The Mines Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Transitional provisions: general

71.—(1) Where enforcement action has been initiated against an owner, manager or employer in relation to a mine by the Executive before the date on which these Regulations come into operation, that action shall continue as if the action had been commenced against the mine operator on that date.

(2) Any action taken by the Executive or an inspector with respect to a mine in relation to any of the relevant statutory provisions in operation before the date these Regulations come into operation shall continue to have effect in relation to the mine operator so that it shall be the duty of the mine operator to carry out any remedial actions or operations that the owner, manager or principal employer of employees at the mine was under an obligation to carry out or achieve immediately before the date on which these Regulations came into operation.

(3) A document prepared by the owner, manager or an employer at a mine and sufficient for the purposes of the provision in column 1 of table 1 in operation immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations may be relied upon by the mine operator as evidence that an assessment, process, procedure or scheme required by the corresponding provision of these Regulations in column 2 of table 1 has been made or is in place.

Table 1

Column 1	Column 2
Regulation 4(5)(a) of the Mines Miscellaneous Health and Safety Provisions Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995(1)	regulation 20(1)
Section 37(1) of the 1969 Act	regulation 42
Regulation 10 of the Mines and Quarries (Tips and Tipping Plans) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995	regulation 66(1)

(4) Where, immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations, anything is kept at a place other than a mine in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions, that place shall be deemed to be suitable for the purposes of these Regulations.

(5) In this regulation, references to enforcement action are to steps taken by an inspector under Articles 22 to 24 and 27 of the 1978 Order in relation to a particular mine or to proceedings instituted under the 1978 Order in any court and requiring the owner, manager, employer or mine operator to do or not to do anything.

(1)

S.R. 1995 No.379. Regulation 4(5) was inserted by S.R. 2000 No. 388