as it considers to be necessary for the purpose of performing any of
its functions under this Part.
(2) The
Department may publish, or permit the publication of, any data or
information collected, or the results of any research carried out, by or
on behalf of the Department under paragraph
(1).
(3) The Department shall provide
reasonable facilities for the inspection of records of data and
information collected by it, or on its behalf, in pursuance of paragraph
(1)(a), and for the taking of copies of, and extracts from, those
records.
Miscellaneous
Abandoned
mines
- (1) If, in the case of any mine, there is to be an
abandonment at any time after the expiration of the initial period, it
shall be the duty of the operator of the mine to give notice of the
proposed abandonment to the Department at least 6 months before the
abandonment takes effect.
(2) A notice
under paragraph (1) shall contain such information (if any) as is
prescribed for the purpose, which may include information about the
operator's opinion as to any consequences of the
abandonment.
(3) A person who fails to give
the notice required by paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and
liable -
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory
maximum;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(4) A person shall not be guilty of an offence
under paragraph (3) if -
(a) the abandonment happens in an emergency in order to avoid danger
to life or health; and
(b) notice of the abandonment, containing
such information as may be prescribed, is given as soon as reasonably
practicable after the abandonment has happened.
(5) Where the operator of a mine is the
official receiver acting in a compulsory capacity, he shall not be guilty
of an offence under paragraph (3) by reason of any failure to give the
notice required by paragraph (1) if, as soon as reasonably practicable
(whether before or after the abandonment), he gives to the Department
notice of the abandonment or proposed abandonment, containing such
information as may be prescribed.
(6) Where
a person gives notice under paragraph (1), (4)(b) or (5), he shall publish
prescribed particulars of, or relating to, the notice in one or more local
newspapers circulating in the locality where the mine is
situated.
(7) For the purposes of this
Article, "abandonment", in relation to a mine, -
(a) subject to sub-paragraph (b), includes -
(i) the discontinuance of any or all of the operations for the
removal of water from the mine;
(ii) the cessation of working
of any relevant seam, vein or vein-system;
(iii) the cessation
of use of any shaft or outlet of the mine;
(iv) in the case of
a mine in which activities other than mining activities are carried on
(whether or not mining activities are also carried on in the mine),
the discontinuance of some or all of those other activities in the
mine and any substantial change in the operations for the removal of
water from the mine; but
(b) does not include any disclaimer under Article 152 or 288 of the
Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (power of liquidator, or
trustee of a bankrupt's estate, to disclaim onerous property) by the
official receiver acting in a compulsory capacity.
(8) In this Article -
"acting in a compulsory capacity", in the case of the official
receiver, means acting as -
(a) liquidator of a company;
(b) receiver or manager of a
bankrupt's estate, pursuant to Article 260 of the Insolvency (Northern
Ireland) Order 1989;
(c) trustee of a bankrupt's
estate;
(d) liquidator of an insolvent partnership;
(e)
trustee of an insolvent partnership;
(f) trustee, or receiver or
manager, of the insolvent estate of a deceased person;
"the initial period" means the period of 6 months beginning with the
day on which paragraph (1) comes into operation;
"mine" has the same meaning as in the Mines Act (Northern Ireland)
1969;
"the official receiver" has the same meaning as it has in the
Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 by virtue of Article 356 of
that Order;
"relevant seam, vein or vein-system", in the case of any mine, means
any seam, vein or vein-system for the purpose of, or in connection with,
whose working any excavation constituting or comprised in the mine was
made.
(2) The power conferred by paragraph (1)(a) to
survey land includes power -
(a) to sink boreholes; and
(b) to survey land for the purpose
of determining whether it is appropriate or practicable for the
Department to exercise any of its powers under this Part.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the Department
may temporarily close any waterway.
(4) The
Department, before closing any waterway, shall, except in the case of an
emergency, give to all persons likely to be affected by the closure, such
notice as is reasonably practicable.
(5)
Where the Department considers it appropriate, it may -
(a) carry out any experimental, advisory, research or development
work either in relation to waterways generally or in relation to any
particular problem relating to waterways;
(b) enter into a
contract or arrangement with any person for the carrying out of any such
work;
(c) make grants by way of contribution towards the cost of
any such work undertaken by any person.
but nothing in the arrangement or agreement shall diminish in any
respect any responsibility of any party for any act or thing done by it or
on its behalf.
(3) A scheme under paragraph
(1) shall specify -
(a) the extent of the works to be carried out; and
(b) the
manner in which, and the persons by whom and in what proportion, the
cost of carrying out the scheme and of maintaining or operating anything
constructed thereunder are to be borne.
(4) For the purposes of carrying into effect in
Northern Ireland any scheme under paragraph (1), the Department or any
agent authorised by it to act on its behalf may carry out any such works
as are referred to in Article 43(3)(a) to (d), and the Department may,
without prejudice to any other provision of this Article, exercise any
power exercisable by it under any other provision of this Part or the
Drainage Order.
(5) Nothing in this Article
or in any scheme, arrangement or agreement made thereunder
shall -
(a) prejudice the application of any provision of this Part in
relation to any waterway, or part of a waterway, which is in Northern
Ireland; or
(b) prevent the Department from preparing and
carrying into effect any canal scheme under this Part, or exercising any
other function under this Part or the Drainage Order, in relation to so
much of any waterway as is in Northern Ireland;
(2) Where the Department desires to acquire,
otherwise than by agreement, any land for any purpose referred to in
paragraph (1) the Department may make an order (in this Article referred
to as a "vesting order") vesting such land, in the
Department.
(3) Schedule 6 to the Local
Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 shall apply, subject to the
modifications specified in Schedule 3 to this Order, for the purpose of
the acquisition of land by means of a vesting order under this Article as
it applies for the purpose of the acquisition of land by means of a
vesting order under that Act.
(4) Nothing
in section 5 of the Stormont Regulation and Government Property Act
(Northern Ireland) 1933 (which relates to the taking and disposal of land
for the public services) shall affect the disposal of any land acquired or
taken on lease by the Department under this
Article.
(5) The power to make a vesting
order under this Article in respect of land -
(a) which is the property of any public body which has power under
any statutory provision to acquire land compulsorily; or
(b)
which is declared by or under any statutory provision to be
inalienable,
shall not, where representations objecting to the proposal for making
the order have been duly made by the owner of the land and have not been
withdrawn, be exercised in relation to that land unless the proposal for
making the order has been approved by a resolution of the
Assembly.
(6) In paragraph (5) "public
body" means a body established by or under any statutory
provision.
