Enforcement, the Board of the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) appointed Lieutenant Colonel Mario Schembri (ret’d) to occupy this post with immediate effect.

Lieutenant Colonel Schembri (ret’d) is specialized in enforcement and security matters. He carried out his academic and career training at local and international civil and military institutions.

In 1979 he began his career in enforcement as a Police Officer and reached the rank of Police Inspector a year later. In 1985 he moved to the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) where during his 27 years of service, he actively took part and led several enforcement operations at sea and on land. During his years at Maritime Squadron he was also actively involved in combatting oil pollution at sea. Amongst other duties represented the AFM before the Courts of Law and in media matters.

He retired from the AFM in 2011 after being awarded the Long and Efficient Service Medal for the sterling service rendered.

As the main environment regulator, ERA protects the environment through various national and international laws and regulations. Bridging the gap between such legislation and practice is the end goal of compliance and enforcement actions, and the main challenge for the new Compliance and Enforcement Directorate.

In his new function, the Director shall be responsible for monitoring aspects that are regulated by ERA, promoting compliance with requirements, and subsequently even resorting to enforcement where this becomes necessary. The remit of the Compliance and Enforcement Directorate spans a number of environmental sectors, such as securing compliance with nature and biodiversity regulations, trade in endangered species and the monitoring of adherence with ERA environmental permits and conditions governing operational activities that have an impact on the environment.

The ERA Board congratulates Lt Col Schembri (ret’d) in his important role within the Authority.​

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) Board has today, 6 July 2018, granted ten (10) environmental permits which will allow ten quarries in the limits of Mqabba, Siġġiewi and Iklin to be authorised to accept inert, construction and demolition waste for disposal purposes. One of these sites has also been permitted to accept clean C&D waste for recycling purposes.

The permits include conditions to ensure that such activities are carried out in accordance to the best environmental practices to achieve the required level of environment protection for the surroundings. These conditions oblige operators to adhere with parameters on the quality of material that may be accepted at these sites, waste acceptance procedures, the control of mud and debris from the site operations, and other operational requirements. These permits also provide for a number of monitoring obligations, which operators are to fulfil throughout the validity of the permits.

All these permits are also subject to a bank guarantee which is aimed to ascertain compliance with environmental obligations.

All documents will be made available online here –once the permit has been validated through the payment of the bank guarantee.​

Reference is made to the article “There’s something in the air” of 13 May 2018, and to a number of statements made on air quality in Malta, specifically on particulate matter (mostly PM10) levels in Malta.  The Environment and Resources Authority confirms that traffic is the main source of anthropogenic (that is ‘man made’) PM10 in the Maltese Islands. However, it is to be clarified that none of the air monitoring stations situated in various locations around the Maltese Islands have, over the past five years, exceeded the environmental quality objectives, or the so called “limit values” mandated by national and European Union legislation.

This does not mean that no action should be taken to curb traffic flows and related emissions, however the Authority considers that statements on “dangerous levels of PM10 pollution” are considered to be misleading.  By way of clarification, PM10 levels at Msida station (which is a traffic site) are normally hovering below the limit.  The situation is not helped by the fact that Saharan dust and sea salt aerosols contribute significantly to these levels and health implications cannot be excluded for either the man-made or the natural components.

In addition, the Authority wishes to clarify that Malta’s uniqueness amongst European Member States plays a significant role and should be taken into account when interpreting statistics in reports comparing European member states amongst each other. In size and population density, Malta compares more to a major city within Europe than to a whole European state with expanses of open spaces.  In addition, being a small island with significant exposure to sea spray, our geographical location in close proximity to North Africa and in particular to the Sahara need also to be taken into consideration. These unique circumstances are not accounted for in reports such as that published by the European Environment Agency, making Malta appear to perform ‘worse’ than other countries which do not suffer from similar geographical specificities and climatic conditions.

Apart from the real time data which is already available from each monitoring station on its website, the Authority is in the process of finalising an ‘air quality index’, which will provide the general public with information on air quality levels in Malta. This information will be provided for every station and pollutant, including that of particulate matter, which might be of a health concern if present at high levels.​

Following the reports in media regarding the release of construction material into the sea at Balluta Bay from a construction site, ERA immediately stopped all activities on site until the developer installs adequate preventive measures. These measures started being installed during the night under the supervision of ERA officers, whereby further works will be implemented throughout the day.

ERA will keep on monitoring the works until it is ascertained that all precautionary measures are undertaken. ERA will also be taking action against the developer for breaching environmental law.

ERA held the second edition of the Buonamico Award on Friday 20th April. This Award recognizes significant contribution by individuals to our knowledge on the environment.

