Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), article 88

88. With effect from the coming into force of the Environment Protection (Amendment) Act, 2024 : (a) any pending legal proceedings with regard to the legislation listed in sub-paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) or (v) of ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION [CAP. 549. 65 paragraph (b), to which the Malta Resources Authority is, or is entitled to be a party shall, as from the date of the coming in to force of this article, be contin ued by, or against the Environm ent and Resources Authority; Cap. 423. (b) the following subsidiary legislation made under the provisions of the Malta Resources Authority Act shall, until other provision is made under, or by virtue of this Act, remain in force and have effect as if they were made under this Act and shall be renumbered accordingly: S.L. 423.12.(i) Notification of Groundwater Sources Regulations ; S.L. 423.32.(ii) Borehole Drilling and Excavation Works within the Saturated Zone Regulations ; S.L. 423.40.(iii) Groundwater Abstr action (Metering) Regulations ; S.L. 423.41.(iv) Assessment and Management of Flood Risks Regulations ; and S.L. 423.45.(v) Users of Groundwater Sources (Application) Regulations ; Act No. XVII of 2024. (c) The validity of any regulation, order, decision, authorisation, documen t, procedure or other instrument or measure made prior to the coming into force of the Environment Protection (Amendment) Act, 2024 shall not be affected by this Act, and such regulation, order, decision, authorisation, document, procedure or other instr ument or measure shall continue to be valid after the coming into force of this Act. 66 [CAP. 549. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION The activities and operations ref erred to in article 58(1) incl ude, amongst others, the following: (a) in relation to biodiversity and other natural features: (i) for whatever purpose, trade in, sell, buy, exchange, transfe r or dispose, extract or abstract, tr ansport, import, export or re-e xport such specimens of flora, fauna o r other natural features, as ma y be prescribed whether dead or aliv e in whole or in part, including any derivatives thereof; (ii) have such specimens as ma y be prescribed in transit; (iii) have in his possession such specimens as may be prescribed ; (iv) handle such specimens as may be prescribed, in any manner including the ringing and tagging thereof; (v) mount, stuff, trap, shoot or capture such specimens as may b e prescribed; (vi) deliberately pick, collect, cut, destroy, kill, pursue, tak e, damage, capture such specimens as may be prescribed; (vii) uproot, fell, prune or carry out any surgical or other int erventions on such specimens as may be prescribed; (viii) use prohibited means of capture and killing as may be pr escribed; (ix) manage invasive and alien species as may be prescribed; (x) introduce or reintroduce sp ecies as may be prescribed; (xi) carry out activities in prot ected areas considered to have an effect on the diversity and the integrity of the site or its environme ntal characteristics; (xii) carry out any activity which goes counter to the principle s of ecological, geological, geomorphological, hydrology and landscape restoration or of good-practice conservation and management of biodiversity, natural features, landscapes and protected areas, as may be prescribed, including but not limite d to: 1. activities which are exp ected to cause permanent or prolonged or otherwise significant alterations; 2. afforestation, planting, deforestation and removal of natural vegetation; 3. activities expected to generate, intensify or modify ambient noise, vibrations, light pollution, currents or other disturbances to the environment; 4. activities involvi ng fires, fireworks, spillage hazards or other potentially hazardous factors; 5. activities considered to ha ve an effect on biological diversity, on the physical aspect of the site, or on the integrity of the site and the landscape; 6. off-roading activities or events; Renumbered by: XXX.2023.9. FIRST SCHEDULE [Article 58(2)] ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION [CAP. 549. 67 7. cleaning or dredging of valleys; (xiii) modify, endanger the stability of or demolish any natural physical features, or any rural structures affording a habitat for flora and fauna or otherwise contributing to the integrity of the landsca pe or the physical environment , as may be prescribed; (xiv) manage biological diversity as may be prescribed; (xv) for the access to genetic res ources and their benefit-shari ng; (b) in relation to waste management: (i) store, treat, collect, transf er, recover or otherwise manage o r handle such waste as may be prescribed; (ii) act as broker for the carrying out of the functions mention ed in sub-paragraph (i); (iii) trade in, import or export waste; (iv) have such waste as may be prescribed in transit; (v) operate waste management facilities; (c) in relation to pollution control, conduct operations that disc harge or cause or permit to be discharged such substance as may be presc ribed into the environment; (d) in relation to the contained use of genetically modified organ isms: (i) deliberate release into the e nvironment of genetically modif ied organisms; (ii) trade in genetica lly modified organisms; (iii) manage or otherwise have in his possession genetically mod ified organisms; (e) any other activity as may be prescribed by regulations. 68 [CAP. 549. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION Provisions with respect to th e Board of the Authority and the Commission 1. The provisions of this Schedule regulate the procedures to be followed by the Board of the Authority and by the Commission. Unless the contex t otherwise requires, for the purposes of this Schedule, wherever the words "Board of the Authority" are used, they are to be construed as to include the Commission. 2. The meetings of the Board of the Authority shall be called by the Chairperson, and the said Board of the Author ity shall meet at such times as the Board may decide. 