Section 56 Interpretation of Part I.

In this Part of this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

• F1...

• “the 1990 Act” means the M1Environmental Protection Act 1990;

• “the 1991 Act” means the M2Water Resources Act 1991;

• F2“appropriate agency” means the Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales;

• “the appropriate Minister”—

  1. in the case of the Agency, means the Secretary of State or the Minister; and

  2. in the case of SEPA, means the Secretary of State;

• “the appropriate Ministers”—

  1. in the case of the Agency, means the Secretary of State and the Minister; and

  2. in the case of SEPA, means the Secretary of State;

• “the appropriate national authority” means—

  1. in relation to the Agency, the Secretary of State;

  2. in relation to the Natural Resources Body for Wales, the Welsh Ministers;

• F3“the catchment areas of the rivers Dee, Wye and Severn” has the meaning given by article 1(3) of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999;

• “conservancy authority” has the meaning given by section 221(1) of the 1991 Act;

• “costs” includes—

  1. costs to any person; and

  2. costs to the environment;

• “disposal authority”—

  1. in the application of this Part in relation to the Agency, has the same meaning as it has in Part I of the M3Control of Pollution Act 1974 by virtue of section 30(1) of that Act; and

  2. F4in the application of this Part in relation to SEPA, has the meaning assigned to it by section 30(2) of that Act;

• F5“the environment” means all, or any, of the following media, namely, the air, water and land (and the medium of air includes the air within buildings and the air within other natural or man-made structures above or below ground);

• “environmental licence”, in the application of this Part in relation to F6an appropriate agency, means any of the following—

  1. registration of a person as a carrier of controlled waste under section 2 of the M4Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989,

  2. F7a permit granted by the appropriate agency under—

     1. regulations made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999, other than F8the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/925) and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/3038),

     2. regulations made under section 61 of the Water Act 2014.

  3. F9an authorisation under Part I of the 1990 Act, other than any such authorisation granted by a local enforcing authority,

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  5. a licence under Chapter II of Part II of the 1991 Act,

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  9. F12registration of a person as a broker of or dealer in controlled waste under F13F14assimilated law which, in England and Wales, implemented Article 26(b) of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste, F15as last amended by F16Directive (EU) 2018/851,

  10. F17registration under Schedule 2 to F18the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/1154) of an establishment or undertaking in relation to a F19waste operation (within the meaning of those Regulations),

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  so far as having effect in relation to England and Wales;

• “environmental licence”, in the application of this Part in relation to SEPA, means any of the following—

  1. F22...

  2. F23...

  3. F24an authorisation under regulations under section 18 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014,

  4. ...

  5. an authorisation under Part I of the 1990 Act,

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  so far as having effect in relation to Scotland;

• F27...

• “flood defence functions”, in relation to an appropriate agency, has the same meaning as in the 1991 Act;

• “harbour authority” has the meaning given by section 221(1) of the 1991 Act;

• “local authority”, in the application of this Part in relation to SEPA, means a district or islands council in Scotland;

• “the Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

• “the Ministers” means the Secretary of State and the Minister;

• “navigation authority” has the meaning given by section 221(1) of the 1991 Act;

• “new Agency” means the Agency or SEPA;

• “river purification authority” means a river purification authority within the meaning of the 1951 Act;

• “river purification board” means a river purification board established by virtue of section 135 of the M5Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973;

• “the transfer date” means such date as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint as the transfer date for the purposes of this Part; and different dates may be appointed for the purposes of this Part—

  1. as it applies for or in connection with transfers under or by virtue of Chapter I above, and

  2. as it applies for or in connection with transfers under or by virtue of Chapter II above;

• “waste regulation authority”—

  1. in the application of this Part in relation to the Agency, means any authority in England or Wales which, by virtue of section 30(1) of the 1990 Act, is a waste regulation authority for the purposes of Part II of that Act; and

  2. in the application of this Part in relation to SEPA, means any council which, by virtue of section 30(1)(g) of the 1990 Act, is a waste regulation authority for the purposes of Part II of that Act.

In relation to any time on or after 1st April 1996—

Where by virtue of any provision of this Part any function of a Minister of the Crown is exercisable concurrently by different Ministers, that function shall also be exercisable jointly by any two or more of those Ministers.