This year, the ERA Board recognised the contribution and knowledge provided by three individuals. HE Marie Louise Coleiro Preca awarded the 2018 award, at the President’s Palace in Attard, to Mr. David Dandria for his contribution of our knowledge on entomology, Mr. Edwin Lanfranco for his contribution to our knowledge on local botany and ecology and Mr. Joe Sultana for his contribution to our knowledge on ornithology.

This National Award has been named after Giovanni Francesco Buonamico, who was possibly one of the first Maltese botanists, writing the first unplublished Maltese Flora in 1670.

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) requires and relies on data of the local environmental resources, such as biodiversity, but which data may not be readily available. ERA is aware that a considerable amount of useful information and data has been, and is still being produced by persons who though not necessarily having received any formal scientific training, often dedicate much of their time to study one or more aspects of our environmental resources.

Bionotes of the honourees for 2018 are being included.

For further information, you may wish to contact [email protected]

DAVID DANDRIA

ENTOMOLOGIST

Born on 22nd December 1944 and married to Michèle (nee Conti), Dandria was from an early age interested in natural history, following in the footsteps of his brother Tony, who was one of the founders of the Malta Ornithological Society (now Birdlife Malta). In 1968 he was awarded a Government scholarship at the Imperial College of Science and Technology of London University where he graduated B. Sc. (Hons) in Zoology in 1971.

Dandria took up the post of Entomologist responsible for plant health in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, through which he acquired a deep knowledge of Malta’s insect fauna and also studied other crop pests. He worked with several foreign experts and co-authored a number of papers on the plant parasitic nematodes of Malta. In 1984, together with the late Prof. Franco Lamberti and Dr Angela Capussi he published an Atlas of Plant Parasitic Nematodes of the Maltese Islands which included 17 species, most of them new records for Malta.

In the 1990’s Dandria developed an interest in Malta’s spider fauna, a field of study which had previously been given scant attention. In 1993 he co-authored a paper on the spiders of the Maltese Islands, later updated in a publication he made in 2005 with a checklist of the spider species then known from Malta, up to a total of 137 species. In between these two works, his studies on Maltese spiders included the discovery of a species new to science, including the Maltese linyphiid spider, Palliduphanthes melitensis (= Lepthyphantes melitensis); and the rediscovery of the arboreal habitat of the endemic and protected Maltese trapdoor spider, Nemesia arboricola, which had for a long time been thought to be possibly extinct.

Dandria was also a part-time lecturer in the Department of Biology at the University of Malta and an Agricultural Adviser within the Ministry responsible for agriculture in the years leading to, and immediately after, Malta’s accession to the European Union. He edited the scientific peer-reviewed journal The Central Mediterranean Naturalist, from 1993 to 2012, and contributed the Chapter on Arachnida (spiders, scorpions and related animals) in the publication Flora u Fawna ta’ Malta. He later translated this popular work into English, Wildlife of the Maltese Islands. A devoted environmentalist, he was Chairman of the Natural Heritage Panel of the former Malta Environment and Planning Authority (2006-2013) and  member of the Panel up to 2016. Dandria was also engaged as a Project Coordinator with EcoGozo (2011-2013), leading two EU projects AGRISLES and SIMBIOTIC.

Dandria is currently Museum Curator at the Department of Biology, University of Malta, and together with Prof. David Mifsud of the Institute of Earth Systems is working on the compilation of a complete checklist of Maltese arthropods comprising over 4,000 species.

EDWIN LANFRANCO

BOTANIST AND ECOLOGIST

Born on 21st September 1946 in Sliema, Lanfranco was educated at St. Elizabeth School, Stella Maris College, and St Michael’s College of Education. He furthered his studies at London University and graduated B.Sc. Special in botany (1973).

Lanfranco taught in primary (1968) and secondary schools (1968-1975), and at postsecondary institutions, including government sixth forms (1975-1987) and the University of Malta. He was a visiting lecturer in systematics and botany at the University of Malta since 1978, and full-time, mainly in botany and evolutionary biology, since 1988. Following retirement (2011), he continued lecturing on a part-time basis, mainly at the Institute of Earth Systems.

He is an author of many scientific reports, articles and papers in local and foreign journals; focusing most research on Maltese and Mediterranean floristics (including endemic, native and alien species, vascular plants, marine algae and fungi) and vegetational investigations of habitats, and has reported, discovered or rediscovered many species of plants for the first time in the Maltese Islands, including the first reference to the Maltese spider orchid as an endemic, later formally named Ophrys melitensis. He is the co-author of some endemic species, like the Maltese horned pondweed, Zannichellia melitensis; and was also globally recognised with the naming of the endemic Maltese Cliff Orache, Cremnophyton lanfrancoi (= Atriplex lanfrancoi), named in his honour, having been involved in its discovery and for his contribution to Maltese and Mediterranean botany.

