The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken a dual approach to enforcement of the RoHS regulations both undertaken an awareness campaign to improve producer awareness and also conducting compliance inspections
The EPA commenced with a targeted producer awareness campaign. Activities initially consisted of attending relevant industry conferences (some in conjunction with the DEHLG), the establishment of a RoHS dedicated webpage and meeting with large manufacturers/producers face-to-face to discuss issues. Further actions included the issuing of notices explaining the RoHS requirements in national newspapers and the sending of RoHS Information e-mail fliers to approximately 300 producers in cooperation with the WEEE compliance schemes and the WEEE Register Society.
Prior to the introduction of the Directive, the EPA carried out RoHS compliance testing on some household goods on a trial basis. The experience gained from this exercise has been incorporated into future enforcement activities. The EPA is currently carrying out the first phase of inspections for RoHS compliance. The initial focus is on high-risk items, i.e. those associated with a high probability of non-compliance and/or those with a high probability of being disposed of in the general household waste stream. The EPA is contributing to EEA-wide enforcement activities through the EU RoHS Enforcement Bodies Network.
There have been self-reported non-compliances, which were discovered by the producers at very early stages. Some of the infringements required remedial actions which have already been carried out.
