7B.—(1) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under Article 7(1), (2) or (6) in respect of a discharge made into a sewer or waste water treatment works vested in a sewerage undertaker if the undertaker was bound to receive the discharge there either unconditionally or subject to conditions which were observed.
(2) A sewerage undertaker shall not be guilty of an offence under Article 7(1), (2) or (6) by reason only of the fact that a discharge from a sewer or works vested in the undertaker contravenes conditions of a consent relating to the discharge if—
(a)the contravention is attributable to a discharge which another person made into the sewer or works;
(b)the undertaker either was not bound to receive the discharge into the sewer or works or was bound to receive it there subject to conditions which were not observed; and
(c)the undertaker could not reasonably have been expected to prevent the discharge into the sewer or works.
(3) Paragraph (4) applies for the purpose of determining liability where—
(a)sewage effluent is discharged as mentioned in Article 7(1) or(2) from any sewer or works (“the discharging sewer”) vested in a sewerage undertaker (“the discharging undertaker”); and
(b)the effluent was, before being discharged from the discharging sewer, discharged through a main connection into that sewer or into any other sewer or waste water treatment works vested in the discharging undertaker by another sewerage undertaker (“the sending undertaker”) under an agreement having effect between the discharging undertaker and the sending undertaker under Article 167 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
(4) The sending undertaker shall be deemed to have made the discharge if—
(a)matter included in the discharge was received by it into a sewer or works vested in it; and
(b)it was bound (either unconditionally or subject to conditions which were observed) to receive that matter into that sewer or waste water treatment works.
(5) The Department for Regional Development may by regulations make further provision for the purpose of determining liability under Article 7(1), (2) or (6) as between two or more persons in respect of any discharge into or from any public sewer or any waste water treatment works.
(6) In this Article “main connection” has the same meaning as in Article 167 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.]
F1Arts. 7-7B substituted (1.1.2007 for certain purposes, 1.4.2007 for certain purposes, 4.5.2007 for certain purposes, otherwise 25.5.2007) for art. 7 by Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/3336 (N.I. 21)), arts. 1(2)(3)(e), 280 (with arts. 8(8), 121(3), 307); S.R. 2007/194, art. 2(2), Sch. 1 Pt. II (with art. 3, Sch. 2); S.R. 2007/282, art. 2, Sch.