| Amendments proposed to the Water Bill [Lords] - continued | House of Commons |
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Liability of owners for charges (No. 2)
Mr Bill Wiggin NC12 To move the following Clause:—'(1) In section 144 of the WIA (relating to the liability of occupiers for charges), in subsection (1), after "Subject to" insert "section 144AA below and". (2) After section 144 of the WIA insert— "144AALiability of owners for charges (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where—
the undertaker may provide in any charges scheme which it makes under section 143 above for the owner of those premises (instead of the occupier) to be liable for the payment of the charges for the provision of those services and to be treated for the purposes of section 144 above as if he were the occupier of those premises. (2) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to any owner which is a local authority, Government agency or publicly funded body which is prescribed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection. (3) The owner or occupier of any premises which are provided with any services by a relevant undertaker in the course of carrying out its functions shall, when requested in writing to do so by the undertaker, provide the undertaker with all such information as the undertaker may reasonably require for determining whether this section applied to those premises. (4) Subsection (3) shall be enforceable by the County Court. (5) In this section, 'premises' shall include 'mobile home' as defined by section 9 of the Mobile Homes Act 1975.".'.
Discharges to watercourses
Mr Bill Wiggin NC13 To move the following Clause:—'(1) After section 165 of the WIA, there is inserted— "165APower to discharge to watercourses (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, every sewerage undertaker may, for the purpose of carrying out its functions, discharge water with or without other matter from any relevant pipe into any watercourse. (2) Nothing in this section shall authorise any discharge which—
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting the making of any discharge without the authority of any consent that may be required by virtue of Part III of the Water Resources Act 1991. (4) The provisions of paragraph 6 of Schedule 12 to this Act shall apply to the exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1) above. (5) In this section 'relevant pipe' means any sewer, storm-water overflow, sewer, disposal main, lateral drain or outfall owned by or vested in a sewerage undertaker." (2) In section 219(1) of the WIA (general interpretation), in the definition of 'accessories', after 'wash-out pipes,' there is inserted 'outfalls (with ancillary works)'. (3) In Schedule 12 to the WIA (compensation etc. in respect of pipe-laying and other works powers)—
Liability of owners, etc., to provide information
Norman Baker NC15 To move the following Clause:—After section 144 of the W1A there is inserted— "144AA.Liability of owners etc to provide information (1) The owner or occupier of any premises of a class prescribed for the purposes of this section which are provided with any service by a relevant undertaker in the course of carrying out its functions shall, when requested in writing to do so by the undertaker, provide the undertaker with such information as may be prescribed concerning the ownership or occupation of those premises. (2) Such statutory undertakers or public bodies as may be prescribed shall, when requested in writing to do so by a relevant undertaker, provide the undertaker with such information as may be prescribed concerning the current or former ownership or occupation of any premises of a class prescribed for the purposes of this section which are or have been provided with any service by the undertaker in the course of carrying out its functions. (3) Information which is required to be provided under either subsection (1) or (2) above shall be provided in such manner and within such time as may be prescribed. (4) The Secretary of State shall by regulations make provisions for the purposes of subsection (1) to (3) above.".'.
Reorganisation of regional flood defence committees
Mr Bill Wiggin NC17 To move the following Clause:—'(1) Section 15 of the Environment Act 1995 (composition of regional flood defence committees) is amended as follows. (2) After subsection (5) there is inserted— "(5A) Where the Secretary of State has revoked any local flood defence scheme under section 18A of this Act, in appointing members of retained or new regional flood defence committees the Secretary of State shall have regard to the desirability of appointing persons who have knowledge and experience of flood defence in the local areas of those committees.".'.
Power to require adoption of private sewers
Paddy Tipping NC19 To move the following Clause:—'After section 102 of the WIA there is inserted— "102A Power to require adoption of private sewers (1) The Secretary of State may be regulations establish a scheme to enable a sewerage undertaker to be required to adopt a sewer to which this section applies. (2) A scheme under this section may apply to any sewer which is—
(3) Regulations under subsection (1) may amend section 105 so as to extend the appeals procedure to the scheme, provided that the appeal shall be heard by a person other than the person imposing the requirement to adopt.".'
Rats in sewers
Andy King NC20 To move the following Clause:—'After section 95 of WIA there is inserted— "95A Power to approve Codes of Practice
Temporary sprinkler bans
Mr David Drew NC21 To move the following Clause—'After section 76 of the WIA, there is inserted— "76A Temporary sprinkler bans (1) If a water undertaker is of the opinion that a serious deficiency of water available for distribution by that undertaker exists or is threatened, that undertaker may, for such period as it thinks necessary, prohibit or restrict, as respects the whole or any part of its area, the use for the purpose of watering private gardens of any water supplied by that undertaker and distributed by means of a water sprinkler or similar apparatus. (2) A water undertaker imposing a prohibition or restriction under this section shall, before it comes into force, give public notice of it, and of the date on which it will come into force, in two or more newspapers circulating in the locality affected by the prohibition or restriction. (3) Any person who, at a time when a prohibition or restriction under this section is in force, contravenes its provisions shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. (4) Where a prohibition or restriction is imposed by a water undertaker under this section, charges made by the undertaker for the use of a sprinkler or similar apparatus shall be subject to a reasonable reduction and, in the case of a charge paid in advance, the undertaker shall make any necessary repayment or adjustment.".'.
River Basin Management Committees
Norman Baker NC23 To move the following Clause:—'(1) In section 14 of the Environment Act 1995 after subsection (4) there is inserted— "(5) From 1st December 2007 the Secretary of State shall, by order, establish river basin management committees to replace regional flood defence committees. (6) In establishing the areas within which river basin management committees shall function the Secretary of State shall have regard to the borders of river basin districts identified in accordance with Article 3 of the Water Framework Directive. (7) River basin management committees shall inherit the powers and duties of the regional flood defence committees they replace and any additional duties that may be prescribed by regulations. (8) The Environment Agency shall consult river basin management committees in the production of river basin management plans as required by article 13 of the Water Framework Directive. (9) The Secretary of State may direct the Environment Agency to assign to river basin management committees any of the functions required of the Agency by regulations implementing the Water Framework Directive." (2) From 1st December 2007 all references in the Environment Act 1995 to "regional flood defence committee" or any variant thereof shall have effect as if they were references to "river basin management committee" or the appropriate variant. (3) On 1st December 2007, the following parts of the Environment Act 1995 shall cease to have effect—
(4) In paragraph 11 of Schedule 5 of the Environment Act 2007, after "committee" the end of part (a) there is inserted—
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