Proceedings of the Environment Committee
Minutes of meeting held on Thursday, 3 February 2000 at 10.30am
in room 144, Parliament Buildings.
Present were: Rev. Dr W McCrea (Chairman)
Ms C Hanna (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr T Benson
Mrs J Carson
Mr A Doherty
Mr D Ford
Mr J Leslie
Mr M McLaughlin
Mr E Poots
Mr D Watson
In Attendance: Mrs D Pritchard ( Committee Clerk)
Mr S Fay ( Assistant Committee Clerk)
Mr N Currie ( Executive Support)
Mr J Nulty ( Administrative Support)
Apologies: Mr M Murphy
1. Minutes of the last meeting.
The minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2000 were agreed.
2. Matters arising
(a) Meetings' schedule.
The Chairman advised that the Clerk of Committees has written to the Members affected by the current schedule of meetings and advised them to raise their concerns with the Party Whips.
Agreed: That the matter be left with the parties to resolve but that the Committee Clerk will enquire again about additional facilities for Committee meetings.
(b) Letter from NIC-ICTU about disability impact studies.
Agreed: That the Clerk will write to the Department and ask for details of the procedures that will be put in place to ensure that any policy proposals sent to the Committee meet the requirements of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
(c) The report received from the Department analysing funding problems.
The Committee discussed the Department's report and the problems arising from underfunding especially in relation to the shortfall in Road Safety Officers; the backlog in planning applications and Area Plans and non-compliance with EU Directives.
Agreed: That the Committee will obtain the opinions of a Specialist Adviser before replying to the Department.
(d) Report from the Department on overcrowding of school buses and insurance arrangements for taxi drivers involved in school transport.
The Department's report is still awaited.
(e) The impact of the error identified in the Highway Code.
The Department's report on this matter is still awaited.
(f) The McQuillan Skip Hire case.
The Department has not received all of the responses from the statutory consultees on the release of their papers. When it has, the papers which can be released will be sent to the Committee.
(g) The use of the Senate Chamber
The Senate Chamber in Parliament Buildings is available for public sessions.
3 Presentation on Waste Management Strategy.
Officials from the Department joined the meeting at 11.10am. They were:
Mr Felix Dillon Deputy Secretary
Mr Jim Lamont Chief Executive, Environment and Heritage Service (EHS)
Mr Richard Rogers Director of Environmental Policy Division
Mr Stephen Aston Head of Waste Management and Contaminated Land
Mr Dillon confirmed that the Minister has seen the draft Waste Management Strategy document and is content with its general thrust. He would welcome the views and formal response of the Committee on the draft.
The officials made a presentation to the Committee describing the Waste Management Strategy including:
- The need for the Strategy and the legal obligations, especially European Union Directives, driving it;
- Its aim;
- The development of the strategy to date;
- The next steps.
The Committee discussed the points raised and the officials gave further information on:
- The impact of the strategy on local councils, businesses and the public;
- The need for promotion and advertising of the strategy;
- The timing of the programme of implementation;
- The speed of impact of the strategy on outstanding planning decisions on landfill sites;
- The management of any gap between the use of landfill sites and the full implementation of the strategy;
- The need for partnerships and the sharing of resources among councils;
- The need to set mandatory and challenging targets with regards to Waste Management;
- The use of facilities in close proximity across frontiers.
The Department agreed to examine a list of questions from the Committee and return to the Committee at its meeting next week for further discussions.
4. The Chairman declared the meeting to be in public session and welcomed officials from the Department to discuss Statutory Rule number 496/1999 entitled
PUBLIC HEALTH
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste)
(Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999
The officials were:
Mr Richard Rogers Director of Environmental Policy Division
Ms Liz Benson Environmental Policy Division
Ms Pamela Patterson Environment and Heritage Service
The officials explained that the rule is necessary to amend the regulations introduced in March 1999 and takes account of European Directives. They described the background to it, the changes it will bring to the existing regulations and the impact it will have on the obligations of the producers targeted by it. Companies have been advised of their obligations through mailshots sent to them and the Department has also organised seminars.
The Chairman thanked the officials and they left the meeting.
The meeting returned to closed session.
Question put and agreed-
'That the Environment Committee has considered Statutory Rule 496/1999, the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 and has no objections to the Rule'
5. AOB
- Mineral Development Act (Northern Ireland ) 1969
- Letter from Down District Council about misuse of fireworks.
- Committee expenditure
- Synopsis of Committee meetings.
- Letters from a Waste Management group and a group called the Campaign against Landfill in Mallusk (CALM).
BG Storage and Keyspan Corporation have made an application for a mineral prospecting licence to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI).
Agreed: That DETI is asked, through its Committee, to advise if and when a license is granted. The Committee will then decide if it wishes to pursue the matter of planning permission for the exploratory drilling for which the companies must apply to the Planning Service.
Agreed: That the Chairman will write a letter to Mr Ingram, the Law and Order Minister, endorsing the concerns raised.
The Clerk will obtain details and estimates of costs of any visits the Committee may be required to make during the 2000/2001 year and pass them to the Clerk of Committees.
Agreed: That a short synopsis of the items discussed at Committee meetings will be released for the Weekly Information Bulletin after the minutes have been agreed.
Agreed: That meetings with the two groups will be fitted into the Committee's programme of meetings.