As part of the revision of the environmental regulations in the bodyshop sector implemented in January, the EPA has announced the procedure for applications to become part of a  National Panel of Approved Assessors.

The Solvent and Decorative Paint Regulations of 2012, specify that the Environmental Protection Agency must appoint a National Panel of Approved Assessors before 30th September, 2013. This process has now been commenced with the EPA inviting interested parties with appropriate education, skills and resources, to submit an application and relevant documentation, by way of open-competition, for appointment to the National Panel.  The information submitted will then be assessed by a panel of evaluators, using the criteria specified in the “Notice of Appointment”.

Based on the outcome of this process, the Board of the Agency will then appoint one to three bodies to the National Panel of Approved Assessors.

The “Notice of Appointment” specifies the services to be carried out and the details that must be included within the submissions.

Queries regarding this notice and the application process should be submitted by e-mail to; solvents@epa.ie. The closing date for receipt of queries is Tuesday 21 May 2013.

All applicant documentation must be submitted to the EPA by post prior to the deadline of Thursday 30 May 2013 at 4pm.

Application documentation can be downloaded from the EPA website.

This an important stage in the revision of the regulations as it should bring added competition into the sector which will hopefully be to the benefit of bodyshops.