International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

een provided are available in the Environment Fund Accounts, which are
available on the Department's website. 1120
In so far as an application comes within the remit of the objectives (a) to (m) as set
out in the amended Act, there is potential for the grant application to be funded.
Further than that, grant approval is given across all waste management areas and
activities, rather than being streamlined or concentrated to the achievement of a
narrower set of outcomes e.g. achievement of the objectives of the Landfill Directive.
60.3 Comparison between Funds in UK and Ireland
There is some concern because with similar areas being funded year after year there
may be some reliance from certain organizations upon the fund. Their presumption
that they may be in line to receive a portion of the funding does not fall in line with
the, ‘golden rule of public funding which suggests that governments should support
only those investments that are economically efficient but not financially viable’. 1121
Funding must be seen to support projects which can prove to be sustainable after the
funding ceases. For this reason, public funding is usually required to be contributed to
by the organization applying for the funding, or a third party.
More information regarding the UK’s Landfill Communities Fund is described in
following sections, but an initial comparison between this funding stream, and
Ireland’s Environmental Fund, is shown in Table 60-2.
60.4 Sources of Fund and Size of Fund
The following examples show that environmental funding is most commonly made
available through the public sector which finances grants through their central budget
or through environmental taxation. Those funds sourced from taxes are seemingly
those which are ongoing, and those which are funded through the public sector’s
budget are usually for a limited period of time, with the amounts available from both
sources being hugely variable.
60.4.1 Environmental Taxation
Revenue from environmental taxes is sometimes ear-marked, or hypothecated, to
form an environmental fund which is used to support environmentally sound actions.
Environmental taxation is one direct source of grant funds, and the level of taxation
has a bearing upon the size of the fund available. Some examples of this are set out
below.
1120 Department of the Environment (2009) Correspondence with C O Grady March 2009.
1121 OECD (2007) Handbook for Appraisal of Environmental Projects Financed from Public Funds,
report to OECD by the Task Force for the Implementation of the Environmental Action Programme,
Available: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/10/63/38786197.pdf
911
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes