The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

[F1 Reserve powers of enforcing authority N.I.

28B— (1) If it appears to an enforcing authority that waste has been deposited in or on any land in contravention of Article 4(1) and that—

(a) in order to remove or prevent pollution of land, water or air or harm to human health it is necessary that the waste be forthwith removed or other steps taken to eliminate or reduce the consequences of the deposit or both, or

(b) there is no occupier of the land, or

(c) the occupier neither made nor knowingly permitted the deposit of the waste,

the enforcing authority may remove the waste from the land or take other steps to eliminate or reduce the consequences of the deposit or, as the case may require, to remove the waste and take those steps.

(2) Where an enforcing authority exercises any of the powers conferred on it by paragraph (1) it may recover any costs necessarily incurred by it in removing the waste or taking the steps or both and in disposing of the waste—

(a) from the person who deposited the waste; or

(b) if that person cannot be identified or cannot be found without the enforcing authority incurring unreasonable expense—

(i) in a case falling within paragraph (1)(a), from the occupier of the land,

(ii) in a case falling within paragraph (1)(b) or (c), from the owner of the land, unless (in either case) he proves that he neither made nor knowingly caused nor knowingly permitted the deposit of the waste.

(3) Any waste removed by an enforcing authority under paragraph (1) shall belong to the enforcing authority and may be dealt with accordingly.]

F1 Arts. 28-28B substituted for art. 20, 28A (2.1.2023) by Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (c. 5), ss. 4, 12; S.R. 2022/289, art. 2(a)