Section 8 Automatic penalties for certain offencesI1

Subsection (2) applies if the Environment Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales (“the relevant agency”) is satisfied that it has the power to impose a fixed monetary penalty on a water company in respect of a specified offence committed by the company.

The relevant agency must impose the penalty unless—

A “specified offence” is an offence specified in regulations made by statutory instrument by—

The only offences that may be specified are those within section 7(3) (offences to do with pollution control, abstraction, impounding, drought etc).

The specification of such an offence may be limited to cases of a particular description.

In subsection (2)(b), “alternative enforcement action” means—

Regulations made under or by virtue of Part 3 of the 2008 Act may provide for the grounds of appeal referred to in section 40(6)(c) of that Act not to extend to the relevant agency’s decision to impose a fixed monetary penalty so far as that decision concerns the application of subsection (2)(a).

The procedure required by section 40 of the 2008 Act (procedure for imposing fixed monetary penalties) is otherwise to be followed, in respect of a penalty proposed or imposed further to the duty in subsection (2), in a way that is consistent with that duty.

A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (3) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of—

In this section—

• “the 2008 Act” means the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008;

• “fixed monetary penalty” means a fixed monetary penalty provided for under or by virtue of Part 3 of the 2008 Act (see section 39 of that Act);

• “variable monetary penalty” means a variable monetary penalty so provided for (see section 42 of the 2008 Act);

• “water company” has the meaning given by section 7(5).

Section 7(6) also applies for the purposes of this section.