House of Commons portcullis
House of Commons
Session 2002 - 03
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Water Bill [HL]


Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    88

 

     (2)    In section 79 of the WRA (compensation and charges where drought order

made), after subsection (3) there is added—

           “(4)              Where a water undertaker makes an application for a drought order,

the Agency may recover from the water undertaker any expenses it

incurs (whether of a revenue or capital nature)—

5

                  (a)                 in connection with any local inquiry held in respect of the

application;

                  (b)                 in the exercise of the Agency’s functions so far as their exercise

is attributable to the application and (if the order is made) to the

order,

10

                         in so far as those expenses have not been recovered (whether from the

water undertaker or not) under or by virtue of any other enactment.

           (5)              Sections 125 to 129 below shall not apply in respect of any charges

which may be made under subsection (4) above.”

     (3)    In section 79A of the WRA (drought permits)—

15

           (a)           subsection (8) is omitted, and

           (b)           after subsection (8) there is inserted—

                  “(8A)                    Where a water undertaker makes an application for a drought

permit, the Agency may recover from the water undertaker any

expenses it incurs (whether of a revenue or capital nature) in the

20

exercise of its functions so far as their exercise is attributable

to—

                        (a)                        the application;

                        (b)                        (if the permit is issued) the permit,

                                      in so far as those expenses have not been recovered (whether

25

from the water undertaker or not) under or by virtue of any

other enactment.

                  (8B)                    Sections 125 to 129 below shall not apply in respect of any

charges which may be made under subsection (8A) above.”

 68    Procedure at local inquiries

30

In Schedule 8 to the WRA (proceedings on applications for drought orders), in

paragraph 2, after sub-paragraph (6) there is added—

                       “(7)                                For the purposes of subsection (2) of section 53 of the 1995 Act (which

applies subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government

Act 1972 to inquiries in connection with functions of or in relation to

35

the Agency), a local inquiry held under this paragraph with respect

to an application by a water undertaker for a drought order, if it

would not otherwise fall within paragraph (a) or (b) of that

subsection, is to be treated as one which falls within paragraph (b).”

Land drainage and flood defence

40

 69    Revocation of local flood defence schemes

     (1)    The Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) is amended as follows.

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    89

 

     (2)    After section 18 there is inserted—

       “18A            Power to revoke local flood defence schemes

           (1)           The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument

revoke any local flood defence scheme.

           (2)           The power to make an order under this section shall include power to

5

make such supplemental, consequential and transitional provision as

the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

           (3)           The provision which may be made under subsection (2) above includes

provision altering—

                  (a)                 the total number of members of the regional flood defence

10

committee in whose area the local flood defence district created

by the scheme was situated; and

                  (b)                 the total number of such members to be appointed by the

constituent councils of that committee,

                         and subsections (7) and (8) of section 16 of this Act shall apply in

15

relation to so much of an order under this section as is made by virtue

of this subsection as they apply in relation to an order under subsection

(5) of that section.

           (4)           Paragraphs 2 to 6 of Schedule 4, apart from paragraph 3(3), apply in

relation to an order under this section as they apply in relation to an

20

order under that Schedule, reading references there to the relevant

Minister as references to the Secretary of State.”

     (3)    In section 17 (local flood defence schemes, etc), in subsection (3), for “section

18” there is substituted “sections 18 and 18A”.

 70    Membership of regional flood defence committees in Wales

25

After section 16 of the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) there is inserted—

       “16A                                     Power to alter composition of regional flood defence committees in

Wales                   

           (1)           This section applies in relation to any regional flood defence committee

which satisfies (or, upon the coming into force of an order made under

30

Schedule 4 to this Act, will satisfy) both of the conditions in subsection

(2) below (a “Welsh committee”).

           (2)           The conditions are—

                  (a)                 the whole or the greater part of the committee’s area is in Wales;

and

35

                  (b)                 no local flood defence scheme is in force in relation to the area

of the committee.

           (3)           The National Assembly for Wales may by order made by statutory

instrument make provision determining—

                  (a)                 the total number of members of a Welsh committee; and

40

                  (b)                 the method of selection and appointment of the chairman and

other members of the committee (including who is to appoint

them).

           (4)           An order under subsection (3) above may—

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    90

 

                  (a)                 apply either to Welsh committees generally or to a particular

Welsh committee;

                  (b)                 include such supplemental, consequential and transitional

provision as the National Assembly for Wales considers

appropriate.

5

           (5)           In relation to a Welsh committee whose area is not wholly in Wales—

                  (a)                 the power to make an order under subsection (3) above may be

exercised only with the agreement of the Secretary of State; and

                  (b)                 a statutory instrument containing an order under that

subsection shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a

10

resolution of either House of Parliament.

           (6)           An order under subsection (3) above shall not be considered local in

nature for the purposes of section 58(6) of the Government of Wales Act

1998 (definition of “Assembly general subordinate legislation”).

           (7)           Section 15 above (or, where the order is being made in conjunction with

15

an order under Schedule 4 to this Act, that Schedule) shall not apply for

the purposes of making an order under subsection (3) above.

