Water (Special Measures) Act 2025

3 Pollution incident reduction plans

After section 205 of the Water Industry Act 1991 insert—

“Pollution incident reduction plans

205A Duty to prepare and publish plans

(1) Each relevant undertaker must, before 1 April in each calendar year, prepare and publish a pollution incident reduction plan.

(2) A pollution incident reduction plan is a plan for how the undertaker intends to reduce the occurrence of pollution incidents that are attributable to its system.

(3) For the purposes of this section, references to pollution incidents that are attributable to the system of an undertaker—

(a) are references to discharges from any structure or apparatus comprised in that system of any content which may be harmful to health or the quality of the environment, but

(b) do not include references to discharges of treated effluent in accordance with an environmental permit (including any conditions to which it is subject).

(4) A pollution incident reduction plan must address in particular—

(a) the frequency with which pollution incidents have occurred during the preceding calendar year,

(b) the seriousness of those incidents and their causes,

(c) the steps the undertaker has taken to maintain any structure or apparatus comprised in its system which has been the cause of any such incidents,

(d) the measures the undertaker intends to take or continue for the purpose of reducing the occurrence of pollution incidents,

(e) the impact that the undertaker considers the measures will have in furthering that purpose,

(f) the likely sequence and timing for implementing those measures, and

(g) any other matters specified by the Minister in directions.

(5) The Minister must consult the appropriate agency before giving directions under subsection (4)(g).

(6) A relevant undertaker must have regard to any guidance given by the appropriate agency about the preparation and publication of a pollution incident reduction plan.

(7) The appropriate agency must consult the Authority and the Minister before giving guidance of the kind mentioned in subsection (6).

(8) A pollution incident reduction plan must include, or be published with, a statement by the chief executive of the undertaker that the chief executive has personally approved the plan.

(9) The first pollution incident reduction plan required by this section must be published by a relevant undertaker before 1 April in the calendar year after the one in which this section comes into force.

(10) In this section—

• “appropriate agency” means—

  (a)

  the Environment Agency, in relation to relevant undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in England, and

  (b)

  the NRBW, in relation to relevant undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in Wales;

• “chief executive”, in relation to an undertaker, means an employee of the undertaker who, alone or jointly with one or more others, is responsible under the immediate authority of the board of directors for the conduct of the whole of the business of the undertaker;

• “environmental permit” means a permit granted under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016;

• “the Minister” means—

  (a)

  the Secretary of State, in relation to relevant undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in England, and

  (b)

  the Welsh Ministers, in relation to relevant undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in Wales;

• “system”, in relation to a relevant undertaker, means—

  (a)

  in the case of a water undertaker, its supply system within the meaning of Chapter 1A of Part 2 (see section 17B);

  (b)

  in the case of a sewerage undertaker, its sewerage system within the meaning of that Chapter (see section 17BA(7)).

(11) In the case of a relevant undertaker that is both a water undertaker and a sewerage undertaker, the duty in subsection (1) is to be discharged in respect of both of its systems in a single plan.

205B Implementation reports

(1) A relevant undertaker must, together with each pollution incident reduction plan that it publishes (except the first), publish an implementation report.

(2) An implementation report is a report containing the undertaker’s assessment of—

(a) the extent to which it succeeded in implementing the planned measures during the preceding calendar year, and

(b) to the extent that it failed to implement those measures during that year—

(i) the reasons for that failure, and

(ii) how the undertaker intends to avoid repeating that failure in respect of any measures in its current plan that are the same as, or similar to, those in respect of which the failure occurred.

(3) In subsection (2), “the planned measures”, in relation to an undertaker and a calendar year, means the measures set out in its previous pollution incident reduction plans so far as they were (according to those plans) likely to be implemented in that year.

(4) Subsections (6), (7) and (8) of section 205A apply in relation to implementation reports as they apply in relation to pollution incident reduction plans.

205C Sections 205A and 205B: enforcement and sanctions

(1) The duties of a relevant undertaker under sections 205A(1) and 205B(1) are enforceable by the appropriate agency.

(2) If a relevant undertaker fails to comply with its duty under section 205A(1) or 205B(1)—

(a) the undertaker commits an offence, and

(b) the chief executive of the undertaker commits an offence, subject to subsection (3).

(3) It is a defence for the chief executive to prove that they took all reasonable steps to avoid the failure.

(4) A person who commits an offence under this section is liable, on summary conviction or conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(5) An offence under this section is to be treated as a relevant offence in relation to the appropriate agency for the purposes of Part 3 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (civil sanctions).

(6) Where, in deciding how to exercise its functions in relation to a relevant undertaker, the appropriate agency has regard to the record of the undertaker in complying with its legal obligations concerning pollution, it must also have regard to the record of the undertaker in implementing measures set out in its pollution incident reduction plans.

(7) In this section, “appropriate agency” and “chief executive” have the meanings given by section 205A(10).”