Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre) with amending laws of:
22 December 2004 [shall
come into force on 12 January 2005];
10 June 2010 [shall come into force on 14 July
2010];
16 December 2012 [shall come into force on 1 January
2011];
28 November 2013 [shall come into force on 26 December
2013];
10 December 2015 [shall come into force on 6 January
2016];
3 October 2019 [shall come into force on 1 November
2019].
If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the
date of the amending law appears in square brackets at
the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or
clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears
in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph
or clause.
|
The Saeima1 has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following Law:
End-of Life Vehicles Management
Law
Chapter I
General Provisions
Section 1. Terms Used in the Law
The following terms are used in the Law:
1) treatment - any activity which is performed by a
treatment facility of the end-of life vehicles (also a car scrap
yard (hereinafter - a treatment facility) after the end-of life
vehicle has been handed over to a facility or collection facility
including storage, dismantling, shearing, shredding, processing
or preparation of the shredded wastes for disposal, and any other
operation carried out for the recovery or disposal of the end-of
life vehicle and its components;
2) treatment facility - a merchant which deals with
treatment of the end-of life vehicles and has received a permit
in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law On
Pollution;
21) re-use - actions, as a result of which
parts of end-of life vehicles are used for their original
purpose;
22) energy recovery - incineration of waste
as a means to generate energy, using the heat generated in the
waste incineration process;
3) end-of life vehicle - a vehicle, which its owner
disposes of, has decided or is forced to dispose of and which
conforms to any one of the categories laid down in the waste
classifier;
31) preventive measures - measures which are
taken to reduce the volume and harmful impact on the environment
of end-of life vehicles and the materials and substances
thereof;
32) recycling - production process, except
energy recovery, the aim of which is to acquire such materials
from waste, which may be used for the original purpose or for
other purposes;
4) producer - a vehicle manufacturer or a person which
according to its economic activities imports vehicles to any
Member State of the European Union.
[22 December 2004; 10 June 2010; 10 December 2015]
Section 2. Purpose of the Law
The purpose of this Law is:
1) to reduce waste from vehicles and end-of life vehicles, and
determine requirements for the production of new vehicles;
2) to facilitate re-use, recovery and recycling of the end-of
life vehicles and the materials, components and substance
thereof;
3) to ensure the treatment and disposal of the end-of life
vehicles in a safe and sound manner as regards human health and
the environment, in accordance with the laws and regulations
governing safety at work, emission of pollution into the
environment and the quality of the environment.
[10 June 2010]
Section 3. Scope of Application of
the Law
(1) This Law shall apply to:
1) passenger cars intended for carriage of passengers with no
more than eight seats in addition to the driver seat and at least
four wheels; lorries with laden weight not more than 3,5 tonnes
which are intended for the carriage of freight and which have at
least four wheels (except vintage vehicles - vehicles of value to
collectors, kept in a proper and environmentally sound manner,
either ready for use or stripped into parts); tricycles and
quadricycles;
2) the end-of life vehicles of the categories referred to in
Clause 1 of this Paragraph and their components and materials
irrespective of whether the vehicle is equipped with original
components or they have been replaced by spare parts.
(2) For tricycles and quadricycles, the only requirement of
this law that is applicable is they must be accepted free of
charge at the end-of life vehicle collection facilities.
Chapter II
Preventive Measures
Section 4. Requirements for Vehicle
Producers
The vehicle producers, in liaison with the material and
equipment manufacturers shall:
1) limit the use of hazardous substances in vehicles (starting
from the conception of the vehicle onwards), so as to prevent the
release thereof into the environment, make dismantling, re-use
and recycling of vehicles and the components and mechanisms
thereof easier and avoid the need to dispose of hazardous
waste;
2) label or make identifiable by other means the materials and
components of vehicles that can be stripped off before further
treatment;
3) in order to facilitate the identification of those
components suitable for the re-use and recovery, use component
and material coding standards approved by the European
Commission;
4) as much as possible in production use materials that may be
recycled;
5) as much as possible increase the use of recycled materials
in manufacturing of vehicles and other products.
[10 June 2010]
Section 5. Requirements in Respect
of Components and Materials of Vehicles
(1) The components and materials of vehicles that are put on
the market may not contain lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent
chromium except the components and materials intended for use in
the vehicles manufactured before 1 July 2003, as well as the
components and materials stipulated by the Cabinet.
(2) The exceptions laid down in Paragraph one shall not apply
to the following components: wheel balance weights, carbon
brushes of electric motors and brake linings.
[22 December 2004]
Chapter III
Management of End-of Life Vehicles
Section 5.1 System for
Collection of End-of Life Vehicle
Participants of economic processes - producers, distributors,
insurers or merchants which deal with collection, dismantling,
shredding, recovery, recycling or other type of processing of
end-of life vehicles, parts and materials thereof - shall
establish systems for the collection of all end-of life vehicles,
within which collection of used parts which are dismantled during
repairing of passenger cars is ensured as much as possible, or
shall participate in such systems.
[10 June 2010]
Section 6. Rights and Duties of
Vehicle Owner and Treatment Facility
(1) A vehicle owner shall ensure that any end-of life vehicle
in his or her possession is transferred to a treatment facility.
The owner of a vehicle or his or her authorised person who has
been authorised in writing shall transfer a vehicle to the
treatment facility.
(2) In accepting the vehicle, a treatment facility shall issue
to the owner of the vehicle a certificate of destruction, as well
as transfer electronically data regarding the vehicle accepted
for destruction to the Road Transport Safety Directorate. The
Cabinet shall determine the data to be indicated in the
certificate of destruction and the procedures for completing and
issuing the certificate of destruction.
(3) An owner of a vehicle or a treatment facility after the
transferring of the vehicle to the treatment facility shall write
this vehicle off by presenting a certificate of destruction to
the Road Traffic Safety Directorate. The Cabinet shall determine
the cases when a vehicle may be written off without presenting a
certificate of destruction.
(4) A treatment facility shall ensure that the owner of the
end-of life vehicle is able to deliver this vehicle to a
collection facility of the treatment facility without any cost if
the end-of life vehicle contains these essential components -
engine, steering gear, chassis, transmission, as well as no
additional waste has been added to the vehicle and the vehicle is
not registered in the Commercial Pledge Register.
(5) An end-of life vehicle registered in Latvia shall also be
written off on the basis of a certificate of destruction issued
in another Member State of the European Union.
[22 December 2004; 28 November 2013]
Section 7. Management of Abandoned
End-of Life Vehicles
(1) In territories owned by a local government and designated
for public use, the local government shall organise a forcible
removal of a vehicle parked outside on a road by placing such
vehicle in a special parking place if, in accordance with the
procedures stipulated by the Cabinet, this vehicle can be
declared to be an abandoned end-of life vehicle. The Cabinet
shall determine the procedures and requirements for transferring
of abandoned end-of life vehicles to a treatment facility.
(2) A treatment facility shall ensure that the vehicles
referred to in Paragraph one of this Section may be transferred
to a collection facility of the treatment facility free of
charge.
[22 December 2004; 10 December 2015]
Section 8. Duties of Producer
(1) [10 June 2010]
(2) A producer or an authorised representative thereof,
provided that he or she has concluded the relevant agreements
with treatment facilities, may conclude an agreement with the
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
regarding the setting up of a system for the management of the
end-of life vehicles and the application thereof, providing for
the acceptance of the vehicle in accordance with the provisions
of Section 6 of this Law.
(3) The Cabinet shall determine the time periods and the scope
to which participants of economic processes shall ensure re-use,
recycling and recovery of end-of life vehicles (except special
vehicles - ambulance cars, funeral cars, motor vans or armoured
cars), the materials and components thereof.
[22 December 2004; 10 June 2010; 16 December 2010]
Section 9. Requirements for
Treatment Facility
(1) A treatment facility shall keep the documentation
regarding all received end-of life vehicles, as well as the
copies of certificates of destruction issued for at least five
years.
(2) A treatment facility shall draw up and submit to the
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development a
plan for the re-use, recovery and recycling of end-of life
vehicles and the elements and materials thereof. Several
treatment facilities may draw up and submit to the relevant
regional environmental office of the State Environmental Service
a joint plan for the re-use, recovery and recycling of end-of
life vehicles and the elements and materials thereof. The Cabinet
shall determine the mandatory information to be included in the
plans.
(3) A treatment facility operator shall receive a permit in
accordance with the procedures laid down in the law On Pollution,
and also conform to the requirements of laws and regulations
regulating the waste management in respect of each equipment
wherein the end-of life vehicles are collected (also for
temporary storage) or treated.
(4) The Cabinet shall determine the requirements for
environmental protection to be conformed to by a treatment
facility.
[10 June 2010; 10 December 2015]
Section 10. Subsidisation of the
Management of End-of Life Vehicles
[10 June 2010]
Section 11. Board for Management of
End-of Life Vehicles
(1) The Board for management of the end-of-life vehicles
(hereinafter - the Board) is a consultative authority the
decisions of which in the field of management of the end-of life
vehicles have a recommendatory nature. The representatives from
the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
and the Ministry of Transport or the authorities under the
supervision or control thereof, as well as the representatives of
importers of new and used cars and treatment facilities shall be
included in the Board.
(2) The Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional
Development shall approve the by-laws and personnel of the Board
after co-ordination with the Minister for Transport.
(3) The Board shall encourage the implementation of this Law,
provide proposals in respect of the improvement of laws and
regulations and the financing of the end-of life vehicles
management system, as well it shall co-operate with producers and
the relevant non-governmental organisations.
[16 December 2010]
Chapter IV
Reports and Information
Section 12. Information Provided by
Producers
(1) Producers shall make accessible to the prospective buyers
of vehicles information regarding:
1) the design of vehicles and their components, as well as
regarding the possibilities for the recyclability and
recoverability thereof;
2) the environmentally sound treatment of the end-of life
vehicles, the removal of all fluids and dismantling of the
vehicle;
3) the development and optimisation of ways to re-use, recycle
and recover the end-of life vehicles and the components
thereof;
4) the technical possibilities in the field of recycling and
recovery in order to reduce the waste to be disposed.
