Control of Pollution Act 1974

Supplemental

25 Disposal of waste underground by Coal Board etc.

(1) Where the Coal Commission or the National Coal Board (hereafter in this section referred to respectively as " the Commission " and " the Board ") or any licensees of the Commission or the Board have, in the course of operations carried on for coal-mining purposes, exercised in respect of any underground land a right conferred on the Commission or the Board or the licensees by virtue of section 15 of the [1938 c. 52.] Coal Act 1938 (under which the Commission had and the Board have among other things subject to the restrictions mentioned in that section. the right in the course of such operations to enter and to execute works and do the other acts there mentioned in underground land not vested in them), that section shall have effect in relation to the land as if the reference to coal-mining purposes included the purposes of disposing of waste.

(2) The preceding subsection shall apply to any underground land which—

(a) is neither land included in a mine of coal which is vested in the Board nor land to which the said section 15 as modified by the preceding subsection applies apart from this subsection ; but

(b) is included in the boundaries of a cavity adjacent to such land as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph,

as if the Board had, in the course of such operations as are mentioned in. the preceding subsection, exercised such a right as is so mentioned in respect of the underground land.

(3) Paragraph (e) of the proviso to the said section 15 (which provides that the Board and its licensees shall not by virtue of that section be entitled to do any act which apart from that section would be actionable as a trespass or nuisance and likely to cause damage of more than a nominal amount) shall not apply to any right exercisable by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section; but a person having an interest in any underground land who suffers damage by reference to that interest in consequence of the exercise of such a right shall be entitled to recover compensation from the Board in respect of the damage if the amount of the compensation will exceed £50, and any dispute as to a person's entitlement to compensation in pursuance of this subsection or as to the amount of the compensation shall be determined by arbitration.

(4) The Board and any licensees of the Board shall not be entitled by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section to exercise any right in respect of any underground land unless they have, not less than twenty-eight days before exercising the right, published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land is situated a notice specifying the right and indicating the location of the land and a place in the said locality at which a plan showing the location of the land may be inspected by the public free of charge at all reasonable hours.

(5) Expressions used in this section and Part I of the [1938 c. 52.] Coal Act 1938 have the same meanings in this section as in that Part.

26 Outfall pipes for sewage disposal works

(1) Parts V and VI of Schedule 3 to the [1945 c. 42.] Water Act 1945 (which relate to the laying of mains and the breaking up of streets) shall apply in relation to outfall pipes and associated works which are provided or to be provided by a water authority for sewage disposal works belonging to the authority as those Parts apply in relation to water mains and pipes but as if in those Parts there were made the modifications specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 12(7) of this Act.

(2) This section does not apply to Scotland.

27 Interference with refuse tips and dustbins etc.

(1) No person shall sort over or disturb—

(a) anything deposited at a place provided by a disposal authority or a collection authority for the deposit of waste or in a receptacle for waste which is provided by such an authority or a parish or community council for public use; or

(b) the contents of any receptacle for waste which, in accordance with regulations made by virtue of section 13(7) of this Act, is placed on any highway or in any other place with a view to its being emptied,

unless he is authorised to do so by the authority or council in the case of anything deposited as mentioned in paragraph (a) above or, in the case of such a receptacle as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above, unless he is a person entitled to the custody of the receptacle or is authorised to do so by such a person or is a person having the function of emptying the receptacle.

In the application of this subsection to Scotland, for the references to a parish or community council there shall be substituted references to a highway authority within the meaning of the [1970 c. 20.] Roads (Scotland) Act 1970.

(2) A person who contravenes any of the provisions of the preceding subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding £100.

28 Supplementary provisions relating to pipes

(1) Where an authority provides pipes in pursuance of section 12(6), 14(5), 15(2), 21(4) or 26 of this Act, it shall be the duty of the authority—

(a) except where the authority is a collection authority and the pipes are situated in its area, to send to the collection authority in whose area the pipes are situated a map in the prescribed form showing the location of the pipes; and

(b) where the authority is a collection authority and the pipes are situated in its area, to prepare such a map;

and it shall be the duty of an authority by which a map is received in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection or is prepared in pursuance of paragraph (b) of this subsection to secure that a copy of the map is available at its principal offices for inspection by the public free of charge at all reasonable hours.

In the application of this subsection to Scotland, the words " the authority is a collection authority and " in paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be omitted.

(2) Section 25 of the [1936 c. 49.] Public Health Act 1936 (under which the erection of buildings over a sewer or drain may be prevented or controlled by a local authority or, on appeal, by a magistrates' court) shall have effect as if references to a drain included any pipe provided as mentioned in the preceding subsection and as if the reference to the map of sewers required by that Act to be kept deposited at the offices of an authority included any map required by the preceding subsection to be kept available at the offices of the authority.

