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Ireland’s Environment 2012
92
The licensing by the EPA of both
Integrated Pollution Prevention
and Control (IPPC) and waste
facilities covers soils in specific
circumstances and where any
incident of contamination is found.
Figure 7.5 shows the volume of
contaminated soil from Ireland sent
for remediation from 2006 to 2010,
and the fraction exported compared
with that managed in Ireland. The
overall tonnage of contaminated
soil managed decreased significantly
after 2008, probably reflecting
the lack of land development/
redevelopment projects during the
economic downturn (EPA, 2012b).
The 2009 inventory and assessment
of historic mine sites (Stanley et
al., 2009) concluded that of the 32
mining districts assessed, 22 districts
will not require any interventions.
Seven districts will require further
monitoring and three districts
(Tynagh, Silvermines and Avoca)
will require additional site-specific
risk assessment by the landowners.
A comprehensive remediation
project is currently under way at
the Silvermines site, while a full
assessment of the Avoca site, where
the State is the landowner, has
recently been completed. Similar
assessments will be required at other
sites; however, there is currently no
legislative framework in place for this
to be accomplished other than the
Programme of Measures under the
Water Framework Directive, where
water quality is impacted.
Responses
Strategic Environmental
Assessment
The EU Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA) Directive became
a legal requirement in Ireland in
2004. The main objective of SEA is
to provide environmental protection
and to implement environmental
considerations into plans and
programmes with the promotion
of sustainable development. SEA
is mandatory for certain plans/
programmes in the areas of
agriculture, forestry, fisheries,
energy, industry, transport, waste
management, water management,
telecommunications, tourism, town
and country planning and land use.
Almost 300 SEAs have commenced
in Ireland since their introduction
in 2004. Figure 7.6 shows the
distribution of these per sector. Of
the sectors specified in the Directive,
land use planning has had the most
significant take-up, accounting for
approximately four-fifths of all SEAs
undertaken. Water accounts for 9%
while the energy and fisheries sectors
each account for 4%. It is notable
that a number of significant sectors,
in particular the forestry, tourism,
industry and telecommunications
sectors, have yet to engage fully in
the process.
The EPA commissioned an SEA
Effectiveness Review in 2011
to examine how SEA has been
implemented in Ireland since its
introduction in 2004. The review
found that SEA is clearly raising
the profile of environmental issues
in decision making at plan level
among those sectors that have
fulfilled their obligations under the
Regulations. Overall, it was found
that SEA was fulfilling its role and
that considerable progress has been
demonstrated in applying SEA in
Ireland over a short seven years. The
findings and recommendations of
the review are considered further
in Chapter 10.
National Landscape Strategy
The European Landscape
Convention, adopted in 2000,
emphasises the need to seek the
right balance between management
planning and protection of a
landscape. The National Landscape
Strategy Steering Group was
established by the DAHG in 2011
to develop a National Landscape
Strategy with the aim of sustainable
management of change affecting
landscape.
Figure 7.5
Volume of Contaminated Soil Sent for Remediation in Ireland 2006–2010 (Source: EPA)
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Tonnes
Managed in Ireland
Exported