(11) The information referred to in Paragraph one
of this Section shall be included in the informative materials
which are published upon launching of new vehicles on the
market.
(2) Producers and manufacturers of the components used in
vehicles shall provide the information regarding the dismantling
of the vehicle (including the data regarding the different
vehicle materials and components, as well as the location of the
hazardous substances in the vehicle) to the treatment facilities
of the end-of life vehicles within six months after the vehicle
has been placed on the market as far as it is needed by the
treatment facilities in order to conform to the provisions of
this Law.
(3) Upon request of a treatment facility the manufacturers of
the components used in vehicles shall provide information
regarding the dismantling, storage and testing of reusable
components, as far as such information is not considered as a
commercial secret.
[10 June 2010]
Section 13. Information Provided by
the Treatment Facility of End-of Life Vehicles
(1) The treatment facility of end-of life vehicles shall, each
year by March 1, submit the report on the previous calendar year
to valsts sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "Latvijas Vides,
ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centrs" [State limited liability
company Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre]
(hereinafter - the merchant). The assignment for the merchant to
accept such reports has been delegated by the Ministry of
Environmental Protection and Regional Development under a
delegation agreement concluded in accordance with the procedures
laid down in the State Administration Structure Law. The Cabinet
shall determine the information to be included in the report and
the sample report form.
(2) The merchant referred to in Paragraph one of this Section,
with regard to the assignment delegated thereto - to accept
reports from treatment facilities of end-of life vehicles for the
previous calendar year - shall be subordinated to the Ministry of
Environmental Protection and Regional Development.
[10 June 2010; 16 December 2010; 10 December 2015]
Section 14. Information for the
Public and for the European Commission
(1) The merchant to which the assignment has been delegated by
the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development
under a delegation agreement concluded in accordance with the
procedures laid down in the State Administration Structure Law
shall compile information regarding the reports of treatment
facilities of end-of life vehicles and prepare a report for the
European Commission according to the report form stipulated by
the European Commission. The public shall have free access to the
information submitted to the European Commission. The Ministry of
Environmental Protection and Regional Development shall post the
referred-to information on its website.
(2) The merchant referred to in Paragraph one of this Section,
with regard to the assignment delegated thereto - to compile
information regarding the reports of treatment facilities of
end-of life vehicles and prepare a report for the European
Commission according to the report form stipulated thereby -
shall be subordinated to the Ministry of Environmental Protection
and Regional Development.
[10 June 2010; 16 December 2010; 10 December 2015]
Chapter V
Administrative Offences in the Field of End-of Life Vehicles
Management and Competence in Administrative Offence
Proceedings
[3 October 2019 / Chapter shall
come into force on 1 July 2020. See Paragraph 3 of Transitional
Provisions]
Section 15. Failure to Comply with
the Requirements Laid Down in Laws and Regulations for the
Acceptance, Treatment or Destruction of End-of-Life Vehicles
(1) For the treatment of end-of life vehicles without
complying with the environmental protection requirements laid
down in laws and regulations, a fine from twenty to two hundred
and eighty units of fine shall be imposed on the treatment
facility.
(2) For the failure to comply with the procedures for
completing and issuing the certificate of destruction of vehicles
laid down in laws and regulations, a warning or a fine from
twenty to fifty-six units of fine shall be imposed on the
treatment facility.
(3) For the refusal of treatment facility to accept free of
charge an end-of life vehicle which has all the essential
components - the engine, steering gear, chassis, transmission -,
which has no additional waste added to it and is not registered
in the Commercial Pledge Register, a fine from forty-two to
fifty-six units of fine shall be imposed on the treatment
facility.
[3 October 2019 / Section shall come into force on 1 July
2020. See Paragraph 3 of Transitional Provisions]
Section 16. Competence in
Administrative Offence Proceedings
The administrative offence proceedings for the offences
referred to in Section 15 of this Law shall be conducted by the
State Environmental Service.
[3 October 2019 / Section shall come into force on 1 July
2020. See Paragraph 3 of Transitional Provisions]
Transitional Provisions
1. Section 7 of this Law shall come into force on 1 April
2005.
[22 December 2004]
2. Section 6, Paragraph four, Section 8, Paragraph one and
Section 10 of this Law shall come into force concurrently with
the relevant amendments to the law On Natural Resources Tax.
3. Chapter V of this Law shall come into force concurrently
with the Law on Administrative Liability.
[3 October 2019]
Informative Reference to the
Directives of the European Union
[22 December 2004]
The Law contains legal norms arising from Directive 2000/53/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September
2002 on end-of life vehicles.
The Law shall come into force on 1 May 2004.
The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 29 January
2004.
Acting for the President,
Chairperson of the Saeima I. Ūdre
Rīga, 17 February 2004
1 The Parliament of the Republic of
Latvia
Translation © 2021 Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre)