The Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015

Made: 9th February 2015

Laid before Parliament: 11th February 2015

Coming into force: 7th March 2015

The Secretary of State is designated in relation to the environment for the purposes of section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 , and makes these Regulations under the powers conferred by that section and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to that Act.

The Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of, and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972 and it appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient for references to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 to be construed as references to that Annex as amended from time to time.

PART 1 — Introduction

Title, commencement and extent

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015.

• (2) They come into force on 7th March 2015.

• (3) They extend to Northern Ireland only in so far as they relate to import and export under the EU Regulation.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “authorised person” means a person authorised under regulation 13;

• “competent” has the meaning given by regulation 4;

• “controlled substances” means the substances in Annex I to the EU Regulation as amended from time to time;

• “course of training” includes the training of an employee while that employee is engaged in work for which the employee is employed;

• “employed” means employed under a contract of employment and “employee” and “employer” are construed accordingly;

• “enforcement notice” has the meaning given by regulation 16;

• “enforcing authority” means a person or body enforcing the EU Regulation under regulation 12;

• “the EU Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No 1005/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on substances that deplete the ozone layer ;

• “in-house qualification” means a qualification verified by a certificate of competence or other written confirmation issued by an employer to such of the employees of that employer who have successfully completed a course of training provided by that employer relating to relevant work;

• “marine area” has the meaning given by paragraph 2 of Schedule 1;

• “relevant work” has the meaning given by regulation 5;

• “offshore installation” has the meaning given by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1; and

• “work with methyl bromide” means work which involves preventing or minimising the leakage of methyl bromide from fumigation installations and operations in which methyl bromide is used.

• (2) Expressions used in these Regulations and in the EU Regulation have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in the EU Regulation.

The competent authority

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PART 2 — Qualifications

Meaning of “competent”

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• (1) For the purposes of this Part of these Regulations—

• (a) a person is competent to carry out relevant work whilst performing a task specified in column 1 of the Table in Schedule 2 in respect of the equipment specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Table if that person has obtained any of the qualifications specified in the corresponding entry in column 3 of that Table , or has obtained the equivalent of those qualifications in a specified state;

• (b) a person is competent to carry out any other relevant work to which paragraph (a) does not apply if that person has obtained an in-house qualification in respect of that other relevant work;

• (c) a person is competent to carry out work with methyl bromide if that person has—

• (i) obtained the British Pest Control Association Certificate of Proficiency for Fumigation Operators and successfully completed the British Pest Control Association module referred to in the list in Schedule 3 which relates to the work in question; or

• (ii) obtained an equivalent certificate, and successfully completed an equivalent module, in a specified state.

• (2) For the purposes of this regulation, a “specified state” means one of the states specified in Schedule 1 to the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

Meaning of “relevant work”

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In this Part, “relevant work” means any work which involves—

• (a) recovering, recycling, reclaiming or destroying controlled substances; or

• (b) preventing or minimising the leakage of controlled substances other than work with methyl bromide.

Qualifications and supervision

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (5), no person may carry out any relevant work unless that person is competent to do so.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (6), no person may carry out work with methyl bromide unless that person is competent to do so.

• (3) The employer of a person employed to carry out relevant work must ensure that paragraph (1) is complied with.

• (4) The employer of a person employed to carry out work with methyl bromide must ensure that paragraph (2) is complied with.

• (5) A person who is not competent to carry out relevant work may carry out such work if the person does so—

• (a) under the supervision of a person who is so competent; and

• (b) with a view to obtaining—

• (i) a qualification referred to in regulation 4(1)(a); or

• (ii) an in-house qualification.

• (6) A person who is not competent to carry out work with methyl bromide may carry out such work if the person does so under the supervision of a person who is so competent, and—

• (a) with a view to—

• (i) obtaining the Certificate of Proficiency referred to in regulation 4(1)(c), and

• (ii) completing any of the modules listed in Schedule 3; or

• (b) if the person has obtained that Certificate of Proficiency, with a view to completing any of the modules listed in Schedule 3.

Training

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• (1) A training employer must ensure that the course of training which the training employer provides will enable an employee who has been trained to carry out the relevant job satisfactorily.

• (2) In respect of each employee trained, a training employer must keep for the required period a record of—

• (a) the name of the employee;

• (b) the training provided;

• (c) the date of the training; and

• (d) the date on which is issued the certificate of competence or other written confirmation that the course of training has been successfully completed.

• (3) A training employer must provide a copy of the record referred to in paragraph (2) to the employee in question when requested to do so by that employee during the required period.

• (4) In this regulation—

• (a) “relevant job” means relevant work not involving a task specified in column 1 of the Table in Schedule 2 in respect of the equipment specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Table;

• (b) “the required period” means both—

• (i) the period during which the employee in question undergoes training provided by the training employer, and

• (ii) the period during which the employee is employed by the training employer to carry out a relevant job; and

• (c) “training employer” means an employer who provides training leading to an in-house qualification.

PART 3 — Offences, penalties and enforcement

Offences in relation to Part 2

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• (1) Any person who fails to comply with paragraph (1), (2), (3) or (4) of regulation 6 commits an offence.

• (2) A training employer who fails to comply with paragraph (1), (2) or (3) of regulation 7 commits an offence.

Offences in relation to the EU Regulation

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• (1) Any person who breaches a provision of the EU Regulation set out in Schedule 4 commits an offence.

• (2) Failure to comply with any of the following is an offence—

• (a) an enforcement notice;

• (b) a notice issued by the Secretary of State under regulation 18.

• (3) It is an offence—

• (a) intentionally to obstruct any person acting in the enforcement of the EU Regulation;

• (b) without reasonable cause, to fail to give to any such person any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require for those purposes;

• (c) to furnish to any such person any information knowing it to be false or misleading; or

• (d) to fail to produce a document or record to any such person when required to do so.

