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Environment Protection Act (All subsidiary legislation has been transposed to Cap. 504 in accordance with Act X of 2010) (Cap. 435) Consolidated

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

1. The short title of this Act is the Environment Protection

Act.

2. 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 li ving 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;
' ' d i s ch arge' ' incl udes emi ssion , d e p o si t, d u mp in g, d i sp osal, addition or introduction into the environment of a substance or energy, dire ctly or indirectly fr om an y po in t so ur ce o r di ff use source, w h et her st ati onary or m o bil e , an d w h et her ca used or permitted intentionally or otherwise and whether continuous or intermittent or once only;
' ' energy'' includes all t ypes of radiation forming part of the electromagnetic energy s p ectrum, o r resul t i ng from a nu clear source, as well as all vibrations and noise;
''environment'' means the whole of the elements and conditions, na tural 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;

Short title. Interpretation.

''flora'' means all types of plant s an d 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 ai r, w a ter, land , so ils, m i nerals, energy, l i vi ng org a nism s and genetic resources;
''pollution'' means the direct or indirect introduction by man into the en vir onmen t o f su bstances, organism, geneti c 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;
'' pr ecauti onary pri n cipl e' ' mea n s the princ i ple whereby appropriate measures are taken to protect the environment and to ensure sustainable management of natural resources in the absence o f absolu te or conclu si ve scien tific proof of the n e ed fo r such measures;
''specimen'' means any species, whether alive or dead, any part or der i v a ti ve t h ereo f, an d in clu d e s an y go o d s w h i c h fr om 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 chemica l rea c ti o n , as well as t h e mix tu re 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.
Duty to Protect the Environment

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 (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).

4. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
5. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
PART III
The Authority
6. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
7. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
PART IV
National Commission for Sustainable Development

8. (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 ) sh al l be ap poin t ed by the Prime M i nister after co nsiderin g th e recomm endati ons that ar e mad e by th e relati ve body or bodies and shall hold office for such term as may be stated in t h ei r l e tt er o f ap po in tm en t and sh al l be re-eli gi bl e fo r

Duty of every person to protect the environment.

Duty of Government to protect the environment.

Application of articles 3 and 4.

Appointment of

Authority.

Functions of the

Authority.

National Commission for Sustainable Development.

appointment.
(4) The quorum for meetings of the Commission shall be the ch air m an an d half the memb ers who at the ti me are mem b ers th er eof; t h e Comm issi on shall ot herwise regul at e 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 mmission shall be answerab le to th e Prim e M i ni ster . Recommendations and decisions of the Commission shall have no ex ec ut ive for c e bu t s h a l l be c ons i d er ed as aut hori t a tiv e recom m e ndat i on s of b e st p r act i ce in achieving sus t ainable development.
Duties and Powers of the Minister
9. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
10. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
PART VI Licences
11. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
PART VII
Environment Impact Assessment
12. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
13. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
14.(Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010)
15. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
16. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
17. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
PART VIII
The Environment Fund
18. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
19. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
20. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
21. (Repealed by Act X of 2010 - see L.N. 513 of 2010).
22. (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.

Procedure for making regulations.

Licences.

Amended by:

L.N. 426 of 2007.

Environment Impact Assessment.

Duty of Planning Authority with regard to Environment Impact Assessment.

Power to make regulations with regard to Environment Impact Assessment.

Review of Environment Impact Assessment by Authority.

Right of appeal to the Authority.

Strategic Environment Assessment.

Setting up of the

Fund.

Administration of the Fund.

Accounts of the

Fund.

Exemption from certain taxes.

Power to make regulations with respect to the Fund.