Guyana Chronicle
May 17, 2001

ALL construction, installation, operation, modification or extension of any facility relating to industry, commerce, agriculture or institution that emits effluents or contaminants must register with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) immediately.

The regulatory body said the requirement is in keeping with the Environmental Protection Act passed in December 2000 and the deadline for registering is July 31, 2001.

A Press release listed the four parts of the Pollution Management Regulations as:

* air quality which seeks to address the generation of emissions of air pollutants;

* noise management which seeks to regulate noise emissions;

* water quality which seeks to address the source of water pollution and restrict effluent discharge and

* hazardous waste Management that seeks to address the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste.

Registrants will be charged a fee of $4,000 each for processing and updating the register and the forms may be uplifted from the EPA, Regional Democratic Council offices or downloaded from website (http://www.epaguyana.org).

The release said the procedure will enable the EPA to develop a record of all operations/facilities that produce contaminants in this country and later use the information for consideration as to whether or not the operation/facility has the potential to create adverse impacts on the environment and, therefore, be required to apply for an Environmental Authorisation/Permit.

The EPA said failure to register may result in a person being liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not less than $30,000 nor more than $80,000.

At the conclusion of the registration and verification, a letter will be issued and the data provided kept for use to later determine whether the operation/facility requires an environmental authorisation.

Developers who have already been granted permits from the EPA or whose applications are pending would not be required to register as they will be automatically placed on the register.

They, however, must be familiar with the regulations as these might have implications for their operations/facilities and the conditions of their permits.

Under the Environmental Protection (Authorisation) Regulations, a person who, at the commencement of these regulations, causes any pollution in the construction, installation, operation, modification or extension of any facility relating to industry, commerce, agriculture or institution, shall apply for an Environmental Authorisation.

On that basis, the EPA will be able to monitor the development and assist developers in the sound environmental management of their operations, through the development and implementation of operational guidelines and performance standards.

The process shall not apply to households that do not contain industrial and commercial facilities, construction of housing schemes, temporary building machinery and the operation of transportation vessels other than ships, the EPA said.