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Lord Whitty moved Amendment No. 4:
- Page 9, line 34, at end insert—
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 9 [Rights to abstract for drainage purposes, etc]:
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton moved Amendment No. 5:
The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendments Nos. 5, 27 and 28 are minor technical amendments which make changes to the drafting of Clauses 9 and 29, which we signalled we would do on Report. Should any noble Lords wish to ask questions, I will of course seek to answer them. I beg to move.
Lord Dixon-Smith: My Lords, I rise briefly simply to say that these amendments are welcome. They are as a result of pressure that we exerted at earlier stages. It is good to see them here. I need say no more.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: My Lords, we were listening. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, for that.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 12 [Orders under section 33 of the WRA, etc]:
Lord Whitty moved Amendments Nos. 6 and 7:
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Lord Whitty moved Amendment No. 8:
The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 8, I shall speak also to the associated amendments. This Act is in the form of amendments to other Acts. However, Clauses 5, 6 and 12 would otherwise be freestanding as clauses of this Act—namely, the Water Act 2003. Although freestanding, it would be of benefit to treat them as if the various parts of the Water Resources Act 1991 apply to them as these clauses all relate to the functions and powers of Chapter 2 of Part II of the Water Resources Act.
Amendments Nos. 8, 30 and 67 all have the effect of allowing appropriate provisions of that Act to be applied to these clauses. Amendment No. 68 applies the Environment Agency's general duties in the same direction. I beg to move.
Lord Dixon-Smith: My Lords, this is another series of amendments that we are glad to see. At this hour and given the exigencies we are working under, I shall say no more.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 18 [Protection from derogation]:
Lord Whitty moved Amendment No. 9:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Lord Whitty moved Amendments Nos. 10 to 12:
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Lord Whitty moved Amendments Nos. 14 to 18:
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Baroness Byford moved Amendment No. 19:
"( ) An order under subsection (1) above may include provision for or in relation to the payment by the Agency of compensation, in cases specified in the order, to a person who—
(a) immediately before the making of an order under subsection (1) above, had been in a position to carry out an abstraction to which, by virtue of section 27(1) above, the restriction on abstraction did not apply;
(b) following the making of that order, requires a licence under this Chapter in order to carry out that abstraction; and
(c) has suffered loss or damage as a result of his having been—
(i) refused such a licence in respect of that abstraction; or
(ii) granted such a licence, but in respect of an abstraction of more limited extent than the one he had been in a position to carry out."
Page 10, line 22, leave out from "prevent" to end of line 23 and insert "an immediate risk—
(a) to a human being of death, personal injury or harm to health;"
Page 14, line 28, at end insert—
"and references in this section (however expressed) to the revocation of an exception order are to be construed accordingly."
Page 14, leave out lines 35 to 46 and insert—
"(5) An order under this section may make provision, subject to any conditions or limitations specified in the order—
(a) for the restriction on abstraction (and, in the case of abstractions from underground strata, the other restrictions in section 24 of the WRA) to continue not to apply to an abstraction despite the revocation of the exception order;
(b) for a person to be taken to continue to have a right to abstract water, for the purposes of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the WRA, to the same extent he was taken to do so under the exception order;
(c) for the payment by the Agency of compensation, in cases specified in the order, to any person who suffers loss or damage as a result of the revocation of the exception order.
(6) If an order under this section provides as mentioned in subsection (5)(a), the order must also say whether or not the exemption so provided for is to be counted cumulatively with any other exemption which a person has by virtue of section 27 or 33A of the WRA."
Page 15, line 18, at end insert—
"( ) In this section, "inland waters" and "underground strata" have the meanings given in section 221(1) of the WRA."
Page 20, line 41, leave out from "be)" to end of line 43 and insert "section 39A(2) or (3), 48(1) or 59C(10) below or section 99(3) of the Water Act 2003, or in a provision made in an order by virtue of section 12(5)(b) of that Act, in each case subject to any limitations mentioned there"."
Page 21, leave out lines 20 and 21 and insert—
"(b) it is such a right as a person is taken to have by virtue of subsection (2) below;
(ba) it is such a right as a person is taken to continue to have by virtue of subsection (3) below;"
Page 21, line 24, at end insert—
"( ) it is such a right as a person is taken to continue to have by virtue of a provision made under subsection (5)(b) of section 12 of the Water Act 2003 in an order made under that section; or
( ) it is such a right as a person is taken to continue to have by virtue of section 99(3) of that Act."
Page 21, leave out lines 25 to 29 and insert—
"(2) A person who is in a position to carry out an abstraction of a quantity of water which—
(a) by virtue of section 27(1) above is not subject to the restriction on abstraction; and
(b) also falls within subsection (2B) or (2C) below,
shall be taken, for the purposes of this Chapter, to have a right to do so in respect of that quantity or, if lower, the maximum quantity mentioned in subsection (2A) below.
(2A) The maximum quantity is—
(a) if, by virtue of an order under section 27A(1) above, section 27(1) has ever had effect as if it referred, for the purposes of the abstraction in question, to a quantity of water lower than twenty cubic metres, that lower quantity (or, if more than one, the lowest of them); or
(b) in any other case, twenty cubic metres (and no more).
(2B) An abstraction falls within this subsection if it is an abstraction from inland waters carried out by or on behalf of an occupier of land contiguous to those waters at the place where the abstraction is effected ("contiguous land"), and—
(a) the water is abstracted for use on a holding consisting of the contiguous land with or without other land held with that land; and
(b) it is abstracted for use on that holding for either or both of the following purposes—
(i) the domestic purposes of the occupier's household;
(ii) agricultural purposes other than spray irrigation.
(2C) An abstraction falls within this subsection if it is an abstraction from underground strata and the water is abstracted by or on behalf of an individual as a supply of water for the domestic purposes of his household.
(2D) Subsection (2) above shall not apply to a person in respect of an abstraction which that person is, or was at any time, taken to have a right to carry out by virtue of any other provision mentioned in subsection (1) above."
Page 21, line 30, leave out "the right to abstract water which"
Page 21, leave out lines 37 and 38 and insert "and who was taken in consequence of that licence (or that part of the licence) to have a right to abstract water by virtue of section 48(1) below shall be taken to continue to have that right for the purposes of this Chapter."
Page 21, line 39, leave out from beginning to "does" in line 42 and insert—
"(4) For the purposes of this Chapter, the person who was the holder of the licence in question ("the old licence") shall cease to be taken to continue to have a right, by virtue of subsection (3) above, to abstract water if—
(a) during a period mentioned in subsection 4A below he"
Page 21, line 46, leave out "the holder of the old licence" and insert "he"
Page 22, line 2, at end insert—
"(4A) The period referred to in subsection (4)(a) above is—
(a) four years; or
(b) if the abstractions authorised under the old licence were abstractions planned to be carried out at intervals of more than four years, or for emergency purposes only, such longer period as the Agency may determine on the application of the holder of the old licence."
10.15 p.m.
Page 22, line 6, at end insert—
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