Debate contribution: Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 16 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

16 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5011009

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for the opportunity to move the motion today. The amendments to the Environmental Protection (Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Dangerous Substances) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2000 will prohibit the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). They will require all equipment containing PCBs above the new lower threshold concentration of 0·005% PCBs by weight and a volume of 0·05 cubic decimetres to be removed from use by the end of 2025 and environmentally sound waste management to be applied thereafter. That is a requirement of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, to which the EU and the UK are both signatories and where the amendments come from. PCBs fall into the category of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Parties to the Stockholm convention are committed to removing PCBs from production and use. The use of PCBs has been regulated in the UK since the early 1980s, but some PCBs are still in use, predominantly in high-voltage transformer equipment in energy infrastructure. In Northern Ireland, the main stock of equipment that still contains PCBs is held by Northern Ireland Electricity Networks. That equipment was brought into use before 1987. Oils containing PCBs can leak from transformer equipment and enter the environment, where they can cause serious health effects in humans and animals. PCBs can have adverse effects on the immune system, liver, skin, reproductive system, gastrointestinal tract and thyroid glands. PCBs remain common contaminants of animal and human food chains, generally at low concentrations, and thus diet remains one of the main sources of exposure. A regulatory impact assessment was carried out by my officials in order to assess the impact on NIE Networks, which was identified as the biggest holder of stock containing PCBs in Northern Ireland. A number of other holders were not considered to be statistically significant and were therefore excluded from the assessment. PCB-contaminated equipment has to be replaced at the end of its useful life. The amendments bring forward the replacement date of some of the NIE Networks equipment that would have to be replaced eventually. The assessment indicated that the central cost of £385,625 would be incurred by NIE Networks to meet the requirements of the legislation. The cost incurred by NIE Networks is due to the decommissioning of equipment before the end of its useful life, where there is a cost that is considered acceptable to achieve the safe destruction of the equipment. A consultation exercise carried out by my Department ran from 23 May to 22 July 2022. My Department engaged with approximately 60 targeted NI stakeholders, including small and medium-sized companies and public bodies, via a short survey that ran for nine weeks. A total of seven responses was received from businesses and public-sector organisations. None of the responses expressed any misgivings about the proposed legislation. The amendments were made in England and Wales in July 2020 and in Scotland in February 2021. They came into force in the Republic of Ireland in 2020. Northern Ireland continues to follow EU legislation on persistent organic pollutants, as required by annex 2 of the Windsor framework. Both the EU and UK are party to the Stockholm convention. Therefore, the amendments will bring Northern Ireland into line with Great Britain and the EU. By not laying the regulations, we will be in breach of the Windsor framework and will remain divergent from GB and the EU, as well as being in breach of the Stockholm convention. That incurs the risk of EU infraction action against the UK, the costs of which will have to be borne by the Northern Ireland Executive. Holders of PCB-contaminated equipment must register their pieces of equipment with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). To make that easier for customers, digital services in my Department have developed an online registration system that will go live shortly after the amendments come into force. The amendments will also provide the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which is responsible for regulating PCBs, with the legislative powers to take action where the registration duty is not complied with. Any action undertaken will be in accordance with DAERA's enforcement and prosecution policy, with enforcement tools ranging from warning letters up to formal prosecution through the courts. The costs of registration have not increased from those laid out in the 2000 legislation, due to the efficiency savings of having an online registration system. My officials will be able to check for PCB-contaminated equipment during inspections for other regulatory regimes. The charges will remain at an annual charge of £155 for holders of fewer than 20 pieces of equipment and £250 for holders of more than 20 pieces of equipment. The registration system will facilitate Northern Ireland Environment Agency engagement with registered holders and enable holders to notify the agency when the PCB-contaminated equipment has been disposed of and can be removed from the register. Officials in the Northern Ireland Environment Agency chemicals compliance team work collaboratively with the waste teams in the agency's regulation unit and will ensure that the destruction of the material is undertaken by appropriate means, in this case by high-temperature incineration. My officials have been engaging with other regulators in the UK and Ireland and have had discussions with NIE Networks, which, as I said, is the largest holder of potentially PCB-contaminated equipment in Northern Ireland. Officials issued an Executive paper on 5 March regarding the amendments. They received replies from the Justice Minister, Health Minister and Economy Minister, none of whom had any issues with the amendments and were supportive of them. The amendments were approved by the Executive at a meeting on 30 April and by the AERA Committee on 8 May.

950 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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