ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

CHAPTER 435

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT

To protect the environment.

18th September, 2001;

28th June, 2002;

30th December, 2005

ACT XX of 2001, as amended by Act II of 2006 and Legal Notice 426 of

2007. PART I

Preliminary

The short title of this Act is the Environment Protection

Act.

In this Act unless the context otherwise requires

''Authority'' means the competent authority nominated by the

Minister under article 6;

''biological diversity'' or ''biodiversity'' means the variability

among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia,

terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological

complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within

species, between species and of ecosystems;

''conservation'' means a series of measures required to maintain

or restore the natural habitats and the population of species of wild

fauna and flora at a favourable status;

''derivatives'' means parts of any specimen, whether processed by

man or not;

''discharge'' includes emission, deposit, dumping, disposal,

addition or introduction into the environment of a substance or

energy, directly or indirectly from any point source or diffuse

source, whether stationary or mobile, and whether caused or

permitted intentionally or otherwise and whether continuous or

intermittent or once only;

''energy'' includes all types of radiation forming part of the

electromagnetic energy spectrum, or resulting from a nuclear

source, as well as all vibrations and noise;

''environment'' means the whole of the elements and conditions,

natural or man made, existing on earth, whether together or in

isolation, and in particular

(a) the air, water and land;

(b) all the layers of the atmosphere;

(c) all organic and inorganic matter and all living

organisms;

(d) all ecosystems; and

(e) the landscape;

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

''flora'' means all types of plants and other biota including

akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in

part and their derivatives;

''fauna'' means all types of animals and other biota including

akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in

part and their derivatives;

''genetically modified organism'' means any of the following

(a) an organism derived from the formation of a

combination of genetic material by any means other

than natural means;

(b) an organism inheriting such combination of genetic

material;

(c) an organism that results from the replication of an

organism as derived in paragraph (a); or

(d) such other organism as may be prescribed by the

Minister under this Act;

''Minister'' means the Minister responsible for the environment;

''natural resources'' means any component of nature and includes

air, water, land, soils, minerals, energy, living organisms and

genetic resources;

''pollution'' means the direct or indirect introduction by man into

the environment of substances, organism, genetic material or

energy that cause or are likely to cause hazard to human health,

harm to living resources or to ecosystems, or damage to amenities,

or interfere with other legitimate uses of the environment;

''prescribed'' means prescribed by the Minister under this Act;

''precautionary principle'' means the principle whereby

appropriate measures are taken to protect the environment and to

ensure sustainable management of natural resources in the absence

of absolute or conclusive scientific proof of the need for such

measures;

''specimen'' means any species, whether alive or dead, any part or

derivative thereof, and includes any goods which from an

accompanying document, the packaging, mark or label or from

other circumstances appear to be parts or derivatives of animals or

plants;

''substances'' means any matter, chemical, mixture, compound or

product and including fuels, combinations of elements, mixtures or

compounds of a chemical reaction, as well as the mixture of

substances of different molecular identities;

''waste'' means any thing, substance or object which the holder

discards or intends to discard, or is required to keep in order to

discard, and includes such other thing, substance or object as the

Minister may prescribe.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

PART II

Duty to Protect the Environment

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

PART III

The Authority

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

PART IV

National Commission for Sustainable Development

(1) There is hereby established a commission to be known

as the National Commission for Sustainable Development which

shall have the composition and which shall carry out the functions

set out in this article.

(2) The Commission shall be chaired by the Prime Minister or

in his absence the Minister and shall be composed as follows

(a) all Ministers ex officio or their representatives;

(b) two members of the House of Representatives, one

appointed by the Prime Minister and the other by the

Leader of the Opposition;

(c) a representative of the Authority;

(d) the Chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and

Social Development ex officio;

(e) representatives of such public entities as in the opinion

of the Prime Minister are relevant to the functions of

the Commission;

(f) a representative of the association of local councils;

(g) representatives of organizations which represent or

have an interest in business, industry and/or industrial

relations, scientific and academic bodies, the media,

and other non-governmental organizations, which in

the opinion of the Prime Minister are relevant to the

functions of the Commission.

(3) The members of the Commission referred to in sub-article

(2)(e) to (g) shall be appointed by the Prime Minister after

considering the recommendations that are made by the relative

body or bodies and shall hold office for such term as may be stated

in their letter of appointment and shall be re-eligible for

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

appointment.

(4) The quorum for meetings of the Commission shall be the

chairman and half the members who at the time are members

thereof; the Commission shall otherwise regulate its own

procedure.

(5) The Prime Minister shall assign a public officer to be the

secretary of the Commission, and shall from time to time assign to

it such other affairs or resources which in his opinion are adequate

for it to carry out its functions.

(6) The Commission shall hold its meetings in public and the

public shall have access to all the reports of the same Commission.

(7)

The Commission shall have the following functions

(a) to advocate sustainable development across all sectors

of Malta, review progress in the achievement of such

sustainable development and to build consensus on

action needed to achieve further progress;

(b) to identify any relevant process or policy which may

be undermining sustainable development and propose

alternative processes or policies to the Government for

adoption;

(c) to identify trends which may significantly give rise to

unsustainable development and which will not be

reversed on the basis of current or planned action, and

recommend action to reverse such trends;

(d) to increase awareness of the need that development

must be sustainable;

(e) to encourage and stimulate good practice in the use

and management of natural resources, in particular

their minimal use and maximum reuse by recycling in

an environmentally sustainable manner;

(f) to prepare a National Strategy for Sustainable

Development; and

(g) to carry out such other functions in relation to

sustainable development as may be assigned to it by

the Prime Minister

Provided that in carrying out the above-mentioned

functions, the Commission may appoint advisory committees to

make recommendations on specific subjects or actions which it

may deem fit to examine

Provided further that in carrying out its functions, the

C o m m i s s i o n s h a l l b e a n s w e r a b l e t o t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r.

Recommendations and decisions of the Commission shall have no

executive force but shall be considered as authoritative

recommendations of best practice in achieving sustainable

development.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

PART V

Duties and Powers of the Minister

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Power to make

regulations.

Amended by

II. 2006.19;

L.N. 426 of 2007.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Procedure for

making

regulations.

PART VI

Licences

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Licences.

Amended by

L.N. 426 of 2007.

PART VII

Environment Impact Assessment

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Environment

Impact

Assessment.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Duty of Planning

Authority with

regard to

Environment

Impact

Assessment.

14.(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010)

Power to make

regulations with

regard to

Environment

Impact

Assessment.

(Mħassar bl-Att X tal-2010 - ara l-A.L. 513 tal-2010).

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Review of

Environment

Impact Assessment

by Authority.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Right of appeal to

the Authority.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Strategic

Environment

Assessment.

PART VIII

The Environment Fund

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Setting up of the

Fund.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Administration of

the Fund.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Accounts of the

Fund.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Exemption from

certain taxes.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Power to make

regulations with

respect to the

Fund.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

PART IX

Right to Information

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Right to

information.

PART X

Enforcement

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Action for

damages.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Environment

inspectors.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Compromise

penalty.

PART XI

Miscellaneous

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Saving.

(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

Transitory

provisions.