Penalties

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A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; or

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

Corporate offences

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• (1) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is proved—

• (a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or

• (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of an officer,

the officer, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

• (2) In paragraph (1) “officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means—

• (a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body; or

• (b) a person purporting to act in any such capacity.

• (3) If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member's functions of management as it applies to an officer of a body corporate.

• (4) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a partnership is proved—

• (a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or

• (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a partner,

the partner, as well as the partnership, is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

• (5) For the purpose of proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed by a partnership in Scotland, section 70 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 applies as it applies in relation to a body corporate.

• (6) In paragraph (4) “partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.

• (7) Subject to paragraph (10), proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed by an unincorporated association must be brought in the name of the association and not in the name of any of its members.

• (8) For the purposes of such proceedings—

• (a) rules of the court relating to service of documents have effect as if the association were a body corporate; and

• (b) the following provisions apply as they apply to a body corporate—

• (i) section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 and Schedule 3 to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 ;

• (ii) section 70 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995; and

• (iii) section 18 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 and Schedule 4 to the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 .

• (9) A fine imposed on an unincorporated association on its conviction for an offence must be paid out of the funds of the association.

• (10) If an offence committed by an unincorporated association, other than a partnership, is proved—

• (a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the association or a member of its governing body, or

• (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such an officer or member,

that officer or member as well as the association is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Enforcement

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• (1) Part 2 of these Regulations is enforced by the appropriate agency, the local authority or the port health authority.

• (2) In relation to—

• (a) cases of a particular description; or

• (b) a particular case,

the Secretary of State, as regards England, the Welsh Ministers, as regards Wales, or the Scottish Ministers as regards Scotland may direct that Part 2 of these Regulations is enforced by them instead.

• (3) The appropriate agency and the local authority enforce the EU Regulation and are each an enforcing authority for the purpose of these Regulations.

• (4) In relation to—

• (a) cases of a particular description; or

• (b) a particular case,

the Secretary of State, as regards England, the Welsh Ministers, as regards Wales, the Scottish Ministers as regards Scotland or the Department of the Environment as regards Northern Ireland may direct that the EU Regulation is enforced by them instead and a person or body making such a direction is to that extent an enforcing authority for the purposes of these Regulations.

• (5) Where the Secretary of State makes a direction under paragraph (2) or (4), the Secretary of State may delegate to the Director of Public Prosecutions functions in relation to the prosecution of offences under these Regulations.

• (6) The Secretary of State enforces the EU Regulation in relation to offshore installations and to that extent is an enforcing authority for the purposes of these Regulations.

• (7) Nothing in these Regulations authorises an enforcing authority to bring proceedings in Scotland for an offence.

• (8) In this Regulation—

• (a) “the appropriate agency” means—

• (i) as regards England, the Environment Agency;

• (ii) as regards Wales, the Natural Resources Body for Wales; and

• (iii) as regards Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;

• (b) “local authority” means—

• (i) in England, where there is, within the meaning of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994 , a unitary authority, that authority;

• (ii) otherwise in England—

• (aa) a district Council,

• (bb) a London borough Council,

• (cc) the Common Council of the City of London, or

• (dd) the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

• (iii) in relation to Wales—

• (aa) a county council, or

• (bb) a county borough council;

• (iv) in relation to Scotland, a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 ;

• (v) in relation to Northern Ireland, a district council;

• (c) “port health authority” means—

• (i) in relation to London port health district (within the meaning given by section 7(1) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 ), the Common Council of the City of London; and

• (ii) in relation to any port health district constituted by order under section 2(3) of that Act, the port health authority for that district constituted by order under section 2(4) of that Act.

Authorised persons

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• (1) The authorities specified in regulation 12(1) and (2) may authorise a person in writing for the purposes of enforcing Part 2 of these Regulations pursuant to section 108 of the Environment Act 1995.

• (2) An enforcing authority may authorise a person in writing for the purposes of enforcing the EU Regulation—

• (a) in England, Scotland and Wales, pursuant to section 108 of the Environment Act 1995 (powers of enforcing authorities and persons authorised by them); or

• (b) in Northern Ireland, pursuant to Article 72 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 .

• (3) The powers in section 108 of the Environment Act 1995 are extended to the marine area for the purpose of enforcing the EU Regulation.

Powers of an authorised person in relation to Part 2

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• (1) An authorised person may, on production (if so required) of the authority of that authorised person, exercise any of the powers specified in paragraph (2) for the purpose of enforcing Part 2 of these Regulations.

• (2) The powers are—

• (a) at any reasonable time to enter premises, other than premises used wholly or mainly for residential purposes, which the authorised person has reason to believe it is necessary for the authorised person to enter;

• (b) on entering any premises by virtue of sub-paragraph (a), to take with the authorised person any other person whose presence appears to the authorised person to be required in connection with the exercise by the authorised person of any power under this regulation, including, if the authorised person has reasonable cause to apprehend any serious obstruction in the execution of the duty of the authorised person, a constable;

• (c) to carry out such inquiries and to make such examination as may be necessary;

• (d) to require any person whom the authorised person reasonably believes can give any information relevant to any examination or investigation under sub-paragraph (c)—

• (i) to answer (in the absence of anyone other than someone nominated by that person to be present and anyone whom the authorised person may allow to be present) such questions as the authorised person thinks fit to ask; and

• (ii) to sign a declaration of the truth of the answers of that person;

• (e) to require the production of, or where the information is recorded in computerised form, the furnishing of extracts from, any records which it is necessary for the authorised person to see for the purposes of any examination or investigation under sub-paragraph (c) and to inspect and take copies of, or any entry in, the records; and