S.L. 549.50 Art. 11Construction and management of waste facilities. S.L. 549.10 S.L. 423.16 S.L. 423.20

(1) The management of a waste facility shall be in the hands of a competent person and technical development and training of staff shall be provided.

(2) In constructing a new waste facility or modifying an existing waste facility, the operator shall ensure that:

(a) the waste facility is suitably located, taking into account in particular Community or Maltese obligations relating to protected areas, and geological, hydrological, hydrogeological, seismic and geotechnical factors, and is designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for, in the short and long-term perspectives, preventing pollution of the soil, air, groundwater or surface water, taking into account especially the Pollution Caused by Certain Dangerous Substances discharged into the Aquatic Environment Regulations, the Protection of Groundwater against

Pollution caused by Certain Dangerous Substances Regulations, and the Water Policy Framework Regulations, 2and ensuring efficient collection of contaminated water and leachate as and when required under the permit, and reducing erosion caused by water or wind as far as it is technically possible and economically viable;

(b) the waste facility is suitably constructed, managed and maintained to ensure its physical stability and to prevent pollution or contamination of soil, air, surface water or groundwater in the short and long-term perspectives as well as to minimise as far as possible damage to landscape;

(c) there are suitable plans and arrangements for regular monitoring and inspection of the waste facility by competent persons and for taking action in the event of results indicating instability or water or soil contamination: Provided that records of monitoring and inspections shall be kept, together with permit documentation, in order to ensure the appropriate hand-over of information, particularly in the event of a change of operator;

(d) suitable arrangements are made for the rehabilitation of the land and the closure of the waste facility; and

(e) suitable arrangements are made for the after-closure phase of the waste facility.

(3) The operator shall, without undue delay and in any event not later than forty-eight hours thereafter, notify the competent authority of any events likely to affect the stability of the waste facility and any significant adverse environmental effects revealed by the control and monitoring procedures of the waste facility.

(4) The operator shall implement the internal emergency plan, where applicable, and follow any other instruction from the competent authority as to the corrective measures to be taken.

(5) The operator shall bear the costs of the measures to be undertaken.

(6) At least once a year, the operator shall report, on the basis of aggregated data, all monitoring results to the competent authority for the purposes of demonstrating compliance with permit conditions and increasing knowledge of waste and waste facility behaviour. On the basis of this report the competent authority may decide that validation by an independent expert is necessary.