# Clean Air Act 1956 (repealed 27.8.1993), Section 11: Smoke control areas.

Extent: E+W+S

(1) Any local authority may, by order . . . , declare the whole of the district of the local authority or any part thereof to be a smoke control area.
(2) Subject to any exemptions and limitations for the time being in force under this section, if, on any day, smoke is emitted from a chimney of any building within a smoke control area, the occupier of that building shall be guilty of an offence:
Provided that in proceedings for an offence under this subsection, it shall be a defence to prove that the emission of smoke was not caused by the use of any fuel other than an authorised fuel.
(3) An order made by the local authority under this section—
(a) may make different provision for different parts of the smoke control area;
(b) may limit the operation of this section to specified classes of building in the area;
(c) may exempt specified buildings or classes of building or specified fireplaces or classes of fireplace in the area from the operation of this section, upon such conditions as may be specified in the order.
(4) The Minister may from time to time by order exempt any class of fireplace, upon such conditions as he may specify in the order, from the provisions of this section, if he is satisfied that such fireplaces can be used for burning fuel other than authorised fuels without producing any smoke or a substantial quantity of smoke.
(5) An order made . . . under this section may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order so made . . . .
(6) The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall apply to the . . . coming into operation of orders made by local authorities under this section.
(7) If at any time it appears to the Minister necessary or expedient so to do, he may by order suspend or relax the operation of this section in relation to the whole or any part of a smoke control area:
Provided that before making an order under this subsection the Minister shall consult with the local authority unless he is satisfied that, on account of urgency, such consultation is impracticable.
(8) Any order of the Minister under this section may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order of the Minister and the proviso to subsection (7) of this section shall apply to the revocation or variation of an order made thereunder.
(9) As soon as practicable after the making of an order under subsection (7) of this section or an order revoking or varying such an order, the local authority shall take such steps as appear to them suitable for bringing the effect of the order to the notice of persons affected.
(10) This section shall apply in relation to a chimney serving the furnace of any boiler or industrial plant (being a boiler or plant attached to a building or for the time being fixed to or installed on any land) as it applies in relation to a chimney of a building:
Provided that in relation to any such chimney as aforesaid which is not a chimney of a building, for the references in this section to buildings or to the occupier of the building there shall be substituted references respectively to boilers or plant or to the person having possession of the boiler or plant.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/4-5/52/section/11 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/clean-air-act-1956-repealed-2781993/section-11
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.