81A.—(1) The Minister may, for the purposes of environmental protection, make regulations providing for the carrying out by the Agency or a local authority of environmental inspections in connection with the performance of a statutory function of the Agency or a local authority in relation to environmental protection.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may make provision for all or any of the following—

(a) the organisation and carrying out of environmental inspections,

(b) the preparation of plans for environmental inspections, the procedures to be followed in the preparation of such plans, the scope and contents of such plans, arrangements for their review, and the period in respect of which they are to apply,

(c) the frequency of site visits and the matters to be examined in the course of such visits,

(d) the preparation of reports following site visits and the making of the reports publicly available, and the time within which each of those things is to be done,

(e) the investigation of incidents giving rise, or likely to give rise, to environmental pollution.

(3) In this section—

"environmental inspections" shall be construed in accordance with European Parliament and Council Recommendation of 4 April 2001 providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the Member States ⁽¹⁾;

"local authority" has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government Act 2001;

"site visit" means a visit to a site at which there is being, or has been, carried on any activity (whether an activity within the meaning of this Act or not), being a visit which the Agency or the local authority, as the case may be, may make in exercise of the powers conferred on it by any enactment (other than this section).]