Northern Ireland Orders in Council

(a) the expiration of one month from the day on which this Order is made; or

(b) the day before the day appointed by an Order in Council under section 3 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 for the commencement of Parts II and III of that Act,

whichever is the earlier.

    (4) The provisions referred to in paragraph (3) are - 

(a) this Part;

(b) Part III;

(c) Articles 59 to 62;

(d) Schedule 3 as it applies for the purposes of Article 48(3);

(e) Schedules 4 and 5;

(f) Part I of Schedule 8 and Article 63(2) so far as relating thereto.

"the Appeals Commission" means the Water Appeals Commission for Northern Ireland;

"disposal", in relation to sewage, includes treatment;

"the Drainage Order" means the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Order 1973;

"effluent" means any liquid, either with or without particles of matter in suspension therein;

"engineering or building operations", without prejudice to the generality of that expression, includes - 

(a) the construction, alteration, improvement, maintenance or demolition of any building or structure or of any reservoir, waterway, dam, weir, well, borehole or other works; and

(b) the installation, modification or removal of any machinery or apparatus;

"information" includes anything contained in any records, accounts, estimates or returns;

"modifications" includes additions, alterations and omissions;

"notice" means notice in writing;

"owner" means a person who is for the time being receiving a rent of not less than two-thirds of the net annual value of any land whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any person or who, if the land were let at such a rent, would receive it;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations;

"public sewage treatment works" means any sewage treatment works vested in or operated by the Department of the Environment or a sewerage undertaker;

"public sewer" means - 

(a) a sewer as defined in Article 2(2) of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973; or

(b) a sewer, pipe or drain vested in or operated by a sewerage undertaker and connected to a sewer as so defined;

"records" includes computer records and any other records kept otherwise than in a document;

"sewage" and "sewage treatment works" have the same meanings as in the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973;

"sewage effluent" means the effluent from any sewage treatment works;

"sewerage undertaker" means a person with whom the Department of the Environment has entered into an agreement under Article 13(4) of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 for the execution or performance by that person on behalf of the Department of works or services under that Order;

"statutory provision" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;

"tidal waters" includes the sea and the waters of any enclosed dock which adjoins tidal waters;

"underground strata" means strata subjacent to the surface of any land, and any reference to water contained in any underground strata is a reference to water so contained otherwise than in a public sewer, pipe, reservoir, tank or underground works contained in any such strata;

"vessel" means every description of vessel (whether with or without means of propulsion of any kind), and includes anything constructed or used to carry persons, goods or plant or machinery by water, or constructed to be propelled or moved on or in water, a seaplane on or in the water and a hovercraft (within the meaning of the Hovercraft Act 1968);

"the Water Council" means the Northern Ireland Water Council;

"waterway" includes any river, stream, watercourse, inland water (whether natural or artificial) or tidal waters and any channel or passage of whatever kind (whether natural or artificial) through which water flows but does not include - 

(a) the waters beyond 3 international nautical miles seaward from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea adjacent to Northern Ireland is measured;

(b) any public sewer or public sewage treatment works;

(c) any main or service pipe within the meaning of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 which is vested in or under the control of the Department of the Environment;

(d) any drain or road drain - 


(i) constructed and laid by the Department of the Environment under Article 45(1) of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993; or

(ii) acquired by the Department of the Environment under Article 45(6) of that Order.

    (3) In this Order any reference to a waterway includes a reference to the channel or bed of a waterway which is for the time being dry.

    (4) For the purposes of this Order water for the time being contained in - 

(a) a well, borehole or similar work, including any adit or passage constructed in connection with it for facilitating the collection of water in the well, borehole or work; or

(b) any excavation into underground strata, where the level of water in the excavation depends wholly or mainly on water entering it from those strata;

shall be treated as water contained in the underground strata into which the well, borehole or work was sunk, or the excavation was made, as the case may be.

"analyse", in relation to any sample of land, water or effluent, includes subjecting the sample to a test of any description;

"apparatus" includes any meter or other device for measuring, assessing, determining, recording or enabling to be recorded, the volume, temperature, radioactivity, rate, nature, origin, composition or effect of any matter, flow, discharge, emission, deposit or abstraction;

"the Department" means the Department of the Environment;

"deposit" includes store;

"discharge consent" means a consent given for the purposes of Article 9;

"enforcement notice" has the meaning assigned by Article 12;

"Londonderry Area" has the same meaning as in the Foyle Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1952;

"mobile plant" means plant which is designed to move or be moved whether on roads or otherwise;

"premises" includes any land, vehicle, vessel or mobile plant;

"regulations", except in Article 36, means regulations made by the Department;

"representations" includes objections;

"trade" includes agriculture, horticulture, scientific research or experiment and the carrying on of a hospital or nursing home;

"trade effluent" means any effluent which is discharged from premises used for carrying on any trade or industry, other than storm water or domestic sewage;

"works notice" has the meaning assigned by Article 17.

    (2) For the purposes of the definition of "trade effluent" in paragraph (1), any premises (whether on land or not) wholly or mainly used (whether for profit or not) for the purposes of fish farming shall be deemed to be premises used for carrying on a trade.

(a) promote the conservation of the water resources of Northern Ireland;

(b) promote the cleanliness of water in waterways and underground strata.

