Environmental Protection (Air Quality) Regulations 2000

GUYANA No……of 2000 REGULATIONS MADE UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1996 (No. 11 of 1996) ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS REGULATION PART 1 PRELIMINARY 1. Citation. 2. Interpretation. PART II POWER TO ISSUE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION 3. Registration. 4. General requirement to apply for an authorisation. 5. Restrictions on air contaminants. 6. Change in operating conditions. 7. Application for variance. PART III PARAMETER LIMITS AND CONTROL OF AIR CONTAMINANTS 8. Parameter limits for stationary sources. 9. Agency may waive applicability. 10. National ambient air quality standards. 11. Measuring instruments. 12. Control of air emissions. 13. Offence to burn. 14. Management of air contaminants. PART IV FEES 15. Fees payable for registration etc. PART V NEW SOURCES OF AIR EMISSIONS 16. Prohibition against new and altered sources of emissions. 17.Requirement and approval of plans. PART VI MOBILE SOURCE EMISSIONS CONTROL 18. Restrictions on sale of new and used imported vehicles. 19. Emissions from vehicles generally. 20. Coordination. PART VII OFFENCES AND PENALTIES 21. Prohibition against construction etc. 22. Offence to store. 23. Offence and penalty. PART VIII GENERAL PROVISIONS 24. Air Pollution Monitoring Index. FIRST SCHEDULE – List of Contaminants the Parameter Limits of which are to be specified. SECOND SCHEDULE –Standard Methods of Analysis of Emissions. 2 IN EXERCISE OF THE POWERS CONFERRED UPON ME BY SECTION 68 (1) OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1996, I HEREBY MAKE THE FOLLOWING REGULATIONS: PART I PRELIMINARY `` Citation. 1. These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Protection (Air Quality) Regulations 2000. 2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires – Interpretation. (a) “activity” means any of the activities mentioned in regulation 4(1); (b) “ambient air quality standards” means those limits that define the allowable concentration of a particular contaminant in a given area; (c) “air pollution episode” means an occasion when air contamination is at such a level and for such period of time that the air contamination may pose a danger to human health; (d) “air pollution index” means a series of numbers expressing the relative levels of air pollution and taking into consideration one or more air contaminants; (e) “applicant” means a person who applies for an environmental authorisation for the purposes of these Regulations and includes a person appointed under a duly registered power of attorney; (f) “application” means an application for an environmental authorisation made in accordance with these Regulations; (g) “commerce” means of or pertaining to business, trade or manufacture; (h) “compliance schedule” means a schedule of measures including a sequence of interim requirements that leads to compliance with these Regulations; (i) “emission” means air contaminant; (j) “equipment” includes apparatus, device, mechanism or structure; (k) “existing industries” means any industry pertaining to the manufacture, processing, handling, transport, storage or disposal of materials (including raw materials, materials in the process of manufacture, manufactured materials, by-products and waste materials) that entered into operation before the commencement of these Regulations; 3 (l) “facility” includes (i) any office, room or building, and any place, spot or land, whether open or enclosed; (ii) any aircraft, hovercraft, ship, boat, pleasure craft or other vessel whether afloat or not, and any vehicle; (iii) any electrical installation, subterranean installation or installation on land including the foreshore and other land intermittently covered by water; (iv) any offshore installation and any other installation, whether floating or resting on the seabed or the subsoil thereof or resting on other land covered with water or the subsoil thereof; and (v) any dam or other installation designed to hold liquid or store it on a long-term basis; (m) “fuel- burning equipment” includes equipment designed to burn fuel but does not include an internal combustion engine; (n) “incinerator” includes equipment used for the burning of waste; (o) “industry” includes premises wholly or mainly used (whether for profit or not) for agricultural purposes or for scientific research or experiment which may entail an air pollutant being emitted into the atmosphere; (p) “installation” means the aggregate of all electrical generating plants owned and managed at any one site and includes the developed property, waste disposal sites, waste water treatment facilities or other facilities associated with it; (q) “mobile sources” means any source of air pollution other than stationary sources, including but not limited to motor vehicles, off-road vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft; (r) “new” in relation to a motor vehicle, means a motor vehicle that has not been previously used; (s) “opacity” means, (i) colour of a visible emission in shades of grey to black, or (ii) degree to which a visible emission obstructs the passage of light; (t) “point of emission” means the point at which a contaminant enters the natural environment; 4 (u) “visible emission” means any contaminant which can be detected by the naked eye; (v) “source” means any public, institutional, commercial or industrial structure, installation, plant, building or facility, that emits or has the potential to emit any regulated air pollutant from any process; (w) “stationary source” means any source of air pollution that is produced by a fixed or stationary location, including but not limited to electrical installations. PART II POWER TO ISSUE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION 3. Subject to regulation 5(2), any person who emits air contaminants shall register with the Agency. Registration. 