Revocation of permits
17.—(1) SEPA may at any time revoke a permit (in whole or in part) by serving a notice (“a revocation notice”) on the operator.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), SEPA may serve a notice under this regulation in relation to a permit where–
(a)the permit authorises the carrying out of a specified waste management activity and it appears to SEPA that the operator of the installation or mobile plant concerned has ceased to be a fit and proper person to carry out that activity by reason of that operator having been convicted of a relevant offence within the meaning of regulation 4(5)(a) or by reason of the management of that activity having ceased to be in the hands of a technically competent person;
(b)the holder of the permit has ceased to be the operator of the installation or plant covered by the permit.
(3) A revocation notice may–
(a)revoke a permit entirely;
(b)revoke a permit only in so far as it authorises the operation of some of the installations or mobile plant to which it applies;
(c)revoke a permit only in so far as it authorises the carrying out of some of the activities which may be carried out in an installation or by means of mobile plant to which it applies.
(4) A revocation notice shall specify–
(a)in the case of a partial revocation mentioned in sub-paragraphs (b) or (c) of paragraph (3) (“a partial revocation”), the extent to which the permit is being revoked; and
(b)in all cases, the date on which the revocation shall take effect, which shall be at least 28 days after the date on which the notice is served.
(5) If, in the case of a revocation mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) or (b) of paragraph (3) applying to a Part A installation or Part A mobile plant, SEPA considers that it is appropriate to require the operator to take steps, once that installation or mobile plant is no longer in operation, to–
(a)avoid any pollution risk resulting from the operation of the installation or mobile plant on the site or, in the case of a partial revocation, that part of the site used for the operation of that installation or mobile plant; or
(b)return the site, or part of the site, to a satisfactory state,
the revocation notice shall also specify that this is the case and, in so far as those steps are not already required to be taken by the conditions of the permit, the steps to be taken.
(6) Subject to paragraph (7) and to regulation 22(9), a permit shall cease to have effect or, in the case of a partial revocation, shall cease to have effect to the extent specified in the revocation notice, from the date specified in the notice.
(7) Where paragraph (5) applies, the permit shall cease to have effect to authorise the operation of the Part A installation or Part A mobile plant from the date specified in the revocation notice but shall continue to have effect in so far as the permit requires steps to be taken once it is no longer in operation until SEPA issues a certificate of completion stating that it is satisfied that all such steps have been taken.
(8) Where a permit continues to have effect as mentioned in paragraph (7), any steps specified in a revocation notice pursuant to paragraph (5) shall be treated as conditions of the permit and regulations 13, 19, and 30 shall apply in relation to such steps, and to any other conditions in the permit which require steps to be taken once the installation is no longer in operation, until SEPA issues a certificate of completion.
(9) Where SEPA has served a revocation notice it may, before the date on which the revocation takes effect, withdraw the notice.
(10) Regulation 15(11) shall apply for the purpose of deciding whether a pollution risk results from the operation of a Part A installation or Part A mobile plant for the purpose of this regulation as it applies for the purpose of regulation 15.