Closure
18.—(1) Where the council receives a request for authorisation for closure of a waste facility, it shall issue an authorisation for closure notice.
(2) The council shall not issue an authorisation for closure notice unless it is satisfied that all conditions of the planning permission relating to the waste facility in question have been met.
(3) Prior to the issue of a final closure notice in accordance with paragraph (4), the council shall, without undue delay—
(a)assess all reports provided by the operator;
(b)carry out a final on–site inspection of the waste facility in question; and
(c)certify that the land affected by the waste facility has been rehabilitated.
(4) Where the council is satisfied, following its inspection and assessment pursuant to paragraph (3), that the closure procedures have been appropriately carried out, it shall issue a final closure notice in writing which—
(a)certifies that the land affected by the waste facility has been rehabilitated; and
(b)releases the operator from obligations in respect of any financial guarantee condition to which the planning permission is subject pursuant to regulation 8, except insofar as they relate to any after–closure conditions to which the permission is subject pursuant to regulation 12.
(5) The council may, if it considers it appropriate to do so, take over responsibility for the obligations relating to a condition to which a planning permission is subject pursuant to regulation 12(a).