4. (1) Subject to paragraph (3), a person who, at the commencement of these Regulations, emits any air contaminant in the construction, installation, operation, modification or extension of any facility relating to General requirement to apply for an authorization. (a) industry; (b) commerce; (c) agriculture; or (d) any institution, shall apply to the Agency for an environmental authorisation within one year of the commencement of these Regulations or such later time as the Agency may determine. (2) Any person proposing to engage in any of the activities mentioned in paragraph (1) shall submit an application to the Agency at least ninety days before the date on which the emission is due to commence. (3) The Agency may at any time request a person who engages in any of the activities specified in paragraph (1) to submit an application to the Agency for an environmental authorisation. (4) An application for an environmental authorisation shall be in accordance with the procedures set out in regulation 18 of the Environmental (Authorisations) Regulations, 2000. (5) Any person who contravenes this regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seventy-five 5 thousand dollars nor more than five hundred thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months. 5. (1) No person who engages in any of the activities specified in regulation 4(1) shall emit or cause or permit the emission of any air contaminant into the atmosphere unless that person holds an environmental authorisation. Restrictions on air contaminants. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to stationary sources that are households that do not contain industrial or commercial facilities. 6. (1) Where at any stationary source a failure to operate in the normal manner or a change in operating conditions occurs, or a shut-down of the source or part thereof is made for some purpose, resulting in the emission of air contaminants that may result in quantities or concentrations in excess of those allowed in regulation 8, the owner or operator of the source of air contamination shall Charge on operating conditions. (a) immediately notify the Agency and furnish it with particulars of such failure, change or shut-down; and (b) furnish the Agency with the particulars in writing, as soon as is practicable, of such failure, change or shutdown. (2) If the Agency considers it advisable, it may authorise, in writing, the continuance of such operation for such period of time as it considers reasonable in the circumstances and may impose upon the owner or operator such terms and conditions for such continued operation as it considers necessary in the circumstances. 7. A person granted with an environmental authorisation may make an application to the Agency to vary any provision thereof on submission of supporting particulars in accordance with the provisions of regulation 21 of the Environmental Protection (Authorisations) Regulations 2000. Application for variance. PART III PARAMETER LIMITS AND CONTROL OF CONTAMINANTS Parameter limits for stationary sources. First Schedule. 8. (1) The Agency shall, at any time after the commencement of these Regulations, establish the parameter limits with respect to any of the contaminants specified in the First Schedule. (2) No new stationary source or facility shall emit any contaminant in concentrations greater than those established as parameter limits under paragraph (1). (3) The Agency shall, on a case-by-case basis fix, in accordance with compliance schedule the date and the manner in which every existing stationary source shall comply with the parameter limits for each contaminant established under paragraph (1). (4) The Agency in imposing conditions on an environmental authorisation for an existing stationary source shall be guided by the parameter limits established under paragraph (1). 6 (5) The Agency may amend the parameter limits established under paragraph (1), with respect to any of the contaminants. (6) Any person who contravenes paragraphs (2) or (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seventy-five thousand dollars nor more than five hundred thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months. Agency may waive applicability. 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 8, the Agency may in respect of any stationary source waive the applicability of any parameter limit or of any contaminant mentioned in the First Schedule. National ambient air quality standards. 10. (1) The Agency shall establish the desirable national ambient air quality standards. (2) In exercising its powers under these Regulations, the Agency may take into account the national ambient air quality standards specified under paragraph (1). (3) The Agency may vary the established national ambient air quality standards with respect to any parameter limit or of any air contaminant. 11. (1) The Agency may use measuring instruments for the purpose of assessing the air quality. Measuring instruments. (2) Measuring instruments shall, for the purpose of these Regulations, include (a) any apparatus for separating air impurity from the gas or liquid medium in which it is carried; (b) any device to indicate or record air pollution or give warning of excessive air pollution; and (c) any other device used for the purposes of measuring air pollution. 12. (1) No person shall emit or cause to be emitted, the concentration of a contaminant at a point of emission exceeding those established as parameter limits under regulation 8. Control of air emissions. (2) For the purposes of these Regulations, emissions shall be analysed in accordance with the latest edition of the methods specified in the Second Schedule or in accordance with such other methods of analysis as the agency thinks fit. Second schedule. 13. (1) No person shall burn or permit to be burned in any fuel burning equipment or incinerator any fuel or waste except the fuel or waste for the burning of which the equipment or incinerator was designed. Offence to burn. (2) No person shall burn or permit to be burned in any fuel burning equipment or incinerator any fuel or waste at a greater rate than the rate for which the equipment or incinerator was designed. 7 14. (1) Within six months after the commencement of these Regulations, every stationary source shall submit an inventory of the air contaminants that are produced in during its operations to the Agency. Management of air contaminants. (2) The Agency shall develop and implement a programme for the management of such contaminants which shall include the identification and registration of significant sources of air contaminants into the environment. PART IV FEES 15. The fees to be charged for an application Fees payable for registration, etc. (i) for registration; (ii) for variance; (iii) for written authorisation for changed conditions; and (iv) to carry out works in the construction or alteration of any building, shall be those specified in regulation 9 of the Environmental Protection (Authorisations) Regulations 2000. PART V NEW SOURCES OF AIR EMISSIONS Prohibition against new and altered sources of air emissions 16. (1) No person obtaining a variance under regulation 7 from the Agency shall – (a) carry out any work on any premises that may result in a new source of air emission or cause a material change in the quantity or quality of the emission from an existing source; (b) construct on any land, building, erection or alteration designed or used for a purpose that may cause the land or building to result in a new source of air emission. