Commentary on provisions of the Act Section 7: Civil penalties: modification of standard of proof
This section relates to powers conferred on regulators under sections 36 and 62 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 ("the 2008 Act") to impose fixed monetary penalties and variable monetary penalties.
	This section allows fixed and variable monetary penalties to be imposed for water industry offences as if "on the balance of probabilities" appears in sections 39(2) and 42(2) of the 2008 Act, instead of "beyond reasonable doubt". The power is made available only in relation to offences committed by a water company (defined in the section as an offence committed by a water or sewerage undertaker, or a water supply or sewerage licensee within the meaning of the Water Industry Act 1991) and will be specified in secondary legislation, to be made by the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers.
	For offences committed by a water supply or sewerage licensee, this provision only applies in relation to their licensed activities; wider business activities unrelated to the licensing regime are not included.
	The secondary legislation must also prescribe a cap on the amount that may be imposed by the regulator when imposing a variable monetary penalty to this modified standard of proof (subsection (4)).
	The offences in respect of which these powers are made available are outlined in subsection (3), and are those under sections 24(4), 25(2), 25C(1), 80 and 201(3) of the Water Resources Act 1991, regulations under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999, and regulations under section 61 of the Water Act 2014.