Environmental Protection Act 1990

8 Fees and charges for authorisations

(1) There shall be charged by and paid to the enforcing authority such fees and charges as may be prescribed from time to time by a scheme under subsection (2) below (whether by being specified in or made calculable under the scheme).

(2) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, make, and from time to time revise, a scheme prescribing—

(a) fees payable in respect of applications for authorisations;

(b) fees payable by persons holding authorisations in respect of, or of applications for, the variation of authorisations; and

(c) charges payable by such persons in respect of the subsistence of their authorisations.

(3) The Secretary of State shall, on making or revising a scheme under subsection (2) above, lay a copy of the scheme or of the alterations made in the scheme or, if he considers it more appropriate, the scheme as revised, before each House of Parliament.

(4) The Secretary of State may make separate schemes for fees and charges payable to the chief inspector or, as the case may be, river purification authority and fees and charges payable to local enforcing authorities under this Part.

(5) A scheme under subsection (2) above may, in particular—

(a) make different provision for different cases, including different provision in relation to different persons, circumstances or localities;

(b) allow for reduced fees or charges to be payable in respect of authorisations for a number of prescribed processes carried on by the same person;

(c) provide for the times at which and the manner in which the payments required by the scheme are to be made; and

(d) make such incidental, supplementary and transitional provision as appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.

(6) The Secretary of State, in framing a scheme under subsection (2) above, shall, so far as practicable, secure that the fees and charges payable under the scheme are sufficient, taking one financial year with another, to cover the relevant expenditure attributable to authorisations.

(7) The “relevant expenditure attributable to authorisations” is the expenditure incurred by the enforcing authorities in exercising their functions under this Part in relation to authorisations together with the expenditure incurred by the National Rivers Authority in exercising the Authority’s functions in relation to authorisations for processes which may involve the release of any substance into water.

(8) If it appears to the enforcing authority that the holder of an authorisation has failed to pay a charge due in consideration of the subsistence of the authorisation, it may, by notice in writing served on the holder, revoke the authorisation.

(9) The Secretary of State may make to the National Rivers Authority payments of such amounts as appear to him to be required to meet the estimated relevant expenditure of the Authority attributable to authorisations.

(10) Subsections (7) and (9) above shall not apply to Scotland, but in relation to Scotland the “relevant expenditure attributable to authorisations” is the expenditure incurred by the enforcing authorities in exercising their functions under this Part or in relation to consultation carried out under regulations made under section 5(2) above.

(11) In Scotland, the chief inspector may make to a river purification authority and a river purification authority may make to the chief inspector payments of such amounts as are appropriate to meet their estimated relevant expenditure attributable to authorisations, such amounts to be determined by the Secretary of State if the chief inspector and the authority fail to agree on an appropriate amount of payment.