Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977

Interpretation.

1

1. (1) In this Act—

agriculture” includes the breeding, keeping and sale of livestock (including pigs, poultry and any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur) and the making and storage of silage;

F1[aquifer means any stratum or combination of strata that stores or transmits groundwater;]

board of conservators” means a board of conservators under the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1976, and includes the Foyle Fisheries Commission;

F1[combined drain means a drainage pipe, or a system of such pipes, that is not vested in or controlled by a sanitary authority and is used to convey trade effluent or other matter (other than storm water) from two or more premises to any waters or to a sewer;]

fish” has the same meaning as in the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1976;

F1[F2[]]

licence”, in relation to licences under section 4 or 16, includes, where the context permits, such a licence revised under section 7 or 17;

local authority” (except in section 25 (5) (b)), means—

(a) F3[]

(b) F3[]

(c) in the case of a county borough, the corporation of the county borough, and

(d) in the case of any F3[] administrative county, the council of the county,

and, where the context permits, includes a water quality control authority established under section 25, and references to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed accordingly;

marine structure” means a platform or other man-made structure at sea;

the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government;

monitoring” includes inspection, measurement, sampling or analysis, whether periodically or continuously;

polluting matter” includes any poisonous or noxious matter, and any substance (including any explosive, liquid or gas) the entry or discharge of which into any waters is liable to render those or any other waters poisonous or injurious to fish, spawning grounds or the food of any fish, or to injure fish in their value as human food, or to impair the usefulness of the bed and soil of any waters as spawning grounds or their capacity to produce the food of fish or to render such waters harmful or detrimental to public health or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or recreational uses:

premises” includes land, whether or not there are structures on the land;

F1[F2[]]

reserved function” means, in the case of the council of a county F3[], a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1972, or, in the case of the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough;

sanitary authority” means a sanitary authority for the purposes of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 1964;

sewage” includes domestic sewage and a combination of domestic sewage and storm water;

sewage effluent” means effluent from any works, apparatus, plant or drainage pipe used for the disposal to waters of sewage, whether treated or untreated;

F1[sewer means a sewer within the meaning of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 1964, that is vested in or controlled by a sanitary authority and includes a sewage treatment works, and a sewage disposal works, that is vested in or controlled by a sanitary authority;]

tidal waters” includes the sea and any estuary up to high water mark medium tide and any enclosed dock adjoining tidal waters;

trade” includes agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture and any scientific research or experiment;

trade effluent” means effluent from any works, apparatus, plant or drainage pipe used for the disposal to waters or to a sewer of any liquid (whether treated or untreated), either with or without particles of matter in suspension therein, which is discharged from premises used for carrying on any trade or industry (including mining), but does not include domestic sewage or storm water;

vessel” means a waterborne craft of any type, whether self-propelled or not, and includes an air-cushion craft;

waters” includes—

(a) any (or any part of any) river, stream, lake, canal, reservoir, aquifer, pond, watercourse or other inland waters, whether natural or artificial,

(b) any tidal waters, and

(c) where the context permits, any beach, river bank and salt marsh or other area which is contiguous to anything mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), and the channel or bed of anything mentioned in paragraph (a) which is for the time being dry,

but does not include a sewer.

(2) In this Act a reference to a section is to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(3) In this Act a reference to a subsection or paragraph is to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

Annotations:

Amendments:

F1

Substituted and inserted (18.07.1990) by Local Government (Water Pollution) (Amendment) Act 1990 (21/1990), s. 2, commenced on enactment.

F2

Deleted (1.06.2010) by Inland Fisheries Act 2010 (10/2010), s. 8(3)(a) and sch. 2 part 3 item 1, commenced on enactment.

F3

Deleted (1.01.1994) by Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 (31/1993), s. 4 and sch. 1, S.I. No. 400 of 1993, art. 3.

Modifications (not altering text):

C5

References to "sanitary authority" construed (1.01.2014) by Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (50/2013), s. 7(4), S.I. No. 575 of 2013.

Transfer of functions from water service authorities to Irish Water

(1) Subject to section 10, all functions conferred on water services authorities by the Act of 2007 (other than an excluded provision and section 22) shall, on the transfer day, stand transferred to Irish Water.

(2) References to a water services authority or relevant water services authority in—

(a) the Act of 2007 or in any instrument made under that Act, or

(b) any other enactment (other than the Act of 2013) or instrument under any other enactment,

in so far as they relate to any function transferred by this Act, shall on and after the transfer day, be construed as references to Irish Water.

(3) All functions of sanitary authorities deemed to be functions of a water services authority under section 39 of the Act of 2007 shall, on the transfer day, be transferred to Irish Water.

(4) References to a sanitary authority in any enactment or instrument under any enactment shall, on and after the transfer day, in so far as they relate to any function transferred by subsection (3), be construed as references to Irish Water.

C6

Certain functions under section transferred (1.06.2010) by Inland Fisheries Act 2010 (10/2010), s. 8(1), (2), commenced on enactment. This section is listed in sch. 2 part 3 item 1.

Transfer of functions to IFI.

8.— (1) The administration and business in connection with the exercise, performance or execution of any of the functions transferred by subsection (2) are transferred, on the establishment day, to IFI.

(2) The functions vested in the Central Board or a regional board by or under—

(a) the provisions of the enactments mentioned in Schedule 2, and

(b) the regulations mentioned in Schedule 3,

are, on the establishment day, transferred to IFI.

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