(1)The Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland may appoint persons for the purposes of enforcing Part 4 of this Act.
(2)For the purposes of enforcing Part 4 of this Act, a person appointed under this section has—
(a)the common enforcement powers conferred by this Act;
(b)the power conferred by section 263.
This is subject to subsection (3).
(3)A person appointed under this section does not have the powers referred to in subsection (2) for the purposes of enforcing Part 4 of this Act so far as relating to—
(a)any activity in Wales or the Welsh inshore region concerning or arising from the exploration for, or production of, petroleum;
(b)anything done in the course of taking installation abandonment measures in any other part of the relevant enforcement area, other than Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland inshore region.
(4)Subject to subsection (9), the powers which a person appointed under this section has for the purposes of enforcing Part 4 of this Act may be exercised—
(a)in the relevant enforcement area (and in relation to any vessel, aircraft or marine structure in that area);
(b)in Scotland or the Scottish inshore region, in relation to an offence which the person reasonably believes has been committed within the relevant enforcement area;
(c)in relation to any vessel, aircraft or marine structure in the Scottish offshore region which has been pursued there in accordance with subsection (5).
(5)A vessel, aircraft or marine structure is pursued in accordance with this subsection if—
(a)immediately before the pursuit of the vessel, aircraft or structure commences, the vessel, aircraft or structure is in the relevant enforcement area,
(b)before the pursuit of the vessel, aircraft or structure commences, a signal is given for it to stop, and
(c)the pursuit of the vessel, aircraft or structure is not interrupted.
(6)The signal referred to in subsection (5)(b) must be given in such a way as to be audible or visible from the vessel, aircraft or structure in question.
(7)For the purposes of subsection (5)(c), pursuit is not interrupted by reason only of the fact that—
(a)the method of carrying out the pursuit, or
(b)the identity of the vessel or aircraft carrying out the pursuit,
changes during the course of the pursuit.
(8)Nothing in this section affects any right of hot pursuit which a person appointed under this section may have under international law.
(9)The powers which a person appointed under this section has for the purposes of enforcing Part 4 of this Act may not be exercised in relation to any British warship.
(10)In this section—
“installation abandonment measures” means any measures taken in connection with the abandonment of—
an offshore installation or submarine pipeline, within the meaning of Part 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17), or
a carbon storage installation, within the meaning of section 30 of the Energy Act 2008 (c. 32),
whether or not the measures are taken in pursuance of an abandonment programme;
“abandonment programme” means—
an abandonment programme under Part 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998;
an abandonment programme under that Part, as it applies by virtue of section 30 of the Energy Act 2008;
“the relevant enforcement area” means the area that consists of—
England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and
the UK marine licensing area, excluding the Scottish offshore region.
(11)Any term used in this section and in Part 4 of this Act has the same meaning in this section as it has in that Part.