|
| |
|
(7) | The rate of interest payable in accordance with subsection (6) is a rate |
| |
determined by the Secretary of State as comparable with commercial |
| |
| |
(8) | The defaulter must provide a person taking action by virtue of |
| |
subsection (4) with such assistance as the Secretary of State may direct. |
| 5 |
(9) | The power to give a direction under this section is without prejudice to |
| |
| |
(a) | in the consent, with regard to the enforcement of any of its |
| |
| |
(b) | in the condition, with regard to the enforcement of the |
| 10 |
| |
Emergency safety requirements |
| |
79F | Damage to, or changes in, the works: emergency safety notices |
| |
(1) | This section applies in any case where— |
| |
(a) | the Secretary of State has given consent (“the relevant consent”) |
| 15 |
for an authorised exploration or exploitation operation, and |
| |
(b) | at any time after the giving of that consent, the condition in |
| |
| |
(2) | The condition is that it appears to the Secretary of State that any danger |
| |
to navigation has arisen by reason of— |
| 20 |
(a) | any substantial damage to any works to which the relevant |
| |
| |
(b) | any other substantial and unforeseen change in the state or |
| |
position of any such works. |
| |
(3) | If it appears to the Secretary of State necessary to do so in the interests |
| 25 |
of the safety of navigation, the Secretary of State may serve a notice (an |
| |
“emergency safety notice”) on the consent holder. |
| |
(4) | By serving an emergency safety notice on the consent holder, the |
| |
Secretary of State imposes on the consent holder such requirements as |
| |
are prescribed in the notice with respect to any of the matters specified |
| 30 |
| |
| |
(a) | the provision on, or in the vicinity of, the works in question of |
| |
any lights, signals or other aids to navigation, and |
| |
(b) | the stationing of guard ships in the vicinity of those works. |
| 35 |
(6) | An emergency safety notice may be served by the Secretary of State |
| |
| |
(a) | the operation in question has been completed, or |
| |
(b) | any condition was imposed by the Secretary of State, on giving |
| |
the relevant consent, with respect to any of the matters referred |
| 40 |
| |
79G | Emergency safety notices: supplementary provisions |
| |
(1) | If the consent holder fails to comply with an emergency safety notice |
| |
within the time allowed, the Secretary of State may— |
| |
(a) | comply with the notice on behalf of the consent holder, or |
| 45 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(b) | make arrangements for another person to do so. |
| |
(2) | For the purposes of subsection (1) “the time allowed” is the period of 24 |
| |
hours beginning with the time when the emergency safety notice is |
| |
served on the consent holder or as soon after the end of that period as |
| |
is reasonably practicable. |
| 5 |
(3) | A person taking action by virtue of subsection (1) may— |
| |
(a) | do anything which the consent holder could have done, and |
| |
(b) | recover any reasonable costs incurred in taking the action from |
| |
such one or more persons falling within subsection (4) as the |
| |
Secretary of State considers appropriate. |
| 10 |
| |
| |
(b) | any other person or persons bound by a consent condition by |
| |
virtue of section 79D(3). |
| |
(5) | A person (“P”) liable to pay any sum by virtue of subsection (3)(b) must |
| 15 |
also pay interest on that sum for the period beginning with the day on |
| |
which the person taking action by virtue of subsection (1) notified P of |
| |
the sum payable and ending with the date of payment. |
| |
(6) | The rate of interest payable in accordance with subsection (5) is a rate |
| |
determined by the Secretary of State as comparable with commercial |
| 20 |
| |
(7) | Once an emergency safety notice has been complied with (whether by |
| |
the consent holder or otherwise)— |
| |
(a) | the requirements of the notice are, subject to subsection (8), to |
| |
be treated for the purposes of this Part as conditions subject to |
| 25 |
which the consent was given, but |
| |
(b) | section 79D(2) and (5) are not to apply in the case of those |
| |
| |
(8) | If it appears to the Secretary of State (whether on the application of any |
| |
person or otherwise) that the circumstances giving rise to the urgent |
| 30 |
necessity for the imposition of the requirements no longer exist, the |
| |
Secretary of State must revoke the requirements by notice served on the |
| |
| |
(9) | Where the Secretary of State has served an emergency safety notice in |
| |
respect of any particular circumstances, subsection (7) does not |
| 35 |
preclude the Secretary of State from serving a further such notice in |
| |
respect of those circumstances. |
| |
79H | Failure to comply with condition: immediate action notice |
| |
(1) | This section applies where— |
| |
(a) | a consent under section 79A(1) has been given subject to |
| 40 |
| |
(b) | a person falling within subsection (2) fails to comply with a |
