# The Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, Regulation 13: Discharge of a hazardous substance or non-hazardous pollutant


(1) It is an offence to cause or knowingly permit the discharge of any hazardous substance or non-hazardous pollutant in circumstances that might lead to an indirect input of that hazardous substance or non-hazardous pollutant into groundwater unless it is carried on under and in accordance with a permit granted by the Agency under this regulation.
But this does not apply in relation to—
(a) a discharge that requires a discharge consent within the meaning of section 91(8) of the Water Resources Act 1991;
(b) the operation of a regulated facility under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007;
(c) a disposal that requires an authorisation under section 13 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993; or
(d) the keeping or use of mobile radioactive apparatus that requires a registration under section 10 of that Act.
(2) An operator of a highway drain (or, until 1st January 2012, a person using a domestic septic tank or sewage treatment plant with a daily discharge of less than 2m3) does not commit an offence under this regulation unless the Agency has served a notice on that person under regulation 18 in relation to that discharge, and the operator has failed to comply with that notice.
(3) In this regulation “highway drain” means a drain which a highway authority or other person is entitled to keep open by virtue of section 100 of the Highways Act 1980.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2009/9780111480816/regulation/13 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-groundwater-england-and-wales-regulations-2009/regulation-13
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.