Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969

3 Duties of owners and managers and powers of inspectors

(1) It shall be the duty of the owner and of the manager of every mine and of the owner and of any manager of every quarry to take such steps as may be necessary for securing that he is at all material times in possession of all information relevant for determining the nature and extent of any steps which it is requisite for him to take in order to discharge efficiently the duties imposed on him by or by virtue of this Part of this Act.

(2) Neither the manager of a mine as such, nor a manager of a quarry as such shall be guilty of an offence, by virtue of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of section 152 of the principal Act (which provides among other things that managers may be guilty of an offence where some other person contravenes a particular statutory provision) by reason of a contravention, in relation to a closed tip which is associated with the mine or quarry, of—

(a) any provision of this Part of this Act, of the principal Act, of any order made thereunder or of regulations; or

(b) a direction, prohibition, restriction or requirement given or imposed by a notice served under or by virtue of this Part of this Act or the principal Act by an inspector;

(c) a condition attached to an exemption, consent, approval or authority granted or given under or by virtue of this Part of this Act or the principal Act by the Minister or an inspector.

(3) In subsection (2) above, the expression " the manager ", in relation to a mine, includes an under-manager of the mine and any person who is for the time being treated for the purposes of the principal Act as the manager or an under-manager of the mine, and the expression " manager", in relation to a quarry, includes any person who is for the time being treated for the purposes of that Act as a manager of the quarry.

(4) For the purpose of determining whether a tip to which this Part of this Act applies is, or is likely to become, insecure an inspector shall have power to require the owner of the mine or quarry with which it is associated to furnish such information as the inspector may specify and may by notice served on the owner require him to carry out such procedures or conduct such tests as may be specified in the notice.

(5) In relation to an active tip, the powers of an inspector under subsection (4) above shall include power to require information from, or to serve a notice requiring the carrying out of procedures or the conduct of tests by, the manager of the mine or, as the case may be, a manager of the quarry, instead of, or as well as, the owner.

(6) The provisions of Part XV of the principal Act with respect to references upon notices served by inspectors shall apply to a notice served by an inspector under this section.