       16B            Effect of order under section 16A

           (1)           Sections 15 and 16 above and section 18A(3) below shall not apply to a

regional flood defence committee in respect of which an order under

20

section 16A above is in force.

           (2)           In relation to any such committee, section 18 below shall have effect as

if—

                  (a)                 paragraph (b) of subsection (4) read “other members appointed

in accordance with and subject to the terms of the local flood

25

defence scheme”; and

                  (b)                 paragraph (c) of subsection (4), and subsection (5), were

omitted.

           (3)           In relation to any such committee whose membership does not include

any member appointed by or on behalf of a constituent council,

30

Schedule 5 to this Act shall have effect as if—

                  (a)                 in paragraph 1(1), the words “other than those appointed by or

on behalf of one or more constituent councils” were omitted;

                  (b)                 sub-paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) of paragraph 1 were omitted;

and

35

                  (c)                 paragraphs 2 and 9 were omitted.”

 71    Regional flood defence committees

     (1)    Paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) (which confers

power to alter the areas of regional flood defence committees) is amended as

follows.

40

     (2)    In sub-paragraph (1)—

           (a)           the “or” at the end of paragraph (a) is omitted, and

           (b)           after paragraph (b) there is inserted—

                           “(c)                             establish a new regional flood defence committee for

such area as may be specified in the order (other than

45

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    91

 

by providing for the amalgamation of the area of any

two or more such committees); or

                           (d)                             abolish a regional flood defence committee.”

     (3)    In sub-paragraph (4)—

           (a)           after “committees” there is inserted “or otherwise establishing a new

5

regional flood defence committee”,

           (b)           in paragraph (a), after “amalgamated” there is inserted “or new”.

     (4)    In sub-paragraph (5), the “and” at the end of paragraph (b) is omitted, and after

that paragraph there is inserted—

                    “(ba)                      in relation to the establishment or abolition of a regional

10

flood defence committee for an area the whole of which is in

Wales, the National Assembly for Wales;

                    (bb)                      in relation to the establishment or abolition of a regional

flood defence committee for an area any part (but not the

whole) of which is in Wales, the Secretary of State and the

15

National Assembly for Wales acting jointly; and”.

 72    Grants for drainage works and flood warning systems

     (1)    Sections 147 to 149 of the WRA (which relate to grants for drainage works and

flood warning systems) shall cease to have effect.

     (2)    For subsection (4) of section 165 of the WRA (general powers to carry out flood

20

defence and drainage works) there is substituted—

           “(4)              The Agency may by agreement with any person carry out, improve or

maintain, at that person’s expense, any drainage works which that

person is entitled to carry out, improve or maintain; but for the

purposes of this subsection the expense to be borne by that person shall

25

not include such part (if any) of the amount of any grant made under

section 47 of the Environment Act 1995 (grants to the new Agencies) as

the Agency decides (subject to any terms on which the grant is made)

to allocate for the works in question.”

     (3)    For subsection (4) of section 166 of the WRA (power to carry out works for

30

purpose of providing flood warning system) there is substituted—

           “(4)              In this section—

                                                                      “flood warning system” means any system whereby, for the

purpose of providing warning of any danger of flooding,

information with respect to—

35

                        (a)                        rainfall, as measured at a particular place within a

particular period; or

                        (b)                        the level or flow of any inland water, or part of an inland

water, at a particular time; or

                        (c)                        other matters appearing to the Agency to be relevant for

40

that purpose,

                                                          is obtained and transmitted, whether automatically or

otherwise, with or without provision for carrying out

calculations based on such information and for transmitting the

results of those calculations;

45

                                  “inland water” means any of the following in any part of Great

Britain, that is to say—

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    92

 

                        (a)                        any river, stream or other watercourse, whether natural

or artificial and whether tidal or not;

                        (b)                        any lake or pond, whether natural or artificial, and any

reservoir or dock; and

                        (c)                        any channel, creek, bay, estuary or arm of the sea;

5

                                  “rainfall” includes any fall of snow, hail or sleet.”

     (4)    In the definition of “flood defence provisions” in subsection (1) of section 221

of the WRA (general interpretation), in paragraph (a)(ii), the words “147 to

149,” are omitted.

Information

10

 73    Information

For section 201 of the WRA (power to require information with respect to

abstraction) there is substituted—

       “201            Power to require information in respect of water resources functions

           (1)           Subject to subsection (2) below, the Secretary of State or the Agency

15

may serve on any person a notice requiring that person to furnish him

or, as the case may be, it, within a period or at times specified in the

notice and in a form and manner so specified, with such information as

is reasonably required by the Secretary of State or by the Agency for the

purpose of carrying out any of his or, as the case may be, its water

20

resources functions.

           (2)                         The Secretary of State shall have power by regulations to make

provision for restricting the information which may be required under

subsection (1) above and for determining the form in which the

information is to be so required.

25

           (3)                         A person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the

requirements of a notice served on him under this section shall be

guilty of an offence and liable—

                  (a)                 on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory

maximum;

30

                  (b)                 on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a

term not exceeding two years, or to both.

