Rev Dr William McCrea (Chairperson)
Mr Armstrong
Mrs Carson
Mr Molloy
Mrs Nelis

Mr D Bell ) Department
Mr D Campbell ) of the
Mrs E Harkness ) Environment
Mr N Simmons )

The Chairperson: I welcome Mr David Bell, Mr Damian Campbell, Mrs Ethne Harkness and Mr Norman Simmons from the Department. We are about to move to the clause-by-clause consideration of the Pollution Prevention and Control Bill, and the officials are with us should any matters requiring clarification arise.

I believe that it would be beneficial if I were to provide a brief summary of the Committee’s scrutiny of the Bill to date. The Bill was introduced to the Assembly on 17 June 2002, and following the completion of the Second Stage Reading on 25 June 2002 the Bill was referred to the Committee. Members will recall that the Minister attended the Committee meeting on 6 June 2002 to ask for the Committee’s support for accelerated passage for the Bill, but the Committee rejected that. However, in a gesture of co-operation, the Committee agreed to complete the Committee Stage of the Bill by mid-September.

The primary purpose of the Bill is to transpose EC Directive 96/91 into Northern Ireland legislation. That was supposed to have been done by March 1999, and the EC is currently pursuing infraction proceedings through the European Court against the UK for the delay. It is regrettable that Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK not to have transposed the Directive.

The Committee clearly benefited from considering and responding to the consultation paper leading to the Bill, issued by the Department in 2001, as this made members aware of many potential issues and provided an informative background.

To many the Bill may appear as being relatively limited in its application, in that it is currently likely to apply only to around 250 installations in Northern Ireland. However, its effects are not to be underestimated, and the Committee recognised the importance of EC Directive 96/61, as it is the central piece of European legislation regulating all of industry’s environmental performance by introducing an integrated permitting procedure for existing and new installations. The Bill will replace the existing legislation — the Industrial Pollution Control (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 — with a more comprehensive procedure with the aim of preventing pollution in air, land and water.

During our scrutiny, the Committee wrote to six key stakeholders and received three replies. The Committee consistently places great value on the views of those who will be directly affected by potential legislation, and we are grateful to those who replied.

The Committee also received extensive written and oral evidence from the Department’s officials, and I wish place on record the Committee’s thanks for that assistance. Officials are here today to deal with any queries from members, if required.

The Minister wrote to the Committee on 23 September 2002 to advise that he will move a number of proposed amendments, previously discussed with the Committee, at the forthcoming Consideration Stage. That letter is before members today, and it provides the wording of each proposed amendment.

As members are indicating that they are content with this summary, we will move to the clause-by-clause consideration.

The Chairperson: The proposal is that the Committee is content with clause 2, subject to the amendments proposed by the Minister in his letter to the Committee dated 23 September 2002.

Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, as amended, put and agreed to.

The Chairperson: The proposal is that the Committee is content with clause 4, subject to the amendments proposed by the Minister in his letter to the Committee dated 23 September 2002.

Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, as amended, put and agreed to.

The Chairperson: The Minister, in his letter of 23 September 2002, has proposed the insertion of a new clause after the existing clause 4 to be headed "Financial Assistance by the Department". The new clause, if agreed, will allow the Department to provide financial assistance to bodies to further the objectives of the waste strategy or prevention or control of environmental pollution.

The proposal is that the Committee is content that a new clause be inserted after clause 4, as proposed by the Minister in his letter to the Committee dated 23 September 2002.

Question, That the Committee is content that a new clause be inserted, put and agreed to.

The Chairperson: The proposal is that the Committee is content with schedule 1, subject to the proposed amendment from the Minister in his letter to the Committee dated 23 September 2002.

Question, That the Committee is content with the schedule, as amended, put and agreed to.

The Chairperson: That concludes the Committee’s consideration of the Bill. A draft of the Committee’s report on the Bill was provided to members, and that will be updated to reflect today’s proceedings. I thank again the officials from the Department for their assistance; I trust that the amendments which we sought are helpful and will allow the Bill to proceed through the Assembly and receive Royal Assent. Thank you.

19 September 2002  (iii) / Menu / 3 October 2002 (i)