Part I The Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Chapter III Miscellaneous, General and Supplemental Provisions Relating to the New Agencies F37and the Natural Resources Body for Wales
Charging schemes
C1I1C2C4C541 Power to make schemes imposing charges.
1
Subject to the following provisions of this section and F6sections 41B, 41C and 4 below—
a
in the case of any particular licence under Chapter II of Part II of the 1991 Act (abstraction and impounding), F20an appropriate agency may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
b
F36ba
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by the Reservoirs Act 1975 F29an appropriate agency may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
c
F39ca
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, the Agency may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
cb
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005, the Natural Resources Body for Wales may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F33cc
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by regulations made under section 62ZA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (special provision with respect to hazardous waste), the Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F12d
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions in connection with the regulation of the importation or exportation of waste or the transit of waste for export, the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F40da
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by regulations made under section 34CA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (electronic waste tracking) the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F31e
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by F41Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants (recast) as amended from time to time, F19the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F16f
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by regulations under section 79 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (asp 12), SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F7f
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by F8F45assimilated law which implemented Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel (as it had effect immediately before IP completion day), F35an appropriate agency may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F13g
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by F2F44assimilated law which implemented Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators (as it had effect immediately before IP completion day)F11the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be F22 prescribed;
F27h
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by regulation 8A of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) and National Inventory Regulations 2005, the Agency may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F25i
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F25j
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F10k
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by Regulation EU 2017/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on mercury, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1102/2008F1, the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
F4l
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer, the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
m
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases and repealing Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
C6F9n
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by regulations made under Schedule 4 or 5 to the Environment Act 2021, the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
o
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/263), the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
p
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions conferred by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/3113), the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
q
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions relating to section 33(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
r
as a means of recovering costs incurred by it in performing functions relating to regulation 12(1) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/1154) in relation to a regulated facility which is a waste operation (within the meaning of those Regulations), the Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales may require the payment to it of such charges as may from time to time be prescribed;
and in this section “prescribed” means specified in, or determined under, a scheme (in this section referred to as a “charging scheme”) made under this section by the F21body in question.
F421A
In paragraph (d) of subsection (1) “importation”, “exportation”, “transit of waste for export” and “waste” have the meaning they have in section 141 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
2
As respects environmental licences, charges may be prescribed in respect of—
a
the grant or variation of an environmental licence, or any application for, or for a variation of, such a licence;
b
the subsistence of an environmental licence;
c
the transfer (where permitted) of an environmental licence to another person, or any application for such a transfer;
d
the renewal (where permitted) of an environmental licence, or any application for such a renewal;
e
the surrender (where permitted) of an environmental licence, or any application for such a surrender; or
f
any application for the revocation (where permitted) of an environmental licence.
F382A
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
A charging scheme may, for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above, impose—
a
a single charge in respect of the whole of any relevant licensed period;
b
separate charges in respect of different parts of any such period; or
c
both such a single charge and such separate charges;
and in this subsection “relevant licensed period” means the period during which an environmental licence is in force or such part of that period as may be prescribed.
4
Without prejudice to subsection (7)(a) below, a charging scheme may, as respects environmental licences, provide for different charges to be payable according to—
a
the description of environmental licence in question;
b
the description of authorised activity in question;
c
the scale on which the authorised activity in question is carried on;
d
the description or amount of the substance to which the authorised activity in question relates;
e
the number of different authorised activities carried on by the same person.
5
A charging scheme—
a
shall specify, in relation to any charge prescribed by the scheme, the description of person who is liable to pay the charge; and
b
may provide that it shall be a condition of an environmental licence of any particular description that any charge prescribed by a charging scheme in relation to an environmental licence of that description is paid in accordance with the scheme.
6
Without prejudice to subsection (5)(b) above, if it appears to F14the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA that any charges due and payable to it in respect of the subsistence of an environmental licence have not been paid, it may, in accordance with the appropriate procedure, suspend or revoke the environmental licence to the extent that it authorises the carrying on of an authorised activity.
7
A charging scheme may—
a
make different provision for different cases, including different provision in relation to different persons, circumstances or localities;
b
provide for the times at which, and the manner in which, the charges prescribed by the scheme are to be paid;
c
revoke or amend any previous charging scheme;
d
contain supplemental, incidental, consequential or transitional provision for the purposes of the scheme.
8
If and to the extent that a charging scheme relates to licences under Chapter II of Part II of the 1991 Act (abstraction and impounding), the scheme shall have effect subject to any provision made by or under sections 125 to 130 of that Act (exemption from charges, imposition of special charges for spray irrigation, and charges in respect of abstraction from waters of F15Canal & River Trust).
9
A new Agency shall not make a charging scheme unless the provisions of the scheme have been approved by the Secretary of State under section 42 below.
F269A
The Natural Resources Body for Wales may not make a charging scheme unless the provisions of the scheme have been approved by the Welsh Ministers under section 42.
C310
F3210A
Any power of the Secretary of State to make regulations under this section is exercisable in relation to Wales only after consultation with the Welsh Ministers.
11
Any power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and a statutory instrument containing any such regulations shall be subject to annulment pursuant to a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Words in Pt. I Ch. III heading inserted (1.4.2013) by The Natural Resources Body for Wales (Functions) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/755), art. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 370 (with Sch. 7)