Control of Pollution Act 1974

Ancillary provisions relating to control of discharges

41 Registers

(1) It shall be the duty of water authorities to maintain, in accordance with regulations, registers containing prescribed particulars of—

(a) applications for consents made to the authorities in pursuance of this Part of this Act;

(b) consents given in pursuance of any provision of this Part of this Act (except section 40(4)) and the conditions to which the consents are subject;

(c) samples of effluent taken by the authorities in pursuance of section 113(1) of the [1963 c. 38.] Water Resources Act 1963 or, in Scotland, section 19 of the [1951 c. 66.] Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) (Scotland) Act 1951, samples of water taken by the authorities, information produced by analyses of the samples and the steps taken in consequence of the information;

(d) certificates issued in pursuance of the following section ;

(e) notices of which copies have been served on the authorities in pursuance of section 51(3)(b) of this Act other than notices of rejections of applications.

(2) It shall be the duty of a water authority—

(a) to secure that registers maintained by the authority in pursuance of the preceding subsection are, after such date as is prescribed with respect to the registers, open to inspection by the public free of charge at all reasonable hours; and

(b) to afford members of the public reasonable facilities for obtaining from the authority, on payment of reasonable charges, copies of entries in the register.

42 Power of Secretary of State to exempt applications, consents and conditions etc from publicity

(1) If a person who proposes to make or has made an application to a water authority for any consent in pursuance of section 34 of this Act (hereafter in this subsection referred to as " the relevant application ")—

(a) applies to the Secretary of State within a prescribed period for a certificate providing that section 36(1) of this Act and paragraphs (a) to (c) and (e) of subsection (1) of the preceding section shall not apply to the relevant application or to any consent given or conditions imposed in consequence of the relevant application or to any sample of effluent taken from a discharge for which consent is given in consequence of the relevant application or to information produced by analysis of such a sample ; and

(b) satisfies the Secretary of State that it would—

(i) prejudice to an unreasonable degree some private interest by disclosing information about a trade secret, or

(ii) be contrary to the public interest,

if a certificate were not issued in pursuance of his application to the Secretary of State,

the Secretary of State may issue a certificate to that person providing that section 36(1) of this Act and those paragraphs shall not apply to such of the things mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection as are specified in the certificate.

(2) If a person who is making or proposes to make a discharge which is the subject of a consent given in pursuance of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts 1951 to 1961 or the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) (Scotland) Acts 1951 and 1965 or section 72 of the [1963 c. 38.] Water Resources Act 1963—

(a) applies to the Secretary of State for a certificate providing that subsection (1)(b) or (c) of the preceding section shall not apply to the consent or any conditions to which the consent is subject or any sample of effluent taken from a discharge to which the consent relates or any information produced by analysis of such a sample ; and

(b) satisfies the Secretary of State as mentioned in paragraph (b) of the preceding subsection,

the Secretary of State may issue a certificate to that person providing that the said subsection (1)(b) or (c) shall not apply to such of the things mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection as are specified in the certificate.