Draft Guidance Note on Soil Recovery Waste Acceptance Criteria

The EPA developed this guidance document applies to soil recovery facilities which exceed the operational thresholds for waste facility permits.  Facilities that exceed these thresholds are required to operate under a Waste Licence granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (the Agency). Licensed soil recovery facilities are typically worked-out quarries that are in the process of...

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Changes to groundwater directive approved

Member state representatives in Brussels have approved a series of reforms to the 2006 groundwater directive after a review of two of its annexes last year but the EU-wide quality standards have not changed. The European Commission decided there was not enough information available to set new quality standards, which means that nitrates and pesticides...

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Proposed Guidance on the Authorisation of Direct Discharges to Groundwater

The EPA has prepared Guidance on the Authorisation of Direct Discharges to Groundwater. This proposed guidance addresses direct discharges to groundwater from point sources that may have the potential to cause pollution. It supplements the earlier report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled “Guidance on the Authorisation of Discharges to Groundwater” (EPA, 2011) which...

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Protection of Groundwater against Pollution and Deterioration

Directive 2006/118/EC  on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration was implemented in Ireland by S.I. No.9 of 2010 – European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations, 2010. The directive establishes a regime which sets underground water quality standards and introduces measures to prevent or limit inputs of pollutants into groundwater. The directive establishes quality criteria that takes...

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Water Framework Directive: Overview and Terms

2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, known as the Water Framework Directive. The Directive is implemented by S.I. 722/2003 European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 The directive relates to planning for protection and improvement of all waters, including surface...

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Groundwater Regulation 7

Regulation 7 of the Groundwater Regulations states that “Point source discharges and diffuse sources liable to cause groundwater pollution shall be controlled so as to prevent or limit the input of pollutants into groundwater”. This ‘prevent or limit’ objective is the core groundwater quality objective.  In principle, ‘prevent or limit’ measures are the first line...

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