Consideration and approval of a waste management plan
7.—(1) Where a waste management plan is submitted to the Department in respect of a planning permission to which regulation 4(c) applies, the Department shall—
(a)publish notice of the waste management plan in at least one newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land to which the plan relates is situated;
(b)where it maintains a website for the purpose of advertisement of applications for planning permission, publish the notice on that website;
(c)await the expiration of 14 days from the date on which the notice is first published in a newspaper in pursuance of sub-paragraph (a) or is first published on the website in pursuance of sub-paragraph (b), whichever is the later, before it considers whether or not to approve the waste management plan; and
(d)consult the public concerned and, in considering whether or not to approve the waste management plan, shall take into account any comments made by the public concerned.
(2) The Department may—
(a)refuse to approve a waste management plan; or
(b)approve a waste management plan;
but it may not approve a waste management plan unless it is satisfied that—
(i)the objectives of the waste management plan will be met, taking account of the extent to which compliance will be secured through other national or Community legislation;
(ii)the conditions of the planning permission set out in these Regulations can be expected to be complied with, as appropriate;
(iii)the waste management plan is appropriate to the category into which it considers the site or facility falls; and
(iv)where the plan relates to a Category A waste facility, major accident hazards are identified and the necessary features are incorporated into the design, construction, operation and maintenance, closure and after-closure of the waste facility in order to prevent such accidents and to limit their adverse consequences for human health and the environment including any transboundary impacts.