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to – (a) routine maintenance carried out on any plant, structure, equipment, apparatus, mechanism or thing; or (b) any plant, structure, equipment, apparatus, mechanism or thing that may be a source of contaminant of a class exempted there from by these Regulations. 8 (3) Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction to a fine of not less than sixty thousand dollars nor more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 17. (1) Where a person intends to undertake any activity within the meaning of regulation 16 he shall make application to the Agency therefor together with the fee prescribed in regulation 8 of the Environmental Protection (Authorisations) Regulations 2000. Requirement and approval of plans. (2) The Agency may grant such application either subject to any condition that the Agency considers necessary and may require the applicant (a) to repair, alter, replace or install emission control equipment; (b) to conduct a sampling and monitoring programme at the applicant’s own expense or bear the cost of such programme within such period or at such time and in such manner as the Agency may specify; or (c) to do all other acts or things that the Agency considers necessary. PART VI MOBILE SOURCE EMISSIONS CONTROL 18. (1) Within three years after the commencement of these Regulations or such other time as the Agency may determine, no person shall make available for sale in Guyana any new or used imported vehicle unless such vehicle meets or betters the exhaust emission standards established by the Agency and is equipped with a fully functioning emissions control system or some other diagnostic technology for monitoring exhaust emissions. Restrictions on sale on new and used imported vehicles. Cap. 51:02. (2) The requirements of paragraph (1) are in addition to the requirements that may be imposed under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act and nothing in these Regulations relieves a person from the requirements of that Act. (3) Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seventy-five thousand dollars nor more than five hundred thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months. 19. (1) Within three years after the commencement of these Regulations or such other time as the Agency may determine, the Agency shall establish exhaust emission standards and every motor vehicle shall comply with such standards. Emissions from vehicles generally. (2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply to a motorcycle. 20. For the purposes of regulations 18 and 19 the Agency shall coordinate with the Ministry responsible for issuing fitness certificates for motor vehicles. Coordination 9 PART VII OFFENCES AND PENALTIES 21. No person shall construct, alter, demolish, drill, blast, crush, sandblast or screen anything or cause or permit the construction, alteration, demolition, drilling, blasting, crushing, sandblasting or screening of anything so that a contaminant other than heat, sound, vibration or radiation greater than the ambient air quality standards is emitted into the air. Prohibition against construction, etc. 22. No person shall store, handle or transport any solid, liquid or gaseous material or substance in such manner that an air contaminant is released into the atmosphere. Offence to store. 23. Where a person commits an offence under these Regulations in respect of which a penalty is not prescribed, any person who commits such offence shall be liable, on summary conviction to a fine of not less than thirty thousand dollars nor more than eighty thousand dollars. Offence and penalty. PART VIII GENERAL PROVISIONS 24. (1) The Agency may as soon as practicable after the commencement of these Regulations cause to be prepared from time to time an index to be known as the Air Pollution Monitoring Index for any area in Guyana. Air Pollution Monitoring Index. (2) Where the Air Pollution Monitoring Index for any area indicates increasing air pollution that may lead to an air pollution episode, the Agency, in consultation with the Ministry responsible for health, may order curtailment of the operation of sources of air pollution in the manner mentioned in paragraphs (3) and (4). (3) Where the Air Pollution Monitoring Index reaches the number in excess of the designated Air Advisory Level, and meteorological forecasts indicate a six-hour prolongation of atmospheric conditions conducive to sustained or increased air pollution levels, the Agency may require owners or operators of sources of air pollution to make preparation for the curtailment of such operations as may be specified by the Agency. (4) Where the Air Pollution Index reaches the number designated as the First Air Pollution Alert, and meteorological forecasts indicate a six-hour prolongation of atmospheric conditions conducive to sustained or increased air pollution levels, the Agency may require owners or operators of sources of air pollution to curtail such operations as are specified by the Agency. (5) Any person who contravenes paragraphs (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction to a fine of not less than seventy thousand dollars nor more than three hundred thousand dollars and to imprisonment for three months. 10 FIRST SCHEDULE (reg. 8) ENVIRONMENTAL (AIR QUALITY) REGULATIONS 2000 LIST OF CONTAMINANTS THE PARAMETER LIMITS OF WHICH ARE TO BE SPECIFIED (i) Smoke (ii) Solid particles (iii) Sulphuric acid mist or sulphuric trioxide (iv) Fluoride compounds (v) Hydrogen chloride (vi) Chlorine (vii) Hydrogen sulphide (viii) Nitric acid or oxides of nitrogen (ix) Carbon monoxide 11 SECOND SCHEDULE (reg. 12) ENVIRONMENTAL (AIR QUALITY) REGULATIONS 2000 STANDARD METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF EMISSIONS British Standard Ringelmann Chart (BS 2742C): 1969 Made this 28th day of November, 2000. ……………………………………… Bharrat Jagdeo President 12