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CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE AARHUS CONVENTION NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT 2017

1. BACKGROUND TO THE AARHUS CONVENTION

The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (hereinafter referred to as the Aarhus Convention) was adopted on 25 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark at the Fourth Ministerial Conference as part of the “Environment for Europe” process. It entered into force on 30 October 2001.

The Aarhus Convention establishes a number of rights for the public (individuals and their associations) with regard to the environment. The Parties to the Aarhus Convention are required to make the necessary provisions so that public authorities (at national, regional or local level) contribute to these rights becoming effective. The Aarhus Convention categorises these rights under three pillars:

1. The right of all persons to receive environmental information that is held by public authorities (“access to environmental information”). This may include information on the state of the environment, on policies or measures taken, and on the state of human health and safety in relation to environmental matters. Applicants are entitled to obtain this information within one month of the request and without having to state reasons for the request. In addition, public authorities are obliged, under the Aarhus Convention, to actively disseminate environmental information in their possession;
2. The public must be informed regarding all relevant activities and policies affecting the environment and must be given the chance to participate both during the decision-making and the legislative process (“public participation in decision making”). This not only allows for transparency and inclusion in decision making, but creates opportunities to improve the quality of the environmental decisions and outcomes;
3. The right to bring appeal procedures in order to challenge decisions that have been made without respecting the two aforementioned rights or environmental law in general (“access to justice”).

The Aarhus Convention is considered to be an elaboration on principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, which stresses the importance of public  participation in environmental issues, access to environmental information held by public authorities and effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings.

The EU has been a Party to the Convention since May 2005, whilst Malta ratified the Convention in April 2002. The first pillar of the Aarhus Convention is implemented under EU law by Directive 90/313/EEC, which has been replaced by Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information. Malta transposed Directive 2003/4/EC granting the public the right of access to environmental information via S.L. 549.39 (Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment Regulations).

The second pillar of the Convention is implemented in EU law through Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment. Directive 2003/35/EC has been partially transposed through the Plans and Programmes (Public Participation) Regulations (S.L. 549.41). The remaining provisions were transposed via amendments to the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549) and Development Planning Act (Cap. 552). Other main pieces of Maltese legislation related to the second pillar include:

• The Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations (S.L. 549.77)
• The Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations (S.L. 549.61)
• The Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (S.L. 549.46)
• The Water Policy Framework Regulations (S.L. 549.100)
• The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Reporting Obligations Regulations (S.L. 549.47)
• The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations (S.L. 424.19)
• The Development Planning (Procedure for Applications and their Determination) Regulations (S.L. 552.13)

An EU Directive on the third pillar has been proposed but has not been adopted. Relevant Maltese law on the subject include mainly, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act (Cap. 551), the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure (Cap. 12), the Administrative Justice Act (Cap. 490) and the Data Protection Act (Cap. 440).

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) holds the role of National Focal Point for the Aarhus Convention in Malta.

2. THE NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

Article 10 of the Aarhus Convention requires the Meeting of the Parties to keep the implementation of the Convention under continuous review through regular reporting by the Parties. National Reports are required to be prepared through a transparent and consultative process involving the public in a timely
manner. To this end, Parties are required to review their earlier report (submitted in 2014) and submit an updated version.

3. COMMENTS

The draft Aarhus Convention National Implementation Report may be viewed on https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/Active-Public-Consultations.aspx.

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority welcome any feedback on the Report.

Any comments must be submitted by the 28st March 2017 at the latest on the following email address: [email protected]

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority shall take into consideration your concerns and comments.

For more information on the Aarhus Convention please click here.

 

Aarhus National Implementation Report 2017
Aarhus-NIR-PublicConsultation-OutcomeReport-080617

CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE DRAFT REGULATIONS AMENDING THE WASTE MANAGEMENT (WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT) REGULATIONS

1. BACKGROUND TO DIRECTIVE 2012/19/EU ON WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

Directive 2012/19/EU of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (hereinafter referred to as Directive 2012/19/EU or WEEE) was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 24 July 2012. Member States were required to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the WEEE Recast Directive by 14 February 2014.

Malta has transposed most of the provisions of the Directive under Subsidiary Legislation 549.89 – the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations. Some provisions of the Directive were transposed under Subsidiary Legislation 427.57, the Restriction of Use of Hazardous
Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations.

2. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO S.L. 549.89 – THE WASTE MANAGEMENT (WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC) REGULATIONS, 2014

The amendments to S.L. 549.89 are aimed at ensuring compliance with Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on WEEE.
The following amendments to the national Legislation are being proposed:

a) Amendment to introduce a fine for disposal of WEEE in the form of unsorted municipal waste.
Amendments to sub-regulation 1(a) of regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 2 of these amendments, introduces a schedule of fees as per Schedule 1 of these amendments for the disposal of WEEE in the form of unsorted municipal waste, to be in line with the WEEE Directive and to minimise disposal, ensure correct treatment, and achieve a high collection rate.

b) Amendment to increase the timeframe for financial guarantee by schemes.
Amendments to sub-regulation 4 of regulation 13A of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 4 of these amendments, increase the timeframe for the submission of the financial guarantee by schemes from a period of 30 days to 3 months of the beginning of every operational year.

c) Amendment to the deregistration process
Amendments to sub-regulation 5 of regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 6 of these amendments, have been made to make reference to the deregistration form which is already in place and needs to be  completed, and to ensure that a person’s registration is terminated following the submission of the deregistration form; provided that such person indicates how he has ensured that the environmentally sound management of WEEE up until the last date he has placed EEE on the market, and further provided that any pending information is submitted to the Authority upon applying for deregistration.

d) Amendment to introduce a fee for application of a scheme.
Amendments to sub-regulation 1 of regulation 21 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 9 of these amendments, introduces a fee of €500 to be paid by the authorised WEEE compliance schemes upon application.

e) Amendment to introduce a fee to be charged upon granting or renewal of the scheme’s permit.
Amendments to sub-regulation 5 of regulation 21 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 10 of these amendments, introduces a fee as per newly introduced Schedule (Schedule 2 of these amendments) which is to be charged upon granting of the permit or renewal for an authorised WEEE compliance scheme, which fee would be dependent on the number of producers as per relevant Schedule.

f) Additional minor amendments.
Amendments to substitute “waste electrical and electronic compliance scheme” with “waste electrical and electronic equipment compliance scheme”, to delete reference to “by its members” in sub-regulation 5 of regulation 13A, to renumber some provisions, to correct grammar in sub-regulation 1 of regulation 24, and to substitute Environment and Resources Authority to read Competent Authority in subregulation 3 of regulation 24.

3. COMMENTS

The draft Regulations amending Subsidiary Legislation 549.89 – the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations may be viewed on https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/Active-PublicConsultations.aspx

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority welcomes any feedback on the proposed amendments.

You may wish to submit any comments by 6 February 2017 on the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environmentand Resources Authority shall take into consideration your concerns and comments.

Draft WEEE Amending Regulations 2017_MT
Draft WEEE Amending Regulations 2017_EN

CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE DRAFT LEGAL NOTICE ON OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT FOR PRODUCERS OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

1. SCOPE OF DRAFT REGULATIONS

Subsidiary Legislation 549.89 – Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations stipulates that producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are required to register with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and to fulfil all their obligations under the said Regulations, including the attainment of the collection targets and recovery/recycling targets as well as to provide for the financing of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE.

Producers who act in contravention of any of the offences referred to in regulation 26 of the abovementioned Regulations may be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the Act (Cap. 549). Alternatively, pursuant to Article 83 of the Act, the Authority may enter into an agreement in writing with these producers, in lieu of prosecution.

The draft Legal Notice, aims to prescribe the rules for out of court settlement for those producers of EEE who have acted or act against the provisions of S.L. 549.89 – Waste Management (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations.

2. PROPOSED MECHANISM OF OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT FOR EEE PRODUCERS

Part I of the draft Legal Notice (Regulation 3)

In lieu of prosecution, the Authority may enter into an agreement in writing with producers of EEE who prior to 1 September 2015 failed to apply for registration or renewal with the Authority and/or failed to fulfil other obligations emanating under the WEEE Regulations (S.L. 549.89), provided that they pay a penalty prescribed by the Authority by not later than 28th February 2019 and further provided that:-

• By the end of December 2015, such producer applied for registration/renewal; and
• By the end of December 2015, such producer set up systems or financed systems for the collection of WEEE resulting from products of EEE placed on the market during the period of noncompliance.

Part II of the draft Legal Notice (Regulation 4)

In lieu of prosecution, the Authority may enter into an agreement in writing with producers of EEE who after 1 January 2016 fail to apply for registration or renewal with the Authority, provided that:-

• Such producers pay the sum of €750 per tonne of EEE placed on the market until the producer applies for registration/renewal; and
• Upon entering into agreement with the Authority, such producers would have applied for registration/renewal with the Authority.

3. COMMENTS

The draft ‘Out of Court Settlement for Producers of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations’, may be viewed on:-
https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/Active-Public-Consultations.aspx

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority welcomes any feedback on the proposed amendments.

You may wish to submit any comments by 6 February 2017 on the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority shall take into consideration your concerns and comments.