    (2) The Department shall, in exercising its functions in relation to the conservation of water resources and the cleanliness of water, have regard to - 

(a) the needs of industry and agriculture;

(b) the protection of fisheries;

(c) the protection of public health;

(d) the preservation of amenity and the conservation of flora and fauna; and

(e) the conservation of geological or physiographical features of special interest and any feature of archaeological, historical, architectural or traditional interest.

Quality objectives

    (2) The water quality objectives for any waters to which a notice under this Article relates shall be the satisfaction by those waters, on and at all times after each date specified in the notice, of the requirements which at the time of the notice were the requirements for the classification in relation to which that date is so specified.

    (3) Where the Department has established water quality objectives under this Article for any waters the Department may review objectives for those waters if 5 years or more have elapsed since the publication of the last notice under paragraph (1) or (6) to be published in respect of those waters and the Department shall not establish objectives for any waters by varying the existing objectives for those waters except in consequence of such a review.

    (4) Where the Department proposes to establish or vary the objectives for any waters the Department shall - 

(a) give notice setting out the proposal and specifying the period (not being less than 3 months from the date of publication of the notice) within which representations with respect to the proposal may be made; and

(b) consider any representations which are duly made and not withdrawn;

and, if the Department decides, after considering any such representations, to establish or vary those objectives, the Department may do so either in accordance with the proposal contained in the notice or in accordance with that proposal as modified in such manner as the Department considers appropriate.

    (5) A notice under paragraph (4) shall be given by publishing the notice in such manner as the Department considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons likely to be affected by it.

    (6) If, on a review under this Article or in consequence of any representations made following such a review for the purposes of paragraph (4), the Department decides that the water quality objectives for any waters should remain unchanged, the Department shall publish notice of that decision and serve a copy of that notice on any person who made such representations.

    (7) Where a person who has made representations following a review for the purposes of paragraph (4) is not satisfied with the decision of the Department under paragraph (6), he may appeal to the Appeals Commission within 28 days from the date on which notice of the decision is served on him.

(a) he discharges or deposits any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter so that it enters a waterway or water contained in any underground strata; or

(b) he discharges or deposits any matter so that it enters a waterway or water contained in any underground strata and tends either directly or in combination with similar acts (whether his own or those of another) to impede the proper flow of the water of the waterway or strata in a manner leading or likely to lead to pollution or a substantial aggravation of pollution due to other causes or of its consequences.

    (2) A person does not commit an offence under paragraph (1) if he discharges any matter into a public sewer or public sewage treatment works, so that it enters a waterway or water contained in underground strata, if the Department is bound to receive the matter, or it has consented to do so unconditionally, or it has consented to do so subject to conditions and the person observes the conditions.

    (3) Where a person is charged with an offence under paragraph (1), it shall be a defence to prove that he exercised all reasonable care to prevent the discharge or deposit of the matter in question.

    (4) On a person's conviction of an offence under paragraph (1), the court by or before which he is convicted may on the application of the Department, of which not less than 10 days' notice has been given to the person charged, make an order directing him to take such measures as the court may consider necessary to remedy or nullify any contravention of paragraph (1).

    (5) A person who fails to comply with an order under paragraph (4) shall be guilty of an offence.

    (6) In paragraph (1) any reference to matter entering a waterway or water contained in any underground strata includes a reference to its entering the waterway or water by being carried into it.

    (7) A person guilty of an offence under this Article shall be liable - 

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both;

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or to both.

the Department may serve a notice on the owner of the land or the person so using or proposing so to use the waterway, land, vessel or vehicle - 

(i) prohibiting the use complained of; or

(ii) permitting it only subject to conditions designed to remove the grounds of complaint; or

(iii) requiring it to be stopped within such period as may be specified in the notice.

    (2) A notice under paragraph (1) may include provisions requiring the removal from the waterway, land, vessel or vehicle of any matter which, before the service of the notice, has been dealt with in the way complained of by the notice.

    (3) A person on whom a notice under paragraph (1) is served may, within 28 days from the date of the service of the notice, appeal to the Appeals Commission.

    (4) A notice under paragraph (1) - 

(a) shall, if no appeal is brought under paragraph (3), take effect on the expiration of the period of 28 days mentioned in paragraph (3) and be final and conclusive as to any matters which could have been raised on such an appeal;

(b) shall, if an appeal is brought under paragraph (3), take effect - 


(i) if and so far as the notice is confirmed on appeal, from the date on which the appeal is finally determined;

(ii) if the appeal is withdrawn, on the date of the withdrawal of the appeal.

    (5) It is an offence for any person to contravene any prohibition, condition or requirement imposed by a notice served on that person under paragraph (1) which has taken effect in accordance with paragraph (4).

    (6) Where a notice served under paragraph (1) which has taken effect in accordance with paragraph (4) is not complied with, the Department may undertake the removal of any matter referred to in paragraph (2) and dispose of it in such manner as it considers appropriate.

    (7) The Department shall, at the request of any person appearing to it to be interested in any land, and at his expense, furnish him or such other person as may be specified in the request with such particulars as may be so specified of any notices served under paragraph (1), being notices about any use or proposed use of that land or otherwise material to its use.

    (8) Any expenses reasonably incurred by the Department in removing any matter under this Article, or in disposing of any matter so removed, shall be defrayed out of any money obtained by the Department from disposing of it and, in so far as they are not so defrayed, shall be recoverable by the Department from the person in default under the notice.

    (9) A person guilty of an offence under this Article shall be liable - 

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both;

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.