Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) Cheat Sheet

Posted on Sep 8, 2024 in Electronics

EPMA

1a. Duty of Occupier

General (EPMA Sec 2): Occupier must take reasonably practicable measures to ensure safety, considering the conditions, circumstances, technical knowledge, provision/maintenance/proper use of plant, and supervision of any process/operation.

Land and Drain (EPMA Sec 15): Occupier must obtain a license from the Director-General (DG) to discharge trade effluent, oil, chemicals, sewage, or other polluting matters into any drain or land. Failure to do so may result in liability.

Land, Drain, and Inland Water (EPMA Sec 37):

1. The DG may require the occupier to monitor any air impurity, trade effluent, or hazardous substance generated and emitted into the atmosphere, discharged into the public sewerage system, or any land, drain, or inland waters.
2. Occupier must ensure proper equipment operation and maintenance, keep records, and submit them to the DG upon request.
3. Occupier must follow prescribed standards in Regulations.

Noise (Sec 29):

1. Occupier must control noise generated by any activity or plant in the workplace.
2. Occupier must:
   • Install, alter, maintain, and operate noise control equipment specified by the DG.
   • Repair, alter, and replace noise control equipment on the premises.
   • Erect noise barriers on the premises.
   • Install plant specified by the DG to prevent/reduce noise.
   • Carry out repairs/adjustments specified by the DG to prevent/reduce noise.
3. Occupier must follow the DG’s directions to operate noise control equipment on their premises.

Air (Sec 10):

1. Occupier must maintain and operate fuel-burning/air pollution control equipment on their premises.
2. Occupier must ensure equipment is operated properly and efficiently.

Air (Dark Smoke from Chimney) (Sec 11):

1. Occupier who causes, allows, or permits the emission of dark smoke is guilty of an offense.

1b. Duty of Principal Contractor

(Sec 14: Combustible materials, fuel burning; Sec 15: Trade effluent, oil, chemicals, sewage, or other polluting matters; Sec 17: Toxic/hazardous substances into inland water) (Sec 35):

1. The main contractor who has control, knowledge, or has permitted the commission of pollution to any person shall exercise due diligence to prevent pollution from the construction site.

EPM (Boundary Noise Limits for Factory Premises) Regulations

Noise (Sec 3):

1. Occupier must ensure noise levels are within permissible limits according to:
   • 1st Schedule Part 1
   • 1st Schedule Part 2 (measurements taken every 5 minutes)
2. Noise from other sources shall be added to the permissible noise level according to the 2nd Schedule.

Noise (Sec 5): The DG may require the setting up of noise monitoring equipment to:

1. Measure and record noise levels.
2. Submit records to the DG.

EPM (Control of Noise at Construction Sites) Regulations

Noise (Sec 3):

1. Occupier must ensure noise levels are within permissible limits:
   • Before 1 October 2007: 1st Schedule
   • After 1 October 2007: 2nd Schedule
2. Noise must not exceed permissible levels and comply with terms and conditions set by the DG.
3. Measurements must be taken 1 meter between the affected building and the construction site. If no suitable location is available, the DG may specify a location.
4. Noise from other sources shall be added to the permissible noise level according to the 3rd Schedule.

EPMA First Schedule – Schedule Premises

Manufacturing of cement, concrete (0.5 cubic meters/batch), asphalt, ceramics (tiles, bricks, pottery, glass) in furnaces and kilns, chemicals (acid, alkali, chemical fertilizer, soap, detergent, sodium silicate, lime, calcium compounds, chlorine), coke/charcoal, ferrous/non-ferrous metals (casting, metal coating), gas works (coal, coke, oil, mixtures prepared to be carbonized/gasified), rock, ores, minerals, chemicals, or natural grain products (crushing, grinding, milling, separation by sieving, air elutriation), petroleum (refining and reconditioning), scrap metal recovery work (scrap metal treated in any type of furnace), primary metallurgical work (smelting or converting metal of any kind), pulping work (wood or cellulose made into pulp), abrasive blasting work (cleaning), boilers (generating steam > 2.3 tons/hour), incinerators (burning 500 kg solid material/hour or 220 kg liquid material/hour), storage of 100 tons of chemicals/hydrocarbons and related products that produce toxic gas on burning or contact with water/air, storage of 1000 tons of one or more chemicals/hydrocarbons and related products with a flash point < 55 degrees Celsius.

Other Important Points

1. Dark smoke: Owners and occupiers are liable.
2. Dark smoke may be permitted within specified control limits.
3. Occupier’s duties and the DG’s powers may be combined in exam questions (refer to Sections 10, 11, 12, 13).
4. Water pollution: Be aware of what materials can and cannot be released.
5. License applications: Know what information to provide (refer to Lecture 9).
6. Trade effluent: Example scenario: Shoes industry processing latex. As the appointed person, you need to brief them on:
   1. Applying for a license (EPMA Section 15).
   2. Details of the trade effluent to be discharged.
   3. Informing the DG about the type and time of discharge.
   4. What the trade effluent should and should not contain (refer to relevant chapters for trade effluent and toxic substances).
7. Storage of materials in addition to discharging trade effluent: Know what actions are required (usually a 10-mark question with 5 points to be addressed).
8. The court will determine the percentage of liability under negligence.
9. The nature and type of trade effluent to be discharged are important (exam questions may ask about the nature or type).
10. Trade effluent must be free of certain substances (exam questions may ask about what it should not contain).
11. EPMA and sewage trade effluent have different natures. One is for sewage and watercourses, while the other is for reservoirs and rivers (refer to the lecture on 31/10/2017, Lecture 10).