The following business sectors come under the remit of the regulations:
- Dry cleaning;
- Coil coating;
- Winding wire coating;
- Other coating, including metal, plastic, textile, fabric, film, leather, wood, and paper surfaces;
- Wood impregnation;
- Footwear manufacture;
- Wood and plastic lamination;
- Adhesive coating;
- Rubber conversion;
- Vegetable oil and animal fat extraction and vegetable oil refining activities;
- Manufacturing of pharmaceutical products;
- Manufacturing of coating preparations, varnishes, inks and adhesives;
- Surface cleaning using compounds with risk phrases R45, R46, R49, R60, R61, or R40 and halogenated compounds;
- Other surface cleaning;
- Printing.
Solvent records
You as a solvent user must determine if the regulations apply to your business. You must keep records of solvents purchased each month for at least 12 consecutive months to see if the regulations apply to you. Should you exceed the annual solvent consumption threshold for your sector under the Regulations, you are required to achieve compliance.
Approved Assessor
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appoint and hold the Approved Assessor list. You must contact a person from this list who would review your operation, and produce a report on the level of compliance with the regulations. This report will state if you are in compliance or otherwise with the regulations. There is a fee payable to the approved assessor for this service.
Certificate of Compliance
In order to get a Certificate of Compliance you must forward the Report received to the Environment Section of Meath County Council, together with the completed registration form and a fee of €70. On the basis of this, Meath County Council will make a decision on the issue of a Certificate of Compliance for your operation. Failure to obtain a Certificate of Compliance may result in Meath County Council initiating enforcement proceedings under the Air Pollution Act 1987.
For companies which currently comply please note that it is advisable to arrange the inspection well in advance of the expiry date of your certificate in order to carry out any remedial works which may be required to achieve a compliant report.
Queries
If you have any queries in relation to the Solvent Regulations please contact the Environment Section, Meath County Council at 046-9097210.
Solvent Regulations - Registration of an Installation Form
The registration form may be downloaded below: