24 Notification to local authorities of existing reservoirs.
(1) Where a large raised reservoir has been constructed before, or is in course of construction at, the commencement of this Act, the undertakers, if they are not a relevant authority , shall, not later than nine months after the date of that commencement, give to the relevant authority in whose area the reservoir is situated (or, if it extends or will extend into the areas of more than one relevant authority , to one of those authorities) notice of the situation of the reservoir and of the name and address of the undertakers; and if the undertakers are a relevant authority , and the reservoir or any part of it is or will be in the area of another relevant authority or authorities, they shall, not later than nine months after that date, give notice of the situation of the reservoir and of their being the undertakers to the other authority or to one of the other authorities.
(2) With the notice under subsection (1) above the undertakers shall send for inspection and return by the relevant authority —
(a) any final certificate given under the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 on the construction of the reservoir or any alteration of it or, if the preliminary certificate has been so given but no final certificate, the preliminary certificate;
(b) any certificate so given as to the execution of the works on the construction of the reservoir or any alteration of it (including the annex to the certificate);
(c) the report made on the latest inspection of the reservoir under that Act (if any).
(3) The notice under subsection (1) above shall state, if it is so—
(a) that no final certificate was given under the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 on the construction of the reservoir or on its alteration to become a large reservoir because the construction or alteration was completed before the commencement of that Act;
(b) that no certificate has been given for the reservoir or inspection made of it under that Act because it was not a reservoir to which the Act applied.
(4) Every relevant authority shall during the three months after the date of the commencement of this Act take such steps as they think are reasonably required to inform undertakers of the requirements of subsections (1) to (3) above.
25 Reservoirs in course of construction or alteration, or newly constructed or altered.
(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) below, where at the commencement of this Act—
(a) a large raised reservoir is in course of construction or is in course of being altered so as to increase its capacity; or
(b) a large raised reservoir having been constructed or having been altered, no final certificate has yet been given under the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 on the construction or alteration;
sections 6 to 8 above shall from that commencement apply as they apply in the case of a construction or alteration carried out wholly after that commencement.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) above shall not apply where a final certificate was not given as there mentioned because the construction or alteration of the reservoir was completed before the commencement of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930; and nothing in that subsection shall apply where before the commencement of this Act a qualified civil engineer (within the meaning of that Act) was not employed to design and supervise the construction or alteration of the reservoir because the reservoir was not one to which that Act applied.
(3) If in the case within the subsection (1) above five years have elapsed since the issue of a preliminary certificate for the reservoir or the addition to it, as the case may be, section 7(4) above shall apply with the substitution of a reference to the commencement of this Act for the reference to the end of five years after a preliminary certificate is first issued.
(4) If in a case within subsection (1) above there is at the commencement of this Act no qualified civil engineer responsible for the reservoir or addition as construction engineer, the undertakers shall appoint a qualified civil engineer for purposes of section 8 above without being required by a notice from the enforcement authority; and if they fail to do so within six months after the date of the commencement of this Act, sections 15 and 22(1) above shall apply as if the undertakers had been served with a notice under section 8 so as to require them to make the appointment by the end of those six months.
If a relevant authority are the undertakers and the reservoir will be wholly in the area of that authority, then notwithstanding anything in section 2(6) above this subsection shall have effect in relation to the reservoir as it would have effect in relation to it if the undertakers were not a relevant authority , except that the reference to section 15 shall not apply.
(5) Where at the commencement of this Act a final certificate has been given under the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 on the construction of a large raised reservoir or on the alteration of a reservoir so as to increase its capacity, but the reservoir has not been inspected under that Act since the date of the certificate, section 10(2) above shall apply as if that certificate had been given on the date of the commencement of this Act.
26 Reservoirs constructed before commencement of previous Act.
(1) Where the construction of a large raised reservoir (whether as a new reservoir or by the alteration of an existing reservoir that was not a large raised reservoir) was completed before the commencement of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 and the reservoir was not inspected under that Act then unless section 25(1) or (5) above applies by reason of any alteration of the reservoir increasing its capacity, the first inspection of the reservoir under this Act shall be made as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act.
(2) Where the construction of a large raised reservoir (whether as a new reservoir or by the alteration of an existing reservoir that was not a large raised reservoir) was completed before the commencement of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930, then on the first inspection of the reservoir under this Act the inspecting engineer shall annex to his report drawings and descriptions giving, so far as he can, the like information of the works actually contructed at any time before the commencement of that Act (and not removed on any subsequent alteration increasing the capacity of the reservoir) as would have been annexed to a certificate under section 7(6) above.
