UK Offence Report

1 It is an offence for a person— a to contravene regulation 9(1); b to fail to comply with or to contravene…

regulation 32(1) of The Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 (revoked)

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

1 It is an offence for

a person—

a to contravene regulation 9(1);

b to fail to comply with or to contravene

a condition of

a permit;

c to fail to comply with regulation 16(1);

d to fail to comply with the requirements of an enforcement notice or

a suspension notice;

e to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by

a notice under regulation 28(2);

f to make

a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in

a material particular, or recklessly to make

a statement which is false or misleading in

a material particular, where the statement is made—

i in purported compliance with

a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under any provision of these Regulations; or

ii for the purpose of obtaining the grant of

a permit to himself or any other person, or the variation, transfer or surrender of

a permit;

g intentionally to make

a false entry in any record required to be kept under the condition of

a permit;

h with intent to deceive, to forge or use

a document issued or authorised to be issued under

a condition of

a permit or required for any purpose under

a condition of

a permit or to make or have in his possession

a document so closely resembling any such document as to be likely to deceive;

i to fail to comply with an order made by

a court under regulation 35.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (for the purpose of obtaining, intentionally, recklessly, with intent to).

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally, with intent to, recklessly, for the purpose of obtaining; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

of an enforcement notice or a suspension notice; e to fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement imposed by a notice under regulation 28(2); f to make a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly to make a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular, where

What would breach regulation 32(1)?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
5 years

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
21 July 2000
In force from
1 August 2000
Extent
E+W

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 are made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999. They set out a pollution control regime for the purpose of implementing the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (Council Directive 96/61/EC) and for regulating other environmentally polluting activities not covered by the Directive. The Regulations apply to England and Wales. The Regulations control the operation of any installation or mobile plant carrying out any of the activities listed in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations. Installations or mobile plant used to carry out activities listed under the heading “Part A(1)” in Part 1 of Schedule 1 (Part A(1) installations and mobile plant) are subject to integrated pollution control by the Environment Agency. Those used to carry out activities listed under the heading “Part A(2)” (Part A(2) installations and mobile plant) are subject to integrated pollution control by local authorities. Those used to carry out activities listed under the heading “Part B” (Part B installations and mobile plant) are subject to air pollution control by local authorities. Part 2 of Schedule 1 sets out some rules for the interpretation of Part 1 of the Schedule. Part 3 of Schedule 1 sets out rules for the interpretation of “Part A(1) installation” etc. Part I of the Regulations (regulations 1 to 8) sets out general provisions. There are definitions in regulations 2 and 3. Regulation 8 determines which installations and mobile plant are regulated by the Environment Agency and which by local authorities (see above). The other regulations in Part I deal with such general matters as the service of notices under the Regulations. Part II deals with the need for a permit to operate an installation or mobile plant covered by the Regulations (regulation 9), the procedure for granting permits and the contents of permits (regulations 10 to 14 and Schedules 4 and 5), and the treatment of permits once granted (regulations 15 to 21 and Schedule 7). The basic requirement for the content of permits (regulation 12) is to impose emission limit values based on the best available techniques. (“Best available techniques” is defined in regulation 2 and Schedule 2 sets out considerations which have to be taken into account when determining the best available techniques.) Schedule 6 sets out the compensation provisions applicable where a person is required under regulation 12 to allow an operator of an installation or Part A mobile plant to carry out work on that person’s land. Regulation 13 provides for the Environment Agency to notify a local authority of conditions which it considers appropriate in relation to preventing or reducing emissions to water from Part A installations and mobile plant regulated by the authority. Regulation 14 enables the Secretary of State to make general binding rules containing requirements which may apply instead of conditions included in permits. Regulations 15 and 17 to 21 and Schedule 7 deal with the review, variation, transfer, surrender and revocation of permits. Regulation 16 requires an operator of a permitted installation to give the regulator notice of any proposed change in the operation of that installation. Regulation 22 provides for the Secretary of State to make charging schemes setting out the fees and charges to be paid in respect of applications made under the Regulations and in respect of variations, transfers, surrenders and the subsistence of permits. Part III (regulations 23 to 26) contain the enforcement powers under the Regulations. Part IV (regulation 27) and Schedule 8 provide for appeals to the Secretary of State. Part V (regulations 28 to 31) and Schedule 9 set out information gathering powers and publicity requirements. Part VI (regulations 32 to 35) sets out offences for contraventions of the Regulations and provides for enforcement by the High Court and the admissibility of evidence. Part VII (regulations 36 to 38) enables the Secretary of State to give directions and guidance to regulators and to make plans relating to emissions. Part VIII and Schedule 10 deal with the consequential amendments required by the introduction of the pollution control regimes in the Regulations. Schedule 3 sets out the transitional provisions for bringing installations and mobile plant under the control of the Regulations. Installations and mobile plant will be phased into the Regulations over an eight year period. These Regulations will supersede the controls in Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 Act and, consequently, that Part of that Act will in due course be repealed. A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared and copies can be obtained from AEQ Division, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Zone 4/H11, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies of the British Standards publications referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from any of the sales outlets operated by the British Standards Institution or by post from the British Standards Institution at Standards House, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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