(3) Section 21 of the [1968 c. 47.] Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 (under which the erection of buildings over a sewer vested in a local authority may be prevented or controlled by the authority or, on appeal, by the sheriff) shall have effect as if the reference to a sewer vested in a local authority included any pipe provided as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) References to pipes in the preceding provisions of this section include associated works.

29 Modification of Parts I and II to avoid duplication of control

The Secretary of State may by regulations make such modifications of this Part of this Act and Part II of this Act as he considers appropriate with a view to securing that the provisions of one but not both of those Parts apply to prescribed acts and omissions.

30 Interpretation etc of Part I

(1) Subject to the following subsection, in this Part of this Act—

• " associated works ", in relation to pipes, means any of the following connected with the pipes, namely, any valve, filter, stopcock, pump, inspection chamber and manhole and such other works as are prescribed ;

• " collection authority " means the council of a district or a London borough, the Common Council of the City of London, the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and the Under Treasurer of the Middle Temple and " English collection authority" means a collection authority of which the area is in England ;

• " controlled waste " means household, industrial and commercial waste or any such waste ;

• " disposal authority " means the council of a county in England, the council of a district in Wales and the Greater London Council, " English disposal authority " means a disposal authority of which the area is in England and " relevant disposal authority ", in relation to an English collection authority, means the disposal authority of which the area includes that of the collection authority;

• " disposal licence " has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(1) of this Act, and "holder" in relation to such a licence shall be construed in accordance with section 8(3) of this Act;

• " private dwelling " means—

  (a)

  a hereditament or premises used wholly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings as determined in accordance with Schedule 13 to the [1967 c. 9.] General Rate Act 1967 ; and

  (b)

  a caravan as defined in section 29(1) of the [1960 c. 62.] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (disregarding the amendment made by section 13(2) of the [1968 c. 52.] Caravan Sites Act 1968) which usually and for the time being is situated on a caravan site within the meaning of that Act;

• " relevant land " means—

  (a)

  in relation to a proposal to issue a disposal licence, the land on which activities may be carried on in pursuance of the licence if it is issued in accordance with the proposal; and

  (b)

  in relation to a disposal licence, the land on which activities may be carried on in pursuance of the licence, and references to land in the preceding paragraphs include such water as is mentioned in section 4(4) of this Act;

• " waste " includes—

  (a)

  any substance which constitutes a scrap material or an effluent or other unwanted surplus substance arising from the application of any process; and

  (b)

  any substance or article which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled,

  but does not include a substance which is an explosive within the meaning of the [1875 c. 17.] Explosives Act 1875;

and for the purposes of this Part of this Act any thing which is discarded or otherwise dealt with as if it were waste shall be presumed to be waste unless the contrary is proved.

(2) In the application of this Part of this Act to Scotland—

• " collection authority " means an islands or district council;

• " disposal authority " means an islands or district council;

• " private dwelling " means—

  (a)

  lands and heritages used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings; and

  (b)

  a caravan as defined in section 29(1) of the [1960 c. 62.] Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 which usually and for the time being is situated on a caravan site within the meaning of that Act;

• " Scottish collection authority " means a collection authority of which the area is in Scotland; " Scottish disposal authority " means a disposal authority of which the area is in Scotland.

(3) Subject to the following subsection, for the purposes of this Part of this Act—

(a) household waste consists of waste from a private dwelling or residential home or from premises forming part of a university or school or other educational establishment or forming part of a hospital or nursing home;

(b) industrial waste consists of waste from any factory within the meaning of the [1961 c. 34.] Factories Act 1961 and any premises occupied by a body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or any undertaking, excluding waste from any mine or quarry ; and

(c) commercial waste consists of waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade or business or the purposes of sport, recreation or entertainment excluding—

(i) household and industrial waste, and

(ii) waste from any mine or quarry and waste from premises used for agriculture within the meaning of the [1947 c. 48.] Agriculture Act 1947 or, in Scotland, the [1948 c. 45.] Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948, and

(iii) waste of any other description prescribed for the purposes of this sub-paragraph.

(4) Regulations may provide that waste of a prescribed description shall be treated for the purposes of prescribed provisions of this Part of this Act as being or not being household waste or industrial waste or commercial waste; but no regulations shall be made by virtue of the preceding provisions of this subsection in respect of such waste as is mentioned in paragraph (c)(ii) of the preceding subsection and references in those provisions and in the preceding subsection to waste do not include sewage except so far as regulations provide otherwise.

In this subsection " sewage " includes matter in or from a privy within the meaning of section 12(5) of this Act.

(5) Except as provided by regulations made by virtue of this subsection, nothing in this Part of this Act applies to radioactive waste within the meaning of the [1960 c. 34.] Radioactive Substances Act 1960 ; but regulations may—

(a) provide for prescribed provisions of this Part of this Act to have effect with such modifications as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purposes of dealing with such radioactive waste ;

(b) make such modifications of the said Act of 1960 and any other Act as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in consequence of the passing of this Part of this Act or in connection with regulations made by virtue of the preceding paragraph.