He has also been instrumental in providing scientific information for the designation of protected flora and protected areas, through his contribution to the first lists of sites of conservation value in the Maltese Islands and rare and threatened species included in the Red Data Book for the Maltese Islands, which were both published by the precursors of ERA in the 1980s.

Edwin Lanfranco also served on the committees of several environmental NGOs dedicated to nature conservation and was president of the Natural History Society of Malta (currently, Nature Trust Malta) and is also an advisory and academic member of several local and foreign boards and committees on botanical and environmental matters and attended international conventions and conferences in several countries. He has and is assisting ERA in various work voluntarily and has also carried out and participated in various consultancies, particularly for ecological reports and monitoring exercises. Apart from Malta, he also carried out fieldwork and lectured in other countries, mainly in the Mediterranean area.

Lanfranco is currently working on a new complete flora of Malta and continues casual lecturing and supervisions of dissertations and fieldwork projects with the Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta.

JOE SULTANA

ORNITHOLOGIST

Born in Xagħra (Gozo) in 1939, he is married to Lucy (nee Sammut), and is father to Ruth and Mark. He started as a teacher with the Education Department in 1957 and retired as Principal Environment Officer with the Environment Protection Department in 2000. He served on the Board of Directors of the Planning Authority (1992–1997), as consultant at the Ministry of Environment (2001–2002) and Technical Advisor & Chairman of the Ornis Committee (2003–2006). Mr Sultana also participated in the formulation of legislation for the protection of sites and birds and was instrumental in setting up the Għadira and Is-Simar protected areas.

Sultana has volunteered for the Malta Ornithological Society (MOS), later BirdLife Malta, since its foundation in 1962, serving as Secretary (1967–1975), President (1976–1987) and Head of Ringing Scheme (1971–2002). He was also editor of Bird’s Eye View and IlMerill and authored or co-authored several landmark books about birds in Malta including A Guide to the Birds of Malta (1975), the Birds Chapter in the Red Data Book for the Maltese Islands (1999) and The Breeding Birds of Malta (2011), amongst many others.

Sultana’s studies and research ranged over a number of bird species especially the local breeding birds. He found seabirds of great interest and conducted research and data collection on the breeding colonies of seabirds.

On the international scene, Sultana served as Chairman of the ICPB’s (International Council for Bird Preservation) European Section (1985–1992), as World Council Member of BirdLife International (1994–1999) and Chairman of the Medmaravis Council (1995– 2011). Furthermore, during his Council of Europe appointments, he was a member of the Steering Committee on Conservation and Management of the Environment and Natural Habitats (1982–1994), Chairman of Naturopa Centre (1987–1998), member of the Organising Committee for European Conservation Year 1995 (1993–1995), and a European Diploma sites appraisal reporter since 2000. Additionally, he was also consultant to the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas for the Strategic Action Programme for the conservation of Biological Diversity (SAP BIO) project and the Action Plan for the Conservation of Annex II Birds (2001–2003).

Throughout the years, Sultana has been awarded with the Gouden Lepelaar (Golden Spoonbill) award by Vogelbescherming Nederland (Birdlife, Netherlands) (1993); the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Medal (1996); an Honorary Life Membership by the British Ornithologists’ Union (1999) and made a Member of Honour by BirdLife International (1999) for his significant contribution to bird and nature conservation.​

30 April 2018

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) Board has today, 27 April 2018, taken three decisions as indicated below on the IPPC permits for the following applications

  • Renewal of the Amino Chemicals Ltd.           APPROVED
  • Full surrender of Crystal Pharma Ltd.            APPROVED
  • Application for IPPC permit Greenskips Services Ltd./ G.S Rec Ltd APPROVED

The permit for the Amino Chemicals Ltd., covers the continued operations of the installation whose main activity involves the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

The permit for Crystal Pharma Ltd., covers the full surrender in relation to the cease of operations of the site, the site closure and decommissioning and dismantling of structures on site.

The permit for Greenskips Services Ltd./ G.S Rec Ltd., covers the operation of waste management facility which includes the temporary storage and/or repackaging of waste prior to treatment/disposal/recovery at other facilities.

The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Regulations require certain facilities to obtain a permit from the Authority covering their operations.

The IPPC permits issued cover a number of environmental obligations which operators are to fulfil throughout the validity of the permit as well specific conditions related to dismantling operation so as to ensure the required level of environment protection.