3. The Board of the Authority may act notwithstanding any vacanc y amongst its members, provided there is a quorum present at the meeting. 4. The quorum of the Board of the Authority shall consist of hal f the number of the members constituting the Board of the Authority, at the tim e of the meeting, including the Chairperson or the deputy Chairperson. 5. The Chairperson or the deputy Chairperson acting in his place , shall have an original vote, and where the votes are equally divided, he shal l have a second or casting vote. All the members of the Board of the Authority present at its meetings shall cast their vote in favour or against any motion put to the vote. Dec isions shall be adopted by a simple majority of the votes of the members present. 6. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 13, a member o f the Board of the Authority who has a direct or indirect interest in any matter c oming before the Board of the Authority for its consideration shall, not later than the f irst meeting held after the relevant circumstances have come to his knowledge, disclose the nature of his interest. The said disclosure shall be reco rded in the minutes of the mee ting and the member: (a) shall not take part in any discussions or decisions of the B oard of the Authority with respect to that matter; and (b) shall be disregarded for the purpose of constituting a quoru m for any such discussions or decisions. 7. All acts done by any person in good faith as a member of the Board of the Authority shall be valid and effective as if he were a member e ven if some defect in his qualification for appointment i s subsequently discovered. 8. Subject to the provisions of th is Act, including this Schedul e, the Board of the Authority may regulate its own procedures. 9. The meetings of the Board of the Authority shall be open to t he public in the following cases: Added by: XXX.2023.10. SECOND SCHEDULE (articles 6 and 10A) ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION [CAP. 549. 69 (a) determination of environmental permit applications as the Mi nister may prescribe by regulations ; (b) reconsideration of environmen tal permits in accordance with article 62; (c) revocation or modification in accordance with article 65; (d) reconsiderations in accordance with article 69(6); (e) any other decision as the Minister may prescribe. The Board of the Authority shall allow the applic ant and his re presentative, or any one of them, and registered interested parties who made represe ntations in accordance with the provision of article 59(3), to make submissions on any matter under consideration. The Chairperson, at his absolute discretion, may also allow any other member of the public to make submissions, subject to the power of the Chairperson to exclude any member of the public if he deems it necessary to do so for the maintenance of order and to limit the participation of the applicant and hi s representative, or of the registered interested parties wh o made representations in accor dance with the provision of article 59(3), or the public , as he may deem appropriate: Provided that the Chairperson may, where he deems appropriate, convene and conduct the meeting of the Board of the Authority through such electronic or other viable means of communication as he deems appropriate, in which case, the applicant and his representative, or any of them, and a registered interested par ty who made representations in accordance w ith the provision of article 59( 3), and any member of the public who, in the absolute disc retion of the Chairperson, is a llowed to make submissions, shall be allowed to make submissions through such electronic or other viable means of communication. The Chairperson may take all suc h measures, deemed appropriate in his discretion, to ensure the proper conduct of the meeting by electronic or other viable means. The Chairperson may also consider holding h ybrid meetings whereby Board of the Authority m embers can attend either physic ally or by electronic means: Provided further that in order to allow a member of the public to participate in the meeting held through electronic or other viable means of co mmunication as aforesaid, the Chairperson may, t hrough a notice posted on the Authority’s website, require that anyone interested in participating in the said mee ting, to register such interest, in the manner therein indicated, at least one (1) wor king day before the date of the meeting, in order to enable the Chairperson to take any mea sure he deems appropriate to allow the particip ation of the members of the pu blic. Nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted as voiding or annulling the proc edure or parts thereof, including any decision taken by the Board of the Authority, sho uld any member of the public fail to participate in the proceedings, wherever allowed to do so, due to the failure of the electronic or other viable means used to conduct the mee ting or his inability to do so: Provided further that a member o f t h e p u b l i c ’ s a t t e n d a n c e o r p articipation during a meeting of the Board of the Authority shall not be suf ficient reason to provide juridical interest to any person to file an appeal from a decis ion: 70 [CAP. 549. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION Provided further that in case the Board of the Authority conduc ts its meeting through electronic or other viable means of communication, any reference in this Schedule to a quorum or any reference made to the presence of o r voting by the members of the Board of the Authority at the meeting shall be construed accordingly: Provided further that meetings of the Board of the Authority he ld through electronic or other viable means of communication in accordance with this paragraph shall have the same effect at la w as if the said meetings were held physically. 10. Minutes of meetings held in public shall be made available t o the public on the Authority’s website. 11. Meetings of the Board of the Authority where the Directorate s are providing information to the Board of th e Authority do not need to be hel d in public but votes may not be taken.