Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977
|
General prohibition on entry of polluting matter to waters. |
3.—(1) Subject to subsection (5), a person shall not cause or permit any polluting matter to enter waters. | |
(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £250 (together with, in the case of a continuing contravention, a fine not exceeding £100 for every day on which the contravention is continued) or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine or fines and such imprisonment, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £5,000 (together with, in the case of a continuing contravention, a fine not exceeding £500 for every day on which the contravention is continued) or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine or fines and such imprisonment. | ||
(3) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution under this section to prove to the satisfaction of the court that the person charged took all reasonable care to prevent the entry prohibited under subsection (1). | ||
(4) A prosecution for an offence under this section may be taken by a local authority, a board of conservators, the Minister for Fisheries or any other person. | ||
(5) Subsection (1) does not apply to— | ||
(a) discharges of trade effluents or sewage effluents (other than a discharge the subject of regulations under section 4 (10), unless where a relevant standard is prescribed under section 26 the discharge complies with that standard); | ||
(b) entry to tidal waters of any matter from vessels, from apparatus for transferring any matter to or from vessels, or from marine structures; | ||
(c) any deposit authorised under section 3 or 13 of the Foreshore Act, 1933 , or section 48 of the Harbours Act, 1946 ; | ||
(d) any substance or thing authorised under section 88 of the Harbours Act, 1946 , to be put into waters; | ||
(e) any works authorised by an order under section 134 of the Harbours Act, 1946 ; | ||
(f) any entry authorised under the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1976. | ||
(6) For the purpose of continuing, notwithstanding the repeal effected by section 34 (c), the exemption conferred by each enactment mentioned in the Table to this section, a reference in any such enactment to the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1935, or the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1944, shall be construed as including a reference to subsection (1). | ||
TABLE | ||
Section 16 of the Shannon Electricity Act, 1925 . | ||
Section 16 of the Liffey Reservoir Act, 1936 . | ||
Section 10 of the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945 . | ||
Section 11 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1945 . | ||
Section 27 of the Turf Development Act, 1946 . | ||