Regulation 84 Enforcement powers: Northern Ireland

(1)

A person who appears suitable to DAERA may be authorised in writing by DAERA for the purposes of its functions under these Regulations to exercise the powers of entry and inspection mentioned in paragraph (2).

(2)

The powers of entry and inspection are those set out in Article 72(2)(a) to (c), (e), (f) and (h) to (j) of the WCLO 1997.

(3)

For this purpose, Article 72 of the WCLO 1997 is to be read as if—

(a)

any reference to an authorised person (however expressed) were a reference to a person authorised under paragraph (1);

(b)

in Article 72(2)(a), the words “(or, in an emergency, at any time and, if need be, by force)” were omitted;

(c)

in Article 72(2)(f)—

(i)

for “articles or substances” there were substituted “containers (within the meaning of regulation 8 of the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024)”;

(ii)

the words “, and of the air, water or land in, on, or in the vicinity of, the premises” were omitted;

(d)

in Article 72(2)(h)—

(i)

for “article or substance as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (g)” there were substituted “container as is mentioned in paragraph (f)”;

(ii)

in sub-paragraph (iii), for the words from “an offence” to the end there were substituted “an offence under regulation 86 or 87, or any other proceedings relating to the imposition of a civil sanction under regulation 90, of the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024 as those Regulations apply in relation to Northern Ireland.”;

(e)

in Article 72(2)(j)—

(i)

after “computerised form” there were inserted “, including any information recorded electronically”;

(ii)

in sub-paragraph (i) for the words from “the pollution control” to “he acts” there were substituted “the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024 as those Regulations apply in relation to Northern Ireland”;

(f)

in Article 72(2)(k), for “this Article” there were substituted “this Article as applied by the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024 as those Regulations apply in relation to Northern Ireland”;

(g)

after Article 72(2) there were inserted—

“(2A)

An authorised person must not exercise the powers in sub-paragraphs (2)(f), (h) or (j) without—

(a)

the consent of a person entitled to access to material on or accessible from the premises, or

(b)

the authority of a warrant under Schedule 4 to this Order.”.

(4)

Article 72(4) and (5) of the WCLO 1997 applies to the applied enforcement powers as it applies to the powers in Article 72(2) of the WCLO 1997, but as if—

(a)

any reference to an authorised person (however expressed) were to a person authorised under paragraph (1);

(b)

in Article 72(4), the words “, or to take heavy equipment on to any premises which are to be entered,” were omitted;

(c)

in Article 72(4) and (5), the words “Except in an emergency” were omitted.

(5)

Article 72(9) and (10) of the WCLO 1997 applies to the applied enforcement powers as it applies to the powers conferred by Article 72(2) of the WCLO 1997.

(6)

Paragraphs 2 to 5 of Schedule 4 to the WCLO 1997 apply to the applied enforcement powers as they apply to the powers conferred by Article 72(2) of the WCLO 1997, but as if—

(a)

any reference to an authorised person (however expressed) were a reference to a person authorised under paragraph (1);

(b)

any reference to a relevant power were a reference to an applied enforcement power, including any power exercisable by virtue of a warrant under the provisions of the Schedule as applied by this paragraph;

(c)

in paragraph 5, the reference to a power conferred by Article 72(2)(a) or (b) or (3) were a reference to the applied enforcement powers and the reference to the enforcing authority under whose authorisation the authorised person acts were a reference to DAERA.

(7)

In this regulation—

(a)

“the WCLO 1997” means the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997^f1;

(b)

“the applied enforcement powers” means the powers conferred by paragraphs (1) and (2).

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: S.I. 1997/2778 (N.I. 19). Article 72 was amended by sections 5 and 11 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (c. 5) and by S.I. 2007/611 (N.I. 3) and 2019/584.