Environmental Protection Act 1990

36 Grant of licences. E+W+S

(1) An application for a licence shall be made—

(a) in the case of an application for a site licence, to the waste regulation authority in whose area the land is situated; and

(b) in the case of an application for a mobile plant licence, to the waste regulation authority in whose area the operator of the plant has his principal place of business;

[F1 and shall be made on a form provided for the purpose by the waste regulation authority and accompanied by such information as that authority reasonably requires and the charge prescribed for the purpose by a charging scheme under section 41 of the Environment Act 1995.

F1 (1A) Where an applicant for a licence fails to provide the waste regulation authority with any information required under subsection (1) above, the authority may refuse to proceed with the application, or refuse to proceed with it until the information is provided.]

(2) A licence shall not be issued for a use of land for which planning permission is required in pursuance of the M1 Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or the M2 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 unless—

(a) such planning permission is in force in relation to that use of the land, or

(b) an established use certificate is in force under section 192 of the said Act of 1990 or section 90 of the said Act of 1972 in relation to that use of the land.

(3) Subject to subsection (2) above and subsection (4) below, a waste regulation authority to which an application for a licence has been duly made shall not reject the application if it is satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person unless it is satisfied that its rejection is necessary for the purpose of preventing—

(a) pollution of the environment;

(b) harm to human health; or

(c) serious detriment to the amenities of the locality;

but paragraph (c) above is inapplicable where planning permission is in force in relation to the use to which the land will be put under the licence.

(4) Where the waste regulation authority proposes to issue a licence, the authority must, before it does so,—

(a) refer the proposal to [F2 the appropriate planning authority] and the Health and Safety Executive; and

(b) consider any representations about the proposal which the [F2 authority] or the Executive makes to it during the allowed period.

F3 (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F3 (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) Where any part of the land to be used is land which has been notified under section 28(1) of the M3 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (protection for certain areas) and the waste regulation authority proposes to issue a licence, the authority must, before it does so—

(a) refer the proposal to the appropriate nature conservation body; and

(b) consider any representations about the proposal which the body makes to it during the allowed period;

and in this section any reference to the appropriate nature conservation body is a reference to the Nature Conservancy Council for England, [F4 Scottish Natural Heritage] or the Countryside Council for Wales, according as the land is situated in England, Scotland or Wales.

[F5 (8) Until the date appointed under section 131(3) below any reference in subsection (7) above to the appropriate nature conservation body is a reference to the Nature Conservancy Council.]

(9) If within the period of four months beginning with the date on which a waste regulation authority received an application for the grant of a licence, or within such longer period as the authority and the applicant may at any time agree in writing, the authority has neither granted the licence in consequence of the application nor given notice to the applicant that the authority has rejected the application, the authority shall be deemed to have rejected the application.

[F6 (9A) Subsection (9) above—

(a) shall not have effect in any case where, by virtue of subsection (1A) above, the waste regulation authority refuses to proceed with the application in question, and

(b) shall have effect in any case where, by virtue of subsection (1A) above, the waste regulation authority refuses to proceed with it until the required information is provided, with the substitution for the period of four months there mentioned of the period of four months beginning with the date on which the authority received the information.]

[F7 (10) The period allowed to the appropriate planning authority, the Health and Safety Executive or the appropriate nature conservancy body for the making of representations under subsection (4) or (7) above about a proposal is the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the day on which the proposal is received by the waste regulation authority or such longer period as the waste regulation authority, the appropriate planning authority, the Executive or the body, as the case may be, agree in writing.

(11) In this section—

• “the appropriate planning authority” means—

  (a)

  where the relevant land is situated in the area of a London borough council, that London borough council;

  (b)

  where the relevant land is situated in the City of London, the Common Council of the City of London;

  (c)

  where the relevant land is situated in a non-metropolitan county in England, the council of that county;

  (d)

  where the relevant land is situated in a National Park or the Broads, the National Park authority for that National Park or, as the case may be, the Broads Authority;

  (e)

  where the relevant land is situated elsewhere in England or Wales, the council of the district or, in Wales, the county or county borough, in which the land is situated;

  (f)

  where the relevant land is situated in Scotland, the council constituted under section 2 of the M4 Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 for the area in which the land is situated;

• “the Broads” has the same meaning as in the M5 Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988;

• “National Park authority”, F8 . . . means a National Park authority established under section 63 of the Environment Act 1995 which has become the local planning authority for the National Park in question;

• “the relevant land” means—

  (a)

  in relation to a site licence, the land to which the licence relates; and

  (b)

  in relation to a mobile plant licence, the principal place of business of the operator of the plant to which the licence relates.

F9 (12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(13) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend the definition of “appropriate planning authority” in subsection (11) above.

(14) This section shall have effect subject to section 36A below.]

Textual Amendments

F1 In s. 36: words including s. 36(1A) substituted (1.4.1996 for limited purposes and 1.4.1998 in so far as not already in force) for words following para. 36(1)(b) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1), Sch. 22 para. 68(2) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3 (with saving in art. 4); S.I. 1998/604, art.2.

F2 Words in s. 36(4)(a)(b) substituted (1.4.1996, subject to a saving with modifications in S.I. 1996/186, art. 4, in relation to certain applications for a licence made before 1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1), Sch. 22 para. 68(3)(a)(b) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3

F3 S. 36(5)(6) repealed (1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1)(3), Sch. 22 para. 68(4), Sch. 24 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3

F4 Words in s. 36(7) substituted (1.04.1992) by Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 (c. 28, SIF 46:1), s. 4(10), Sch. 2 para. 10(2); S.I. 1991/2633, art. 4.

F5 S. 36(8) repealed (prosp.) by Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43, SIF 46:4), ss. 162(2), 164(3), Sch. 16 Pt. II

F6 S. 36(9A) inserted (1.4.1998) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1), Sch. 22 para. 68(5) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1998/604, art.2.

F7 S. 36(10)-(14) substituted (1.4.1996) for s. 36(10) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(1), Sch. 22 para. 68(6) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3 (with saving in art. 4)

F8 S. 36(11): words in the definition of "National Park" repealed (1.4.1997) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(3), Sch. 24 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/2560, art. 2, Sch.

F9 S. 36(12) repealed (1.4.1997) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(3), Sch. 24 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/2560, art. 2, Sch.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 36(2)(a) extended (S.) (27.5.1997) by 1997 c. 8, ss. 150(7)(c), 278(2)

C2 S. 36(3) amended (1.5.1994) by S.I. 1994/1056, regs. 1(3), 19, Sch. 4 Pt. I para. 9(7)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 36 not in force at Royal Assent, see. s. 164(3); s. 36(1) in force at 18.2.1993 by S.I. 1993/274, art. 2(1); s. 36 in force in so far as not already in force at 1.5.1994 save for purposes of application to activities specified in art. 2(2) of the commencing S.I. and otherwise in force in relation to those activities in accordance with art. 3 of the commencing S.I. by S.I. 1994/1096, arts. 2(2)(3), 3 (as amended by S.I. 1994/2487, art. 2 and S.I. 1994/3234, art. 2)

Marginal Citations

M1 1990 c. 8.

M2 1972 c. 52.

M3 1981 c. 69.

M4 1994 c. 39.

M5 1988 c. 4.