John Gormley said the Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulations 2009 makes more explicit the offence of disposal of waste by uncontrolled burning.
Failure to comply with the new regulations is an offence and fines of up to €3,000 are applicable for summary offences brought to court.
The regulations provide exemptions for certain agricultural practices, but only as a last resort and after specified steps are taken to, inter alia, reduce, and recycle waste arisings.
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This exemption applies until 1 January 2014 when such activities will require registration with local authorities and be subject to the controls set out in the facility permit legislation.
"The current legislative provisions are not strong enough to tackle the wholly unacceptable practice of uncontrolled burning of waste," said the Minister.
He added: "In that report the EPA indicated that 80% of local authorities had identified backyard burning as being a significant problem."
The Minister acknowledged the efforts made to date by local authorities to tackle the issue, which have had a heavy emphasis on awareness.
"Any burning of waste that causes, or is likely to cause, pollution will now more explicitly be a breach of both the Waste Management and Air Pollution legislation and local authorities will be able to take legal action against the offenders," said Mr Gormley.
(PR/KMcA)
