Schedule 3: The Office for Environmental Protection: Northern Ireland Part 1: The OEP’s Northern Ireland functions Judicial review: powers to apply to prevent serious damage and to intervene
Paragraph 13 makes provision for the OEP to make an application for a judicial review in specific circumstances and to intervene in third party judicial reviews where appropriate.
	Sub-paragraph (1) provides that the OEP may make an application for judicial review in relation to conduct of a relevant public authority if it considers that there has been a serious failure to comply with relevant environmental law, whether or not it has previously issued an information or decision notice in respect of that conduct, and if what is referred to as "the urgency condition" is met.
	Sub-paragraph (2) defines the urgency condition. The effect of this provision is that the OEP could only make an application for judicial review, without proceeding according to its normal enforcement processes – that is, without the need to issue an information notice and a decision notice – if it is "necessary" to do so in order to prevent or mitigate serious damage to the natural environment or human health. This could be the case if, for example, serious environmental damage would have already happened by the time that its normal enforcement procedure had reached the litigation stage and consequently a more urgent court judgment was needed.
	Sub-paragraph (3) requires a relevant public authority that has been the subject of an application for judicial review under sub-paragraph (1) to publish a statement upon conclusion of the review proceedings where the High Court makes a finding that the public authority has failed to comply with relevant environmental law – and this finding has not been overturned on appeal. This must set out the future action it plans to take.
	Sub-paragraph (4) requires a public authority to publish the statement as provided for in sub-paragraph (3) within two months of the day that proceedings, including any appeal, conclude.
	Sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) permit the OEP to intervene in an application for a relevant judicial review brought by another person or body. They enable the OEP to apply to intervene in a third party judicial review (including appeal proceedings) against a relevant public authority concerning an alleged failure to comply with relevant environmental law, as long as the OEP considers that the alleged failure, if it occurred, would be serious.
	If that test is satisfied, it may apply to intervene whether or not it considers that the relevant authority has in fact failed to comply with relevant environmental law.