16.—(1) The Secretary of State may revoke a permit where—
(a)that permit was obtained by the provision of false or misleading information in a material particular; or
(b)the conditions in a permit are breached.
(2) The Secretary of State must give notice to the operator as soon as possible—
(a)that the permit is revoked from the date set out in the notice; and
(b)of the reasons for the revocation.
(3) The Secretary of State must as soon as possible make publicly available a notice given under paragraph (2).
17.—(1) An operator may give notice to the Secretary of State that it intends to surrender a permit on a date set out in the notice (“surrender offer”).
(2) A surrender offer must be accompanied by any fee which is provided under regulation 22.
(3) The Secretary of State must as soon as possible after receipt of the surrender offer give notice to the operator that—
(a)the permit will be treated as surrendered from the date set out in the notice, which may be other than the date set out in the surrender offer; or
(b)the surrender offer is refused, together with the reasons for that decision.
(4) The Secretary of State must as soon as possible make publicly available a notice given under paragraph (3).
18.—(1) An operator may apply to the Secretary of State by notice for permission to assign a permit.
(2) The Secretary of State must as soon as possible after receipt of the application give notice to the operator that—
(a)the permit may be assigned within a time period specified in the notice (“permission notice”); or
(b)the application is refused, together with the reasons for that decision.
(3) Where—
(a)a permission notice is given; and
(b)the permit is assigned within the time period specified in that notice,
the assignor and assignee must give notice to the Secretary of State as soon as possible of the completion of the assignment and the date it completed.
(4) The Secretary of State must as soon as possible make publicly available a notice given under paragraph (2).
19.—(1) The Secretary of State may agree to a surrender or assignment subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State thinks fit.
(2) Where a permit is revoked, surrendered or assigned, that does not affect the liability of the operator in respect of any breach of the permit conditions which occurs before the revocation, surrender or assignment has effect.