| |
| |
(c) | it appears to the Secretary of State that any danger to navigation |
| |
has arisen by reason of the failure to comply with the condition. |
| 45 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
(b) | any person bound by the condition by virtue of section 79D(3). |
| |
(3) | If it appears to the Secretary of State necessary to do so in the interests |
| |
of the safety of navigation, the Secretary of State may serve a notice (an |
| |
“immediate action notice”) on the person, imposing on the person one |
| 5 |
or more specified requirements falling within subsection (4). |
| |
(4) | The requirements are— |
| |
(a) | a requirement to comply with the condition; |
| |
(b) | a requirement to take any specified action or actions to remedy |
| |
the failure to comply with the condition. |
| 10 |
(5) | Subsections (1) to (6) of section 79G apply in relation to a person and an |
| |
immediate action notice as they apply in relation to the consent holder |
| |
and an emergency safety notice. |
| |
(6) | In this section “specified” means specified in the immediate action |
| |
| 15 |
| |
79I | Carrying out operation without consent etc |
| |
(1) | It is an offence for a person— |
| |
(a) | to carry out an operation to which subsection (1) of section 79A |
| |
applies without the written consent of the Secretary of State |
| 20 |
under that subsection, or |
| |
(b) | to fail to comply with a condition of such a consent. |
| |
(2) | A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— |
| |
(a) | on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000, or |
| |
(b) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not |
| 25 |
exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or both. |
| |
79J | Offences relating to consents |
| |
(1) | It is an offence for a person to make a statement which the person |
| |
knows to be false, or recklessly to make a statement which is false, in |
| |
order to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State under section |
| 30 |
| |
(2) | It is an offence for a person to fail to disclose information which the |
| |
person knows, or ought to know, to be relevant to an application for the |
| |
consent of the Secretary of State under section 79A(1). |
| |
(3) | A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— |
| 35 |
(a) | on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory |
| |
| |
(b) | on conviction on indictment, to a fine. |
| |
79K | Failure to comply with direction under section 79E |
| |
(1) | It is an offence for a person to fail to comply with a direction under |
| 40 |
section 79E, unless the person proves that due diligence was exercised |
| |
in order to avoid the failure. |
| |
(2) | A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(a) | on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000, or |
| |
(b) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not |
| |
exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or both. |
| |
79L | Failure to comply with notice under section 79F or 79H |
| |
(1) | It is an offence for a person to fail to comply with— |
| 5 |
(a) | an emergency safety notice, or |
| |
(b) | an immediate action notice, |
| |
| within the time allowed (within the meaning of section 79G(1)). |
| |
(2) | A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— |
| |
(a) | on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000, or |
| 10 |
(b) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not |
| |
exceeding 2 years or to a fine, or both. |
| |
79M | Injunctions restraining breaches of section 79A(1) |
| |
(1) | Where the Secretary of State considers it necessary or expedient to |
| |
restrain any actual or apprehended breach of section 79A(1), the |
| 15 |
Secretary of State may apply to the court for an injunction or, in |
| |
| |
(2) | An application may be made whether or not the Secretary of State has |
| |
exercised, or is proposing to exercise, any of the other powers under |
| |
| 20 |
(3) | On an application under subsection (1), the court may grant such an |
| |
injunction or interdict as the court considers appropriate for the |
| |
purpose of restraining the breach. |
| |
(4) | Rules of court may provide for an injunction or interdict to be issued |
| |
against a person whose identity is unknown. |
| 25 |
(5) | In this section “the court” means— |
| |
| |
(b) | in Scotland, the Court of Session. |
| |
| |
(1) | The Secretary of State may appoint persons to act as inspectors to assist |
| 30 |
in carrying out the functions of the Secretary of State under this Part. |
| |
(2) | The Secretary of State may make payments, by way of remuneration or |
| |
otherwise, to inspectors appointed under this section. |
| |
(3) | The Secretary of State may make regulations about— |
| |
(a) | the powers and duties of inspectors appointed under this |
| 35 |
| |
(b) | the powers and duties of any other person acting on the |
| |
directions of the Secretary of State in connection with a function |
| |
| |
(c) | the facilities and assistance to be accorded to persons |
