The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the second phase of its online portal which allows for public access to its enforcement activities.
The first phase of the Licencing and Enforcement Access Portal (LEAP) was launched in May of this year.
The first phase provided public access to site visit reports, monitoring reports, and responses to licencees to those reports, as well as monitoring returns, and requests for information.
The second phase, launched today (Thursday, November 2), will deliver further enforcement information, including details of incidents, non-compliances, complaint summaries, and compliance investigations into issues detected at licenced sites.
Today’s launch completes the roll-out of LEAP, and, according to the EPA, provides access to the full set of enforcement information describing the enforcement activities, actions, and communications between the EPA and holders of EPA licences and permits.
The information provided can be viewed on desktop, tablet and mobile phone.
Commenting the roll-out of LEAP, EPA programme manager Darragh Page said: “The EPA wants the public to have full access to environmental enforcement activities.
“The detailed compliance and enforcement information we make available through the LEAP online portal allows the public to learn about nearby licenced operations and how they are performing in their obligations to protect their local environment.
“It also enables operations themselves to communicate directly with their neighbours about their environmental performance as they conduct their business, including how they address compliance issues when they occur,” Page added.
The EPA said that the launch of LEAP is part of its “ongoing work to continuously improve public access to the information we hold”.
The agency said that, over the years, it has progressively delivered improved access to information about its licencing and enforcement activities.
The first phase of the LEAP portal provided for access to EPA site inspection and monitoring reports as well as licencee returns submitted by operators.
These are the main types of notifications that operators must send to demonstrate ongoing compliance with licence conditions, and include monitoring reports, site upgrades, requests for approval, and responses to EPA instructions and corrective actions.
It also included licencee public responses to EPA site visit reports, and the annual environmental report which summarises the operators’ compliance each year.
The second phase of the LEAP roll-out includes information on the remainder of the EPA’s regulatory correspondence, including details of incidents, complaints summaries, non-compliances and details of compliance investigations.