(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations revoke and replace with amendments the Smoke Control Areas (Authorised Fuels) (Wales) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/684 (W. 74)) (“the 2014 Regulations”).
These Regulations specify all fuels which are currently authorised for use in smoke control areas in Wales for the purposes of section 20 of the Clean Air Act 1993 (“the 1993 Act”). All the fuels that were listed in the Schedule to the 2014 Regulations immediately prior to the coming into force of these Regulations continue to be authorised fuels. Nine additional fuels are authorised for the first time.
Section 20 of the 1993 Act provides that it is an offence to emit smoke from a chimney of a building or a chimney serving a furnace of a fixed boiler or an industrial plant, if that chimney is within a smoke control area. However, it is a defence to prove that the alleged emission was caused solely by the use of an authorised fuel.
In Wales, an authorised fuel means a fuel declared to be an authorised fuel by regulations made by the Welsh Ministers.
The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.