UK Offence Report

2 Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (8) below, an undertaker who– a intentionally acts in breach of the…

regulation 18(2) of The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

2 Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (8) below, an undertaker who–

a intentionally acts in breach of the terms of

a condition attached to any consent or approval, being

a condition so attached for the purpose of reducing or eliminating any significant adverse effects on the environment; or

b carries out any activity in relation to

a relevant project without the necessary consent or approval of the Secretary of State granted in accordance with these Regulations or otherwise than in accordance with

a relevant requirement imposed in accordance with these Regulations, shall be guilty of an offence.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
acting without the licence or authorisation required
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally.

What would breach regulation 18(2)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999.
  2. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  3. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
17 February 1999
In force from
14 March 1999
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations implement Council Directive 85/337/EEC (O.J. No. L175, 5.7.85, p.40) as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC (O.J. No. L73, 3.3.97, p.5) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment in so far as it relates to the effects on the environment of certain offshore oil and gas projects. They revoke the Offshore Petroleum and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/968) subject to savings in respect of applications for consent which are received prior to 14th March 1999. The 1998 Regulations implemented the 1985 Directive in its unamended form and these Regulations substantially remake the provisions of those Regulations with the amendments necessary to implement the 1997 amending Directive. Directive 85/337/EEC in its unamended form applies to the European Economic Area (EEA) (see Article 74 of, and paragraph 1 of Annex XX to, the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Cm 2073) as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993 (Cm 2183) — the Annexes to the Agreement are subject to amendment from time to time by the EEA Joint Committee established under Article 92 of the Agreement) with the result that there is only a requirement to provide a member of the EEA which is not a member of the European Union with information in respect of projects likely to have significant trans-boundary effects. Member States, however, are given rights to participate in the decision making process (regulation 12). Provision is made requiring the Secretary of State where he grants licences pursuant to the Petroleum Act 1998 to include in such licences requirements to obtain his consent to the drilling of a well, the getting of petroleum (where the amount exceeds 500 tonnes per day in the case of oil and 500,000 cubic metres per day in the case of gas) and to the erection of any structure in connection with a development. Provision is also made requiring, subject to an exception in respect of the use of floating installations which commenced prior to 30th April 1998 (the date of the coming into force of the 1998 Regulations), the obtaining of the consent of the Secretary of State to the use of a floating installation in connection with a relevant project comprising a development. Provision is also made requiring the obtaining of the consent of the Secretary of State to the use of a mobile installation for the purposes of the extraction of petroleum where the main purpose of such extraction is the testing of a well (regulation 4). Provision is made requiring applications for consent to the carrying out of specified operations in relation to certain kinds of oil and gas projects to be accompanied by an environmental statement (regulation 5). Those applications are either ones which fall within certain categories (those which relate to the getting of petroleum and the construction of installations in relation to projects producing more than 500 tonnes of oil per day or 500,000 cubic metres of gas per day and certain large pipe-lines) or are those where the Secretary of State is not satisfied that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment. Provision is made in respect of those cases where an environmental statement is not mandatory for the Secretary of State to decide whether the project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. In most cases the undertaker will be required to submit particulars of the project and if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the carrying out of the relevant project will not have a significant effect on the environment he may give a direction that an application for a consent need not be accompanied by an environmental statement (regulation 6(1)). In a limited class of case (renewals of certain consents to the getting of petroleum and certain small pipe-lines) where the Secretary of State is likely already to have sufficient information a direction that no environmental statement need be submitted is not required (regulations 5(1) and 5(2)). However, even in this class of case the Secretary of State must decide whether the project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. If he is not satisfied that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment then an environmental statement must be submitted with the application for consent. Where the application is accompanied by an environmental statement, the Secretary of State must be satisfied before granting a consent that the requirements of the Regulations as to publicity and consultation have been substantially complied with and must consider the representations of the environmental authorities which are interested in the project by reason of their environmental responsibilities and the representations of the public (regulation 5). Provision is made for the granting of a direction that where an environmental statement has already been submitted in respect of the project and the project has already been the subject of an assessment, applications for further consents in respect of that project need not be accompanied by an environmental statement (regulation 6(2)). Provision is made requiring the Secretary of State to give an opinion as to the content of an environmental statement (regulation 7). Provision is made to assist persons proposing to carry out certain oil and gas projects to obtain information to prepare environmental statements (regulation 8). Provision is made with regard to publicity requirements for applications for consents that are accompanied by environmental statements (regulation 9). Power is conferred on the Secretary of State to require persons proposing to carry out oil and gas projects to provide further information in relation to applications for consents or authorisations in respect of which environmental statements are submitted and for such information to be subject to publication requirements under regulation 9 (regulation 10). Provision is made for the carrying out of environmental assessments in relation to the exercise by the Secretary of State of powers under licences granted or treated as granted under the 1998 Act to require proposals to be submitted to him for his approval for the carrying out of relevant projects or to require such projects to be carried out (regulation 11). Power is conferred on the Secretary of State in whole or in part to exempt a relevant project from the provisions of the Regulations (regulation 13). Provision is made in relation to the service of notices and other documents pursuant to the Regulations (regulation 14). Provision is made by the Regulations for the making of applications to the court by persons challenging certain decisions of the Secretary of State. Subject to certain exceptions, provision is also made for the Secretary of State to make applications to the court to seek remedies in respect of the carrying out of oil and gas projects without a consent or approval granted, or a requirement imposed, in accordance with these Regulations or in breach of conditions imposed to protect the environment (regulations 15, 16 and 17). Provision is made creating offences in respect of the intentional or reckless submission of false or misleading information pursuant to the Regulations and subject to certain exceptions, the carrying out of activities without a consent, authorisation or approval granted, or requirement imposed, pursuant to the Regulations or in breach of conditions imposed to protect the environment (regulation 18). A regulatory impact assessment is available from Oil and Gas Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET (Tel: 0171 215 5151).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source