§ Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether changes are proposed in the arrangements for administering Section 23 of the Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971 (as amended) in respect of the discharge of effluent from land terminals receiving offshore oil production.
§ Mr. BennWith the approval of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, responsibility for exercising the power of exemption under that section is to be transferred from me to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, who are already responsible for the general administration of other legislation concerned with the control of pollution. This should make for more convenient administration and should facilitate co-ordination of the control under the Prevention of Oil Pollution Act with the control of pollution under other legislation. The revised arrangements apply to discharges from land based installations and discharges into "controlled waters" as defined in Part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and will take effect on 20th July.