77 tal-2013 - Regolamenti tal-2013 li Jemendaw ir-Regolamenti dwar Programm ta’ Azzjoni dwar in-Nitrati

L.N. 77 of 2013

ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING ACT

(CAP. 504)

Nitrates Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations, 2013

BY VIRTUE of the powers conferred by article 61 of the

Environment and Development Planning Act, the Minister for

Tourism, Culture and the Environment, with the concurrence of the

Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs and the Chairman of the

Malta Environment and Planning Authority, has made the following

regulations:-

The title of these regulations is the Nitrates Action Citation.

Programme (Amendment) Regulations, 2013, and these regulations

shall be read and construed as one with the Nitrates Action S.L. 504.108

Programme Regulations, hereinafter referred to as "the principal

regulations".

For the words "at any stage in the handling process;" in the Amends

definition "slurry" in regulation 2 of the principal regulations, there regulation

the principal

shall be substituted the words "at any stage in the handling process; regulations.

slurry shall be considered the same as organic fertilizer;".

Regulation 8 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 8 of

as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in sub-regulation (1) thereof, for the words "The

land application of organic fertiliser shall not be permitted

when:", there shall be substituted the words "The land

application of organic and inorganic fertiliser shall not be

permitted when:";

(b)

paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be

substituted by the following new paragraph

"(a) the surface of the field sloping to a degree of

7% or greater, taking into account factors such as

proximity to watercourses, soil condition, ground cover

and rainfall, or if there is a significant risk of causing water

pollution;";

(c)

in paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (1) thereof, for

the words "in any underground strata.", there shall be

substituted the words "in any underground strata; or", and

immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new

paragraph

"(c) the land is water saturated or flooded and

such prohibition shall remain in force until such land

remains saturated or flooded."; and

(d)

sub-regulation (2) thereof shall be deleted.

Immediately after regulation 20 of the principal

regulations there shall be added the following new regulation

" Administrative

(1) Where the Director has

penalties.

reasonable cause to believe that -

(a)

an offence against these

regulations has been committed by any

person; and

(b)

having regard to the

previous conduct of the person

concerned, it would be appropriate to

impose a penalty under this regulation,

he may cause a notice in writing, in

accordance with sub-regulation (2), in the

appropriate form to be served on that person.

(2) A notice under subregulation (1)

shall specify -

(a)

the date and nature of the

offence;

(b)

a summary of the facts

upon which the allegation that an

offence has been committed is based

(being a sufficient summary fully and

fairly to inform the person of the

allegation against him);

(c)

any other matter (not being

previous convictions) that the Director

considers relevant to the imposition of a

penalty; and

(d)

the amount of the penalty

due and, where the penalty due depends

on a previous conviction, the date of

such conviction, and this shall be

endorsed on a statement setting out the

provisions of this regulation.

B B 791 791

(3) Any person on whom a notice

under sub-regulation (1) is served may, within

thirty days after such service, by notice in

writing in the appropriate form served on the

Director, require that proceedings in respect

of the alleged offence shall be dealt with by

the Court, in which case the following

provisions shall apply

(a)

no further proceedings

shall be taken under this regulation by

the Director; and

(b)

nothing in this regulation

shall be construed as preventing the

institution of any proceedings in respect

of the alleged offence or the conviction

of the person for the offence by the

Court or the imposition of any penalty

or forfeiture under this regulation upon

such conviction.

(4) Any person on whom a notice

under sub-regulation (1) is served who does

not wish that proceedings in respect of the

alleged offence be dealt with by the Court

may by notice in writing served on the

Director -

(a)

admit the offence, and

(b)

pay the amount of the

penalty to the Director within thirty days

after the notice of the penalty is served

or after such subsequent period as the

Director may determine.

(5) Where under this regulation a

person admits an offence, the Director shall

impose a monetary penalty on that person in

respect of the offence amounting to one-third

of the maximum penalty to which the person

would be liable if he were convicted of the

offence by the Court under these regulations.

B B 792 792

(6) The penalty imposed under sub-

regulation (5) shall be due as a civil debt

enforceable by the competent Court of civil

jurisdiction in favour of the Government and

the declaration by the person on whom the

penalty is imposed that he admits the charge

shall constitute an executive title for the

purposes of article 253 of the Code of

Organization and Civil Procedure in the same

manner as if it were a judgement of the

competent Court of civil jurisdiction.

(7) Notwithstanding

any

other

provision of these regulations or of any other

enactment, where an offence has been

admitted under this regulation, no charge may

be laid in respect of the offence against any

person by whom it has been admitted.

(8) Where a person on whom a notice

under sub-regulation (1) is served does not,

within thirty days after the notice is served

upon him, admit the offence, the Director

shall institute proceedings or cause

proceedings to be instituted before the Court

in respect of the alleged offence.".

€0.36