| 40 |
mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b). |
| |
(4) | The powers conferred by virtue of subsection (3) may include powers |
| |
of a kind specified in section 108(4) of the Environment Act 1995 |
| |
(powers of entry, investigation, etc). |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(5) | Any regulations under this section may provide for the creation of |
| |
offences which are punishable— |
| |
(a) | on summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding the statutory |
| |
maximum or such lesser amount as is specified in the |
| |
| 5 |
(b) | on conviction on indictment, by a fine. |
| |
| |
(1) | Proceedings for a relevant offence may be taken, and the offence may |
| |
for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any |
| |
place in the United Kingdom. |
| 10 |
(2) | Section 3 of the Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878 (restriction on |
| |
prosecutions) does not apply to any proceedings for a relevant offence. |
| |
(3) | In this section “relevant offence” means— |
| |
(a) | an offence under this Part, or |
| |
(b) | an offence created by regulations under section 79N. |
| 15 |
| |
79P | Power to extend the application of this Part |
| |
(1) | The Secretary of State may by order provide that specified provisions |
| |
of this Part are to apply, subject to any specified modifications, in |
| |
relation to the carrying out of specified operations, or operations of a |
| 20 |
specified description, in the Scottish inshore region. |
| |
(2) | The operations must be operations— |
| |
(a) | which either fall within section 79A(4) or are carried on in the |
| |
course of taking installation abandonment measures (or both), |
| |
(b) | which cause, or are likely to result in, obstruction or danger to |
| 25 |
navigation (whether while the operation is being carried out or |
| |
| |
(c) | which the Scottish Ministers do not have power to control or |
| |
regulate for the purpose of preventing such obstruction or |
| |
| 30 |
(3) | The reference in subsection (1) to “the Scottish inshore region” includes |
| |
| |
(a) | the shore adjoining that region, and |
| |
(b) | any land in Scotland adjoining or adjacent to that shore. |
| |
(4) | If an order under this section makes provision in relation to the |
| 35 |
carrying out of an operation in the course of taking installation |
| |
| |
(a) | section 79A(3)(c) does not apply in relation to the operation, but |
| |
(b) | paragraph (a) is subject to any different modification or other |
| |
provision to the contrary made by an order under this section. |
| 40 |
(5) | For the purposes of this section “installation abandonment measures” |
| |
are any measures taken in connection with the abandonment of— |
| |
(a) | an offshore installation or submarine pipeline, within the |
| |
meaning of Part 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998, or |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(b) | a carbon storage installation, within the meaning of section 30 |
| |
| |
| whether or not the measures are taken in pursuance of an |
| |
| |
(6) | In subsection (5) “abandonment programme” means— |
| 5 |
(a) | an abandonment programme under Part 4 of the Petroleum Act |
| |
| |
(b) | an abandonment programme under that Part, as it applies by |
| |
virtue of section 30 of this Act. |
| |
(7) | In this section “specified” means specified in the order. |
| 10 |
79Q | Interpretation of this Part |
| |
| |
“authorised exploration or exploitation operation” has the |
| |
meaning given by section 79A(8); |
| |
“consent holder” means the person to whom a consent under |
| 15 |
| |
“emergency safety notice” is to be read in accordance with section |
| |
| |
“immediate action notice” is to be read in accordance with section |
| |
| 20 |
“regulated zone” means the area that consists of— |
| |
(a) | the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial |
| |
sea, other than the Scottish inshore region, and |
| |
(b) | the area of sea within the limits of the UK sector of the |
| |
| 25 |
and includes the bed and subsoil of the sea within those areas, |
| |
the shore adjoining, and any land adjoining or adjacent to that |
| |
shore, but does not include any land in Scotland; |
| |
“Scottish inshore region” has the same meaning as in the Marine |
| |
and Coastal Access Act 2009 (see section 317 of that Act); |
| 30 |
| |
(a) | any tidal waters; and |
| |
(b) | any land covered with water at mean high water spring |
| |
| |
“UK sector of the continental shelf” means the areas for the time |
| 35 |
being designated by an Order in Council under section 1(7) of |
| |
the Continental Shelf Act 1964.”. |
| |
(2) | In section 105(2)(a) of the Energy Act 2008 (c. 32) (instruments requiring draft |
| |
affirmative procedure) after sub-paragraph (v) insert— |
| |
“(va) | section 79N (power to make regulations in relation to |
| 40 |
persons appointed as inspectors etc), |
| |
(vb) | section 79P (power to extend application of Part 4A),”. |
| |
|
| |
|