Abbozz Legali għal ftehim barra l-Qorti għall-Produtturi ta EEE_MT
Draft LN Out of Court Settlement for Producers of EEE_EN

CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE PROGRAMME OF MEASURES PURSUANT TO THE EU MARINE STRATEGY FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE 2008/56/EC

1. BACKGROUND

1.1 The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) calls for the achievement or maintenance of Good Environmental Status (GES) in the marine environment by the year 2020 through the development and implementation of marine strategies. GES is defined by eleven descriptors listed in Annex I to the Directive covering biological elements pertaining to the marine environment and pressures thereon. Member States are required to seek achievement of GES, as determined at the level of the marine region or sub-region, for each Annex I descriptor on the basis of a plan of action stipulated by the Directive itself. This plan establishes the following reporting requirements of the Directive:

• an Initial Assessment of the status of the marine environment;
• definition of GES characteristics for each Annex I descriptor and environmental targets to guide progress towards achievement of such GES;
• development and implementation of a Monitoring Programme to assess progress towards achievement of GES; and
• development and implementation of a Programme of Measures that contributes to the achievement or maintenance of GES.

 

1.2 The Programme of Measures (PoMs) should be developed in accordance with the requirements of Article 13 of the MSFD. The measures should seek the achievement of Good Environmental Status in the marine environment in consideration of the environmental targets established in the first reporting cycle and by addressing predominant pressures and impacts identified in the Initial Assessment.

 

1.3 Annex VI of the Directive provides a list of the type of measures to be considered when developing the PoMs. The only type of measures which is however explicitly mentioned in the Directive is ‘Spatial Protection Measures’. In accordance with Article 13, the PoMs should include spatial protection measures contributing to coherent and representative networks of marine protected areas and adequately covering the diversity of the constituent ecosystems, such as special areas of conservation pursuant to the Habitats Directive, special protection areas pursuant to the Birds Directive, and marine protected areas that may be designated pursuant to international or regional agreements. A spatial protection measure is described as any spatial restriction or management of all or certain human activities in order to:

• Protect biodiversity: such areas should contribute to MPA networks in terms of coherence and representativeness (Article 13.4) and should contribute to the overall achievement of MSFD GES;
• Support certain industrial or leisure activities which may have synergistic effects on biodiversity protection/conservation.

 

1.4 The development of the Programme of measures should be sought in consideration of existing measures required under Community legislation, in particular the EU Water Framework Directive, and other international agreements. Within this context, the Programme of Measures should include both existing and new measures which need to be classified in accordance with the categories reproduced hereunder.

• Existing measures:
  – Category 1.a: Measures relevant for the achievement and maintenance of GES under the MSFD, that have been adopted under other policies and implemented;
  – Category 1.b: Measures relevant for the achievement and maintenance of GES under the MSFD that have been adopted under other policies but that have not yet been implemented or fully implemented;
• New measures:
  – Category 2.a: Additional measures to achieve and maintain GES which build upon existing implementation processes regarding other EU legislation and international agreements but go beyond what is already required under these;
  – Category 2.b: Additional measures to achieve and maintain GES which do not build on existing EU legislation or international agreements.

New measures should be cost-effective and technically feasible, and for this purpose, they should be subject to impact assessments, including cost-benefit analyses*, prior to their introduction.

*Note that in accordance with further guidance provided by the EU Commission, cost-benefit analyses should only be carried out for new measures 2b

 

1.5 The measures should be coherent and coordinated across the relevant marine region. For this purpose the development of the PoMs needs to consider discussions held at Mediterranean level as part of the project entitled ‘Technical and administrative support for the joint implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by the Mediterranean EU Member States’*, on the basis of which potential common or joint measures for the Mediterranean region were identified.

 

1.6 Member States have the opportunity to identify in their Programme of Measures, instances where GES cannot be achieved. Within this context, the Programme of Measures should indicate whether ‘exceptions’ are being applied in line with Article 14 of the MSFD. Such exceptions should be applied only for reasons listed hereunder:

• action or inaction for which the Member State concerned is not responsible;
• natural causes;
• force majeure;
• modifications or alterations to the physical characteristics of marine waters brought about by actions taken for reasons of overriding public interest which outweigh the negative impact on the environment, including any transboundary impact;
• natural conditions which do not allow timely improvement in the status of the marine waters concerned.

 

1.7 The Environment and Resources Authority is compiling reports for MSFD descriptors or themes outlining the existing measures contributing to GES, assessing the gaps in existing efforts towards achievement of GES and identifying new measures and exceptions as relevant. These reports will be compiled into one summary report to be reported to the EU Commission as part of the reporting requirements of the MSFD.

 

1.8 These reports are being compiled in close collaboration with all relevant stakeholders and are being subject to public consultation. They are being uploaded in a phased manner on https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/MSFD.aspx. The public consultation process will run until 28th February 2017.

