Commentary on Sections Part 2: Electricity Market Reform Chapter 8: Emissions performance standard Section 60: Monitoring and enforcement
328.Subsection (1) places a duty on the “appropriate national authority” to make arrangements for monitoring compliance with, and enforcement of, the emissions limit duty. The “appropriate national authority” is the Secretary of State in England, Scottish Minsters in Scotland, Welsh Minsters in Wales and the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland (DoE) (see subsection (4)).
329.Subsection (2) enables the “appropriate national authority” to make regulations for the purpose of implementing the arrangements which are necessary for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing the emissions limit duty.
330.Subsection (3) requires that arrangements must also be made in the enforcement regulations for an enforcing authority to comply with a direction made under section 59 to suspend or modify the emissions limit duty.
331.Schedule 5 details the measures that may be included in the regulations made under section 60 about monitoring and enforcement of compliance with the emissions limit. These include the relevant national authority determining which body will be the enforcing authority, expected to be the Environment Agency in England, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the new Natural Resources Body for Wales.
332.Paragraph 1 of Schedule 5 details the matters that can be dealt with in the enforcement regulations. Among other things, they make provision for publication of information on compliance with the emissions limit; authorise the national authority to set up a charging regime; provide for enforcement of the duty through enforcement notices; and confer a right of appeal against decisions made by the enforcing body.
333.Away from enabling the enforcement regulations to contain provision which will facilitate an enforcing authority to perform its enforcement activities in paragraph 1, paragraph 2 describes the provision that can be made in relation to enforcement notices and the possible effect that enforcement notices can have. Paragraph 3 enables provision to be included dealing with the imposition of financial penalties in cases of a breach. Paragraph 4 provides that the enforcement regulations may contain consequential amendments to other legislation when such amendments are necessary to implement an emissions limit duty enforcement regime.