UK Offence Report

Amendment of the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000

regulation 2(4)(a)(ii) of The Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2006

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 Where sub-paragraph (1) applies, the operator of an existing SED installation shall be relieved of the requirement to apply for

a permit under regulation 10 (Permits: general provisions), and the operation of that existing SED installation until 31st October 2007 without

a permit shall not constitute an offence under regulation 32(1)(a) (Offences).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 2(4)(a)(ii)?

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. On these words it is an offence to constitute an offence under regulation 32(1)(a) (Offences).
  2. Starting the activity before the licence is granted, rather than on the day it takes effect under the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2006.
  3. Carrying on after a licence has expired, been surrendered or been suspended.
  4. Relying on somebody else's authorisation, where the provision requires the person doing the act to hold one.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£20,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 October 2006
In force from
25 October 2006
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 amend the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1973) (“the PPC Regulations”) in relation to Wales. Regulation 2(2) increases the maximum penalty a Magistrates' court may impose under regulation 32(2)(a) of the PPC Regulations in respect of offences committed after section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (which limits a Magistrates' court’s power to impose imprisonment) is brought into force. Regulation 2(3)(a) amends part B of section 1.2 (Gasification, Liquefaction and Refining Activities) of Schedule 1 to the PPC Regulations by adding motor vehicle refuelling activities to the list of activities that require a permit under the PPC Regulations. This meets a UK obligation arising from the UN Economic Committee for Europe Geneva Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes. This Protocol entered into force on 29 September 1997 following its adoption in November 1991. The Protocol can be seen on the UNECE website at www.unece.org. Regulation 2(3)(b) amends Section 5.1 (Incineration and Co-incineration of waste) of Schedule 1 to the PPC Regulations by clarifying that incineration incidentally in the course of burning of landfill gas is not subject to permission under the PPC Regulations. Regulation 2(3)(c) corrects a drafting error in Part B of section 7 (SED Activities) of Schedule 1 to the PPC Regulations. Regulation 2(4) amends Schedule 3 (Prescribed Date and Transitional Arrangements) to the PPC Regulations to exempt certain operators of coin-operated dry cleaning machines who choose not to make an application for a permit before 31 October 2006 from the permit requirements of the Solvent Emissions Directive 1999/13/EC on the basis that the operators agree to cease carrying-out operations that fall within the scope of that Directive at the installation before the 31 October 2007.

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 0.75.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “constitutes an offence”
Confidence
0.75 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