All public consultation documents are available on the ERA website for Amino Chemicals Ltd., for Crystal Pharma Ltd. and Greenskips Services Ltd./ G.S Rec Ltd.

For further information contact Claire Cordina Borg on [email protected]

 ​

Malta Marine Monitoring Consortium (M3C), comprised of AIS Environment Ltd (Malta) and AZTI Tecnalia (Spain), have been commissioned by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) to take on the project entitled “Implementation and updating of marine monitoring programmes, assessment of environmental status and development of a marine database system.”

The ultimate goals of this European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014-2020) project are to devise a holistic approach towards marine monitoring and develop a comprehensive database of data collected about the Maltese waters. The database will be supplemented by relevant datasets obtained from numerous stakeholders and will be made publically accessible.

Marine waters are facing increasing pressures from human activities, which leads to the deterioration of the marine environment. Concrete data and information from the project will be used to develop better management practices to address these pressures. The project will assist in the implementation of Malta’s obligations as an EU Member State in relation to the marine sector.

As part of the project tasks, M3C are required to hold four stakeholder workshops and a final conference in order to disseminate knowledge garnered through the project’s implementation. The workshop held on 6th April, 2018 was the first of the four seminars to be held as part of this project. The main objectives of this particular session were to:

  • Introduce the project and its main objectives
  • Outline the progress of the project and some preliminary results
  • Describe the proposed database and its purpose
  • Invite comments from the attendees relating to the project components​

Representatives from the ERA (Tamara Micallef and Lydia Koehler) and M3C (Yasmin Schembri) presented an introduction to the project and its relevant policy background. Entities such as MESDC, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Transport Malta, Planning Authority, Water Services Corporation, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Health Directorate, MCCAA, Malta Marittima Agency, Wasteserv, MGOZ, Funds & Programmes Division and University of Malta were represented at the workshop. The seminar was closed off with a Q&A session during which some comments were put forward by the attendees, most notably regarding the monitoring frequency and database.

 The results of this project, including stakeholder feedback, will contribute to effective management and sustainable use of marine resources, for the benefit of the environment and of all marine sectors. Through this project, the environmental status of Malta’s coastal water bodies will be assessed, which will enable ERA to continue working towards achieving Good Environmental Status in our marine waters.

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is expected to absorb the full €1.6 million in public eligible EMFF funds (75% EU 25% MT), which were allocated for the implementation of the marine monitoring programme. ​

The Mediterranean Killifish and the Maltese Freshwater Crab were declared as National Species to compliment current flagship species for Malta’s biodiversity. A number of National Species had been declared in Malta in the past, namely the National Plant – Maltese Rock Centaury, the National Tree – Sandarac Gum Tree and National Bird – Blue Rock Thrush. However, such declarations are now substantiated by legal provisions.

In this regard, the establishment of a legal framework for the designation of national species was appropriate and necessary. Through this framework, ERA does not only officially designate these species, but also includes criteria for future selection of further species of flora and fauna as national species under the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549).

The regulations also strengthen the level of legal protection of these species by increasing the penalties for contraventions against such national species. In addition, the regulations promote the conservation, surveillance and monitoring of these species.

The new Species Protection (Designation of National Species) Regulations (S.L. 549.120) came into force on the 23rd of January 2018. The regulations are available here​.

The scientific instrument measuring the level of particulate matter 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) or less at Żejtun Air Monitoring station is giving anomalous readings due to technical problems, and therefore should not be cause for alarm.

In view of this, the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is currently conducting tests on this PM 2.5 analyser. The PM 2.5 data has been disabled for the duration of the testing. Notwithstanding this, the Żejtun Air Monitoring Station will still continue transmitting the rest of the air monitoring data 24/7.

Third-party websites, such as the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) website, may still be showing data that is automatically sent by ERA’s stations. This data includes the PM 2.5 data from the faulty analyser. The correct data will be transmitted once the issue has been solved.

ERA will issue an official notification once the system is fully functional.

Presently, ERA runs four automated near real time Air Monitoring Stations that are situated at fixed sites: a traffic site in Msida, an urban background site in Żejtun, an urban site in Attard and a rural background site in Għarb, Gozo.

ERA’s Air Monitoring Stations determine concentrations of most pollutants every 15 minutes, giving ERA a continuous overview of air quality. The Air Monitoring Stations stations cover all pollutants requiring monitoring and reporting under the Ambient Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) and the four Daughter Directives (2004/107/EC). These include ground-level ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, gaseous mercury, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and meteorological variables, such as wind speed and direction.

ERA’s air monitoring data is accessible online here.