Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Act 2022
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Registration and licensing thresholds | ||
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16. (1) The Minister may for the purposes of this Act, if he or she considers it necessary for the sustainable management of water resources, by order— | ||
(a) specify or reduce the registration threshold, or | ||
(b) specify or vary the licensing threshold. | ||
(2) The Agency may, at any time it considers appropriate and shall, as soon as practicable following the publication of each River Basin Management Plan, prepare and provide a written report to the Minister which shall contain a recommendation whether or not an order should be made under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) and that report shall contain the reasons for the Agency’s recommendation. | ||
(3) The Agency shall have regard to the matters listed in paragraph (a) to (d) of subsection (5) in the preparation of a report under subsection (2). | ||
(4) Prior to making an order under subsection (1), the Minister shall consider a report of the Agency under subsection (2). | ||
(5) In determining whether to make an order under subsection (1), the Minister shall have regard to— | ||
(a) the impact of abstractions on groundwater status and surface water status, | ||
(b) the need to protect the environment from abstractions, | ||
(c) the expected environmental benefit of reducing the registration threshold or varying the licensing threshold, as the case may be, | ||
(d) the River Basin Management Plan, | ||
(e) any submissions received under subsection (6)(a)(i), and | ||
(f) the economic and societal impact of varying the registration threshold or the licensing threshold. | ||
(6) Where the Minister determines— | ||
(a) that an order under subsection (1) should be made, he or she shall cause a notice to be published on the Department’s website of— | ||
(i) the proposal to make an order and that submissions may be made in respect of that proposal, and | ||
(ii) the main reasons for the determination, | ||
or | ||
(b) that an order under subsection (1) should not be made, he or she shall inform the Agency of the main reasons for the determination. | ||
(7) Submissions under subsection (6)(a)(i) shall be made in such manner and within such period as the Minister may specify. | ||
(8) Where an order under subsection (1)(a) reduces the registration threshold, that order may specify the period within which a person who carries out an abstraction that meets or exceeds the registration threshold as so reduced is required to comply with section 11 (1). | ||
(9) A person who carries out an abstraction that meets or exceeds the registration threshold as reduced by order under subsection (1)(a) and fails to comply with section 11 (1) within the period specified in the order shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(10) Where an order under subsection (1)(b) reduces the licensing threshold, that order may specify the period within which a person who carries out an abstraction that meets or exceeds the licensing threshold as so reduced is required to apply for a licence under this Part. | ||
(11) A person who carries out an abstraction that meets or exceeds the licensing threshold specified in an order under subsection (1)(b) and fails to apply for a licence under this Part within the period specified in the order shall be guilty of an offence. |