2. IMPLICATIONS

2.1 As a result of its geographical characteristics, Malta is highly dependent on the marine environment, with a substantial number of economic sectors linked to uses of marine wasters. The management of the use of marine waters emanates from various EU and regional sectoral policies as implemented by different Government entities. By building on existing measures, the PoMs provides the opportunity for a coordinated management regime in the marine environment which takes further existing efforts to work towards achievement of Good Environmental Status in line with the requirements of the MSFD. Furthermore, the measures were developed in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders, which provided the opportunity to streamline environmental requirements across different sectors, also through the proposed new measures, resulting in a concerted effort towards achievement of GES.

 

2.2 The new measures put forward in Malta’s Programme of Measures would contribute to the sustainable use of marine waters and achievement of Good Environmental Status. Due to the current state of knowledge on the marine environment, the measures put forward at this stage are generally broad measures targeting general pressures on the marine environment. Such measures would pave the way for more specific measures in future reporting cycles. The possible adoption of more quantitative environmental targets in the upcoming update of the Initial Assessment, GES and targets due in 2018 would enable elaboration of measures targeting specific reductions in pressures and impacts on the marine environment.

 

2.3 The implementation of the Programme of Measures will require financial resources. However, the new measures proposed are building on existing efforts and making use of existing processes or already established mechanisms to the extent possible. This approach ensures streamlining of management efforts and resource efficiency.

3. COMMENTS

The draft Programme of Measures for each descriptor/theme which is subject to public consultation can be viewed at: https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/MSFD.aspx

Further information may be obtained by calling the International Affairs Unit on 2292 3619, or by email to [email protected].

Your comments are kindly solicited in terms of:

• coverage of existing measures contributing to achievement of GES; and
• adequacy of the new measures to further contribute to achievement of GES;

Comments will be received by email on [email protected] until 28 February 2017.

Comments received will be taken into consideration in the revision of the Programme of Measures prior to its reporting to the EU Commission.

 

CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE REDUCTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS (DRAFT REGULATIONS AMENDING THE WASTE MANAGEMENT [PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE] REGULATIONS)

1. BACKGROUND TO DIRECTIVE 94/62/EC ON PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE

European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (hereinafter referred to as Directive 94/62/EC) was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 31 December 1994. Directive 94/62/EC aims:

• To harmonise national measures concerning the management of packaging and packaging waste to prevent any impact thereof on the environment and providing a high level of environmental protection;
• To ensure the functioning of the internal market, avoiding barriers to trade as well as averting market distortion and restrictions within the Community; and
• To prevent the production of packaging waste and at reusing packaging, at recycling and otherforms of recovering packaging waste, thus reducing the disposal of such waste.

Malta has transposed the provisions of Directive 94/62/EC under Subsidiary Legislation 549.43 – the Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations, 2007, as published by Legal Notice 277 of 2006 (hereinafter referred to as S.L. 549.43).

2. REDUCING THE CONSUMPTION OF LIGHTWEIGHT PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS

Directive (EU) 2015/720 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 amends Directive 94/62/EC so as to reduce the consumption of light weight plastic carrier bags. Directive (EU) 2015/720 is to be transposed by the Member States by 27 November 2016.

To this effect, The Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations, 2007, are to be
amended.

The following amendments to the national Legislation are being proposed:

a) Introduction of new definitions

Amendments to regulations 3 of the principal Regulations, as per regulation 3 of this amendment, aim to introduce new definitions, mainly the definition of “plastic carrier bags”, “lightweight plastic carrier bags”, “very lightweight plastic carrier bags” and “oxo-degradable plastic carrier bags”.

 

b) Introduction of new measures to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags

Amendments to regulation 10 of the principal Regulations, as per regulation 4 of this amendment, introduces the provision whereby national measures, which may include the use of national reduction targets, economic instruments and marketing restriction are to be adopted, with the aim to achieve a sustained reduction in the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags within the territory of Malta. Such measures shall include either or both of the following:-

• measures ensuring that the annual consumption level does not exceed 90 lightweight plastic carrier bags per person by 31 December 2019 and 40 lightweight plastic carrier bags per person by 31 December 2025, or equivalent targets set in weight; and
• instruments ensuring that by 31 December 2018, lightweight plastic carrier bags are not provided free of charge at the point of sale of goods or products, unless equally effective instruments are implemented.

 

c) Reporting by producers of packaging or packaging material

Amendments to Part B of Schedule 5 of the principal Regulations, as per regulation 5 of this amendment, requires producers to report on an annual basis the quantity of plastic carrier bags put on the national market, by weight and by thickness.

3. COMMENTS

The draft Regulations amending Subsidiary Legislation 549.43 – the Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations may be viewed on https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/Active-Public-Consultations.

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment  and Resources Authority welcomes any feedback on the proposed amendments.

You may wish to submit any comments by 7th October 2016 on the following email addresses:: [email protected] or [email protected].

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority shall take into consideration your concerns and comments.

draft_pack_plastic_bags_regulations_consultation