Under regulation 17 of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control (General) Regulations 2017, the Board of the Environment Protection Authority has power to grant special remissions of any fee in the regulations.
The Board has partially delegated its power under regulation 17 to the Director.
The Board has issued a Guideline for Special Fee Remissions of annual fees and contaminated site notice fees which describes the principles that guide the Board when it considers applications for special fee remissions in accordance with regulation 17.
The Special Fee Remissions Guideline May 2015 has been revised and the following key changes have been included:
- A greater level of detail to be provided to justify remissions sought on the basis of "exceptional" circumstances; and
- Applications for retrospective Special Fee Remissions now have to be made within 60 days of the permit's anniversary.
Special Fee Remissions Guideline (104Kb)
A Special Fee Remission Application Form must be completed by the activity operator (in the case of an annual fee) or notice recipient (in the case of a contaminated site notice fee), where the activity operator or notice recipient has requested a fee remission must be completed by the activity operator (in the case of an annual fee) or notice recipient (in the case of a contaminated site notice fee), where the activity operator or notice recipient has requested a fee remission.
The application must contain enough detail to justify the remission being sought, and be submitted within the required timeframe where appropriate.
It is the responsibility of the relevant EPA regulatory officer to ensure that the completed application form is submitted, and to prepare a brief either to the Board or the Director (depending on whether or not the matter falls within the Director’s delegation) with a recommendation on the application.
Where the Board initiates a fee remission (as it has the power to do under regulation 17), it is unnecessary for an application form to be completed. If the EPA wishes to recommend that the Board use this power in respect of an annual fee or a contaminated site notice fee, the relevant EPA regulatory officer will need to prepare a brief to the Board.