           (4)                         References in this section to the water resources functions of the

Secretary of State or of the Agency are references to the functions of the

Secretary of State or of the Agency under Part 2 of this Act or under any

35

provisions not contained in that Part which are related water resources

provisions in relation to Chapter 2 of that Part.”

Powers of entry

 74    Extension of Environment Agency’s powers of entry

In section 169 of the WRA (powers of entry for enforcement purposes), for

40

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    93

 

subsection (2) there is substituted—

           “(2)              The powers conferred by subsection (1) above in relation to any

premises shall include power, in order to obtain information for the

purpose mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above—

                  (a)                 to carry out experimental borings or other works on those

5

premises; and

                  (b)                 to install and keep monitoring and other apparatus there.”

Environment Agency’s general water resources duty

 75    Efficient use of water resources

In section 6 of the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) (general provisions with

10

respect to water), in subsection (2)(b), after “Wales” there is inserted

“(including the efficient use of those resources)”.

Border rivers

 76    Border rivers

In section 6 of the Environment Act 1995 (general provisions with respect to

15

water), in subsection (3), after paragraph (c) there is inserted “except so much

of those inland waters as are in England.”.

Reservoirs

 77    Environment Agency to be enforcement authority under the Reservoirs Act

1975

20

     (1)    The Reservoirs Act 1975 (c. 23) is amended as follows—

           (a)           in subsection (1) of section 2 (registration of certain reservoirs and

enforcement of Act, etc), for the words from “The local authorities” to

the words “county boroughs” there is substituted “The relevant

authorities for purposes of this Act shall be, in England and Wales, the

25

Environment Agency”,

           (b)           in the following provisions of the Act, for “local authority”, in each

place where it appears, there is substituted “relevant authority”—

                                  sections 2 and 3,

                                  section 13,

30

                                  sections 20 and 21,

                                  sections 24 and 25,

                                  section 27,

           (c)           in section 1 (ambit of Act, and interpretation), after subsection (4) there

is inserted—

35

                  “(4A)                    The “area” of the Environment Agency, in its capacity as a

relevant authority for purposes of this Act, is the whole of

England and Wales.”,

           (d)           in section 22(6) (institution of proceedings for an offence under the

Act), for the words from “by any local authority” to “except by” there is

40

substituted “only by the Environment Agency or”,

 

 

Water Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Miscellaneous

    94

 

           (e)           in Schedule 1 (index of definitions), at the appropriate places there are

inserted the following entries—

               “Area (in relation to the Environment Agency)...........Section 1(4A)”

               “Relevant authority..........................................................Section 2(1)”.

     (2)    Each body which immediately before the date of commencement of subsection

5

(1) (referred to in this section as the “commencement date”) is a local authority

in England or Wales for the purposes of the Reservoirs Act 1975 shall, as soon

as practicable after that date, give to the Environment Agency—

           (a)           the register maintained by the body under section 2(2) of that Act; and

           (b)           any other documents, records or other information in its possession

10

which relate to the exercise of the body’s functions as an enforcement

authority within the meaning of section 2(6) of that Act (referred to in

this section as its “enforcement functions”).

     (3)    It shall be the duty of a body falling within subsection (2) to give to the

Environment Agency all such assistance as the Environment Agency may

15

reasonably require for the purposes of facilitating the taking over by the

Environment Agency of the body’s enforcement functions.

     (4)    Nothing in this section affects the validity of anything done by or in relation to

such a body in the exercise of its enforcement functions before the

commencement date.

20

     (5)    There may be continued by or in relation to the Environment Agency anything

(including legal proceedings) which relates to any of such a body’s

enforcement functions and is in the process of being done by or in relation to

the body immediately before the commencement date.

     (6)    Anything which was done by such a body for the purpose of or in connection

25

with any of its enforcement functions and is in effect immediately before the

commencement date shall have effect as if done by the Environment Agency.

 78    Extension of enforcement authority’s reserve powers

     (1)    The Reservoirs Act 1975 (c. 23) is amended as follows.

     (2)    In section 8 (powers of enforcement authority in event of non-compliance with

30

certain requirements), after subsection (3) there is inserted—

           “(3A)              Where it appears to the enforcement authority that the report of an

engineer acting under this section includes a recommendation as to

measures to be taken in the interests of safety that has not been carried

into effect as required by this section, the authority may by written

35

notice served on the undertakers require them to carry the

recommendation into effect within a time specified in the notice.

           (3B)              Where an enforcement authority propose to serve such a notice, the

authority shall consult as to the time to be specified in the notice a civil

engineer, being a qualified civil engineer for the purpose of inspecting

40

and supervising the reservoir under this section.”

     (3)    In section 15 (reserve powers), in subsection (2), after “section” there is inserted

“8,”.

     (4)    In section 17 (powers of entry), in subsection (1)(b), after “section”, in both

places, there is inserted “8,”.

45

 

 

 
previous section contents continue
 
House of Commons home page Houses of Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries

© Parliamentary copyright 2003
Revised 14 July 2003