The Agriculture, Land Drainage and Irrigation Projects (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017

Reinstatement

43.—(1) Where it appears to the Scottish Ministers that an offence has been committed under regulation 37, 38 or 39, they may serve a notice (in these Regulations referred to as “a reinstatement notice”) upon the person who appears to them to be responsible for committing the offence requiring that person to reinstate, to their reasonable satisfaction, the relevant land to the condition it was in before the project was commenced and specifying the period within which the reinstatement is required to be carried out.

(2) Where the condition of the relevant land before the project was commenced cannot be determined with reasonable accuracy, or where it is not possible to return the relevant land to the same condition it was in before the project commenced, the reinstatement notice shall impose such requirements for the purposes of reinstatement as shall, in the opinion of the Scottish Ministers (after consultation with such of the consultation bodies as they think fit), be reasonable in the circumstances.

(3) A person served with a notice under paragraph (1) may, within the period of 21 days beginning with the date on which the notice is served, appeal to the sheriff on any of the following grounds:—

(a) the notice or any requirement in the notice is not within the power conferred by this regulation;

(b) there has been some material informality, defect or error in, or in connection with, the notice; or

(c) any of the requirements of the notice are unreasonable.

(4) Where an appeal is made in accordance with this regulation, the reinstatement notice shall be of no effect until the date of determination or abandonment of the appeal or any appeal therefrom by the applicant or the appellant, as the case may be.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), the “date of determination” means—

(a) in the case of an appeal from the sheriff or where there is a further right of appeal in relation to that determination, the date of expiry of the period within which an appeal may be taken; or

(b) in the case where there is no such right of appeal, the date of final determination.

(6) If any person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any requirement of a reinstatement notice served under paragraph (1), that person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction—

(a) to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and

(b) if the failure is continued after conviction, to a further fine not exceeding one twentieth of the sum equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale for every day on which the failure is so continued.