The Environment Section of Clare County Council has announced details of its annual environmental inspection plan which sets out a planned work programme aimed at maintaining and enhancing County Clare’s natural environment. The Plan sets out the inspection criteria for environmental inspections across all of the environment work areas including water, waste, air quality, noise and agriculture. It also sets the targets for undertaking inspections of regulated facilities and the method for dealing with complaints, enforcement actions and prosecutions.
The Plan has been submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, which defines the schedule of inspections which will be undertaken during 2011.
In 2010, over 3,600 inspections were carried out by waste enforcement staff of Clare County Council covering, among other things, investigation of waste and litter complaints, inspections of permitted waste facilities, visits to tyre outlets and vehicle checkpoints to monitor movement of waste.
A similar level of activity is taking place under the 2011 environmental inspection plan with a particular focus on unauthorised sites used for disposal of end-of-life or scrap vehicles, proper recycling of organic waste by households and businesses and the appropriate management and collection of waste tyres.