- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As made)
This version of this Rule contains provisions that are prospective.
The term provision is used to describe a definable element in a piece of legislation that has legislative effect – such as a Part, Chapter or section. A version of a provision is prospective either:
Commencement Orders listed in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ box as not yet applied may bring this prospective version into force.
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to The Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Any changes that have already been made by the team appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Rule (including any effects on those provisions):
Prospective
Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
Radioactive SubSTANCES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Made
22nd August 2006
Coming into operation
22nd September 2006
The Department of the Environment being a department designated(1) for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972(2) makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by that section in relation to the safety measures regarding radioactive substances and the emission of ionising radiation.
Prospective
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and shall come into operation on 22nd September 2006.
Commencement Information
I1Reg. 1 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(3) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the 1965 Act” means the Nuclear Installations Act 1965(4);
“the 1993 Act” means the Radioactive Substances Act 1993;
“the Chief Inspector” means the Chief Inspector appointed by the Department under section 4 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993(5);
“the Department” means the Department of the Environment;
“the Directive” means Council Directive 96/29/Euratom(6) laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation;
“exposure” means the process of humans being exposed to ionising radiation;
“harm” means lasting exposure to any human being resulting from the after-effects of a radiological emergency, past practice or past work activity.
“intervention” means a human activity that prevents or decreases the exposure of individuals to radiation from sources which are not part of a practice or which are out of control, by acting on sources, transmission pathways and individuals themselves;
“intervention notice” means a notice in writing served by the Chief Inspector on a responsible person requiring intervention;
“ionising radiation” means the transfer of energy in the form of particles or electromagnetic waves of a wavelength of 100 nanometres or less or a frequency of 3 x 1015 Hertz or more capable of producing ions directly or indirectly;
“lasting exposure” means an exposure likely to give rise to harm to human health arising from one or more of the following dose criteria:
an effective dose of 3 millisieverts per annum; or
an equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 15 millisieverts per annum; or
an equivalent dose to the skin of 50 millisieverts per annum.
“nuclear installations” shall have the same meaning as under the 1965 Act;
“polluter” means any person, or any of the persons, who caused or knowingly permitted the radioactive substances to be in, on or under the land;
“practice” means a human activity that can increase the exposure of individuals to radiation from an artificial source, or from a natural radiation source where natural radionuclides are processed for their radioactive, fissile or fertile properties, except in the case of an emergency exposure;
“radiological emergency” means a situation that requires urgent action in order to provide radiological protection to workers, members of the public or the population either partially or as a whole;
“relevant foreign law” and “relevant foreign operator” shall have the same meaning as under the 1965 Act;
“responsible person” means first the polluter and if the polluter is not found the owner or occupier of the land;
“substance” means, whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour, any substance which contains radionuclides which have resulted from the after-effects of a radiological emergency or which are or have been processed as part of a past practice or past work activity, but shall not include radon gas or the following radionuclides: Po-218, Pb-214, At-218, Bi-214, Rn-218, Po-214 and Tl-210.
Commencement Information
I2Reg. 2 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
3.—(1) The Chief Inspector on behalf of the Department has a duty to investigate the condition of land where there are reasonable grounds to believe that such land is causing lasting exposure.
(2) Where the Chief Inspector has identified land likely to cause lasting exposure to human beings resulting from the effects of the aftermath of a radiological emergency, or a past practice, or past works, the Chief Inspector shall, in accordance with regulation 4, require the responsible person to ensure that, as necessary and relevant to the extent of the exposure risk involved:
(a)the land giving rise to lasting exposure and any other affected adjoining or adjacent land is demarcated;
(b)arrangements are made to monitor the exposure;
(c)any appropriate intervention is implemented, taking into account the real characteristics of the land giving rise to lasting exposure; and
(d)access or use of land or buildings situated in the demarcated area is regulated.
(3) Any intervention by the Chief Inspector or required by the Chief Inspector pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be —
(a)proportionate to the extent of the risk involved;
(b)undertaken only if the reduction in detriment due to radiation is sufficient to justify the harm and costs, including social costs, of the intervention; and
(c)optimised in its form, scale and duration so that the benefit of the reduction in health detriment less the detriment associated with the intervention will be maximised.
Commencement Information
I3Reg. 3 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
4.—(1) The Chief Inspector may by serving an intervention notice upon the responsible person require that the responsible person carry out the necessary actions set out in regulation 3(2).
(2) If no responsible person is identified then for the purposes of serving an intervention notice the Department shall undertake responsibility for necessary requirements under regulation 3(2).
Commencement Information
I4Reg. 4 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
5.—(1) The responsible person shall have a right to appeal against the intervention notice in the following circumstances where:
(a)the Chief Inspector has not taken into account the requirements set out in regulation 3(3); or
(b)the person named on the intervention notice has been unreasonably identified as a responsible person or where other persons ought also to be so identified; or
(c)the land that is subject to the notice has been wrongly identified or demarcated; or
(d)there is a material defect in the notice such that it would be unreasonable to apply the provisions of the notice to the responsible person.
(2) The responsible person served with an intervention notice may appeal within 21 days beginning with the date on which he was served the notice to a court of summary jurisdiction in accordance with Part VII of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(7).
(3) Appealing an intervention notice as in paragraph (1) shall suspend the effect of the intervention notice until such appeal is determined or abandoned.
Commencement Information
I5Reg. 5 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
6.—(1) A breach or non compliance with any requirement or prohibition contained within an intervention notice within the period of twenty-one days from service of this notice without reasonable excuse shall be an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale together with a further fine of an amount equal to one-tenth of that level for each day on which the offence continues after the conviction.
(2) Where an intervention notice has not been complied with the Chief Inspector may, once any appeal is determined or the time allowed for such appeal has elapsed, whether or not proceedings are commenced for an offence under paragraph (1):
(a)enter upon the land and carry out the works set out in the intervention notice at the Department’s cost, such costs to be fully recovered from the responsible person; or
(b)take injunction proceedings in the High Court for the purpose of securing compliance with the notice.
Commencement Information
I6Reg. 6 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
7. Nothing in these Regulations shall apply to land which is causing or likely to cause lasting exposure by reason of the presence in, on or under that land of any substances, in so far as by reason of that presence damage to any property occurs being —
(a)damage caused in breach of any duty imposed by section 7, 8, 9 or 10 of the 1965 Act, or deemed to be so caused by section 12 (2) of that Act;
(b)damage which would have been so caused if, in section 7(1)(a) or (b) of the 1965 Act, the words “other than the licensee” or in section 10(1) of that Act, the words “other than that operator” had not been enacted; or
(c)damage in respect of which any relevant foreign operator or other person is liable under any relevant foreign law, or for which he would be so liable —
(i)but for any exclusion or limitation of liability applying by reason of provision of that law made for purposes corresponding to those of section 13(3) or (4)(a), 15, 16(1) and (2) or 18 of the 1965 Act; or
(ii)if any such relevant foreign law which does not contain provision made for purposes corresponding to those of section 13(4)(b) of the 1965 Act did contain such provision.
Commencement Information
I7Reg. 7 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
8. Nothing in regulation 3 of the Ionising Radiation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000(8) shall prejudice the application of these Regulations in circumstances not falling within the scope of regulation 3 of the Ionising Radiation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.
Commencement Information
I8Reg. 8 in operation at 22.9.2006, see reg. 1
Prospective
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations implement Articles 48 and 53 of Council Directive 96/29/Euratom (O.J. No. L159, 29.6.96, p.1) laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation.
O.J. No. L159, 29.6.1996, p1
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: