Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act 1961

General provisions as to conditions and consents governing discharges and new outlets

5 Review and variation of conditions governing discharges and new outlets

(1) A river board shall from time to time review any condition having effect under this Act or under section seven of the principal Act (other than a condition to be satisfied before a discharge is made or an outlet is brought into use), and may give the person making the discharge or using the outlet, as the case may be, a notice making any reasonable variation of, or revoking, any such condition ; and the Minister may, if he thinks fit so to do, direct the board to vary or revoke any such condition and, if the board fail within such period as the Minister may allow to give effect to any such direction, the Minister may himself give a notice as aforesaid.

(2) A statement in the form in the First Schedule to this Act shall be included among the terms of—

(a) any consent having effect under this Act or under section seven of the principal Act, and

(b) any notice given under subsection (5) of section one of this Act or under subsection (4) of section seven of the principal Act, and

(c) any notice given under this section, other than a notice given with the consent in writing of the person to whom it is given,

being a consent taking effect, or a notice given, after the commencement of this Act, and the period specified in the statement shall be a reasonable period of not less than two years from the date on which the consent takes effect or the notice is given.

(3) No notice shall be given under subsection (1) of this section before the expiration of the period specified in the said statement except with the consent in writing of the person to whom the notice is given.

(4) Subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to a consent or notice which, in consequence of the temporary nature of the discharge to which it relates or for any other reason, will be spent within two years from the date on which the consent takes effect or the notice is given, and no notice shall be given under subsection (1) of this section varying the conditions of any such consent or notice except with the consent in writing of -the person making the discharge.

(5) In this section references to varying a condition include references to substituting for any condition or conditions any one or more other conditions, and to imposing any new conditions; and references to reviewing a condition include references to reviewing any consent on which no condition has been imposed with a view to determining whether a condition should be imposed.

(6) Subsection (5) of section seven of the principal Act shall cease to have effect, but any notice given under that subsection shall have effect as if given under subsection (1) of this section.

6 Appeals to Minister

(1) Any question arising under this Act or section seven of the principal Act—

(a) whether the consent of a river board has or has not been unreasonably withheld, or

(b) as to the unreasonableness of the terms of any consent or notice,

shall be determined for the purposes of this Act and the said section seven by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(2) If at any time the river board give notice to an applicant for consent under this Act or section seven of the principal Act that they have refused consent, any reference to the Minister to determine whether the river board's consent has been unreasonably withheld must be made within three months from the giving of the notice.

(3) Any reference to the Minister in respect of the unreasonableness of the terms of any consent or notice must be made within three months from the giving of the consent or notice

(4) If, on a reference to the Minister for him to determine a question under subsection (1) of this section, he determines that the withholding of consent, or as the case may be that anything in the terms of the consent or notice, was unreasonable, then—

(a) where the reference was in respect of the withholding of consent, he may direct that the consent shall be treated as given either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as appear to him to be reasonable;

(b) where the reference was in respect of the unreasonableness of the terms of a consent, he may direct that there shall be substituted for the terms of the consent such other terms as appear to him to be reasonable;

(c) where the reference was in respect of the unreasonableness of the terms of a notice, he may direct either that the notice shall be treated as annulled or that there shall be substituted for the terms of the notice such other terms as appear to him to be reasonable,

but, without prejudice to the provisions of section one of this Act relating to the time when any conditions take effect, and without prejudice to section two of this Act, this Act and the said section seven shall apply as respects the period before the giving of the direction as if the withholding of consent or, as the case may be, the terms of the consent or notice had not been unreasonable.

(5) At any stage of the proceedings on a reference to the Minister under this section the Minister may, and if so directed by the High Court shall, state in the form of a special case for the decision of the High Court any question of law arising in those proceedings; and the decision of the High Court on the special case shall be deemed to be a judgment of the Court within the meaning of section twenty-seven of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act, 1925 (which relates to the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to hear and determine appeals on any judgment of the High Court), but no appeal to the Court of Appeal shall be brought by virtue of this subsection except with the leave of the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

(6) Subsections (10) and (11) of the said section seven shall cease to have effect, but any proceedings pending under those subsections at the commencement of this Act may be continued under this section.

7 Other provisions relating to discharges and new outlets

(1) In subsection (13) and in subsection (16) of section seven of the principal Act (under which offences under those subsections are punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding fifty pounds) for the words " fifty pounds " there shall, as respects any offence committed after the commencement of this Act, be substituted the words " one hundred pounds ".

(2) Every river board shall include in the register maintained by them under subsection (7) of section seven of the principal Act such particulars as the Minister may direct of any conditions which have been imposed under this Act in relation to land or premises in their area, and of the other terms included in pursuance of this Act in any consent or notice; and paragraph (b) of the said subsection (7) shall apply in relation to a person charged with an offence under this Act as it applies in relation to a person charged with an offence under that section.

(3) Any condition imposed under this Act or section seven of the principal Act shall continue in force (subject to any variation under this Act or the said section seven) until revoked under this Act, and shall be binding on any person discharging effluent from the land or premises or, as the case may be, using the outlet to which the condition relates.

(4) If the occupier of land or premises from which effluent passes or may pass to a stream by two or more ways meeting at the outlet, or a point short of the outlet, gives his consent for the purposes of this subsection, the power to impose conditions under this Act or section seven of the principal Act as to effluent discharged from the land or premises shall thereafter (and notwithstanding any change of occupation) include power to impose conditions as to the nature and composition, temperature, volume or rate of discharge of effluent passing in each or any of those ways separately.

A consent given for the purposes of this subsection shall be recorded in the register under subsection (7) of section seven of the principal Act but may be withdrawn by agreement with the river board or the Minister.

(5) Any conditions imposed under the said section seven may be framed so as to have effect for a specified period or for a period beginning or ending with a specified date.