WATER ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1972 - SECT 9 Supplementary provisions as to consents under s.7 or 8

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WATER ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1972 - SECT 9

Supplementary provisions as to consents under s.7 or 8

9.(1) An application to the Ministry for its consent under section 7 or 8
shall contain particulars with respect to such matters as the Ministry may
determine in relation to any application or class of applications.

(2) Where any person discharges any effluent or matter in contravention of
section 7 or 8 the Ministry may give to him a notice imposing any such
condition as it might have imposed on an application for its consent under
that section [and that person may, within twenty-eight days from the date of
the service of the notice, appeal to the Appeals Commission.]

(3) The Ministry may, before granting its consent under section 7 or 8,
require the applicant for that consent to publish, in such newspapers as
the Ministry may specify, such notices in respect of the application as
the Ministry may determine.

[(4) Where an application is made to the Ministry for its consent under
section 7 or 8, the Ministry shall give notice of its decision on that
application to

(a)the person making the application;

(b)the Foyle Fisheries Commission, where the discharge is to be, or is being,
made in the Londonderry Area;

(c)the Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland, where the discharge
is to be, or is being, made outside that Area;

(5) Where, after the appointed day under section 7 or 8, an application is
made to the Ministry for its consent under that section, then unless, within a
period of three months from the date on which it receives the application or
within such extended period as may be agreed in writing between the person
making the application and the Ministry, the Ministry gives notice to that
person of its ... decision on the application, the Ministry shall, at the
expiration of that period, be deemed to have granted its consent, without
conditions, to the discharge.

(6) In determining whether to give its consent under section 7 or 8 to the
discharge of effluent or matter which, in the opinion of the Ministry, is
similar to an existing discharge, the Ministry shall have regard to

(a)the length of time during which the effluent or matter has been discharged;

(b)whether all reasonably practicable steps are being taken to prevent the
effluent or matter causing pollution;

(c)whether it is reasonably practicable to dispose of the effluent or matter
in any other manner;

(d)whether the discharge constitutes a significant threat to public health,
fisheries or any persons using water.

(7) For the purposes of this section the discharge of effluent or matter shall
be taken to be similar to an existing discharge if in the opinion of
the Ministry the discharge is similar in nature, composition and temperature
to, and is of a similar volume and made at a similar rate to, a discharge of
effluent or matter during any corresponding period within the period of twelve
months immediately before the appointed day under section 7 or 8, as the case
may require.

(8) A consent given under section 7 or 8 shall cease to have effect at the end
of a period of three years

(a)from the date on which it is given, if no discharge is made under it;

(b)from the date on which the last discharge is made under it, in any other
case.

(9) The Ministry shall maintain a register of consents and conditions which
are for the time being in force under section 7 or 8; and the register

(a)shall be open to inspection by any person at all reasonable hours;

(b)shall, in favour of a person charged with an offence, be conclusive
evidence as to the terms of any such consent or condition as it has effect for
the time being.

(10) A person who contravenes section 7 or 8 or any conditions imposed under
those sections or this section shall, subject to subsection (11), be guilty of
an offence and liable

(a)on conviction on indictment, to a fine;

(b)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding #400;

(i)on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years, or to both;

(ii)on summary conviction, to the greater of a fine not exceeding #400 or a
fine not exceeding #40 for each day on which the offence was so repeated or
continued.

(11) A person does not, until the Ministry refuses an application for its
consent under section 7 or 8, or grants any such consent unconditionally or
subject to conditions, commit an offence by contravening section 7 or 8, as
the case may be, or any conditions imposed under those sections by discharging
any effluent or matter if

(a)he has made an application to the Ministry before the day appointed under
section 7 or 8, as the case may be, for its consent to the discharge; and

(b)the discharge corresponds to the description of the discharge specified in
the application.

(12) In this section any reference to a condition includes a condition varied,
imposed or substituted under section 10.

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Northern Irish Legislation

WATER ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1972 - SECT 9