(3) Where subsection (2) above applies on the inspection of a reservoir, any reference in section 20 or section 21(5) above to an inspecting engineer’s report shall include the annex, and section 20(4)(b) shall apply whether or not the report is stated in the inspecting engineer’s certificate to include a recommendation as to measures to be taken in the interests of safety.
27 Large raised reservoirs not within previous Act.
(1) Where before the commencement of this Act a qualified civil engineer within the meaning of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 has not been employed to design and supervise the construction of a large raised reservoir or an alteration of a reservoir to increase its capacity because the reservoir was not one to which that Act applied, then—
(a) notwithstanding that the construction or alteration is not completed at the commencement of this Act, section 6(1) and (5) and section 7 above shall not apply except in so far as section 7 is applied by section 8;
(b) whether or not the construction or alteration is so completed, the undertakers shall appoint a qualified civil engineer for purposes of section 8 without being required by a notice from the enforcement authority;
(c) if the construction or alteration is so completed, section 6(2) to (4) shall apply in accordance with section 8 as they apply in the case of a construction or alteration carried out wholly after the commencement of this Act.
(2) If the undertakers fail within six months after the date of the commencement of this Act to appoint a qualified civil engineer as required by subsection (1)(b) above, sections 15 and 22(1) above shall apply as if the undertakers had been served with a notice under section 8 so as to require them to make the appointment by the end of those six months.
(3) If a relevant authority are the undertakers and the reservoir is situated wholly in the area of that authority, then notwithstanding anything in section 2(6) above this section shall have effect in relation to the reservoir as it would have effect in relation to it if the undertakers were not a relevant authority , except that the reference to section 15 in subsection (2) above shall not apply.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, this Act binds the Crown.
(2) No contravention by the Crown of any provision made by or under this Act shall make the Crown criminally liable; but the High Court may, on the application of the appropriate agency, declare unlawful any act or omission of the Crown which constitutes such a contravention.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (2) above, the provisions of this Act shall apply to persons in the public service of the Crown as they apply to other persons.
(4) If the Secretary of State certifies that it appears to him, as respects any Crown premises and any power of entry exercisable in relation to them specified in the certificate, that it is requisite or expedient that, in the interests of national security, the powers should not be exercisable in relation to those premises, those powers shall not be exercisable in relation to those premises.
(5) Subject to subsection (4) above, the power conferred by section 17 above shall be exercisable in relation to land in which there is a Crown or Duchy interest only with the consent of the appropriate authority.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be taken as in any way affecting Her Majesty in Her private capacity; and this subsection shall be construed as if section 38(3) of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 (interpretation of references to Her Majesty in Her private capacity) were contained in this Act.
(7) In this section—
“the appropriate authority” has the same meaning as it has in Part 13 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 by virtue of section 293(2) of that Act;
“Crown or Duchy interest” means an interest which belongs to Her Majesty in right of the Crown or of the Duchy of Lancaster, or to the Duchy of Cornwall, or belonging to a government department or held in trust for Her Majesty for the purposes of a government department;
“Crown premises” means premises held by or on behalf of the Crown.
(8) The provisions of subsection (3) of section 293 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (questions relating to Crown application) as to the determination of questions shall apply for the purposes of this section.
(1) There are hereby repealed the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930 and the entry relating to section 5(1) of that Act in Part II of Schedule 9 to the Courts Act 1971.
(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930, the provision made by section 7 of that Act shall continue to have effect as reproduced in Schedule 2 to this Act with certain changes in the wording of section 7 (to avoid mention in terms of the commencement or the passing of that Act or of the undertakers); but the inclusion of that provision in this Act shall not affect its operation, and in particular sections 1(2) and 6(1) above shall not apply for the interpretation of Schedule 2.
(1) This Act shall come into force on such a day as may be appointed by order of the Secretary of State made by statutory instrument, and the day appointed may differ for different provisions of the Act or for different purposes of the same provision.
(2) An order of the Secretary of State under this section may adapt references in this Act to its commencement in such manner as appears to the Secretary of State to be required by the operation of the order in bringing any provision of the Act into force; but subject to any such adaptation a reference in any provision of this Act to its commencement shall be construed for any purpose of that provision as a reference to the coming into force of the provision for that purpose.
Section 28.
Where damage or injury is caused by the escape of water from a reservoir constructed after the year 1930 under statutory powers granted after July 1930, the fact that the reservoir was so constructed shall not exonerate the persons for the time being having the management and control of the reservoir from any indictment, action or other proceedings to which they would otherwise have been liable.