Draft Water (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-.

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A decision made (10/03/2008) regarding: Draft Water (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-.

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2008-0051
Decision Summary Title	Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-		Date of Decision Summary:	11/02/08
Decision Summary Author:	Willie Peggie. Assistant Director - Environmental Protection		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title	Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-		Date of Written Report:	04/12/2007
Written Report Author:	Willie Peggie. Assistant Director - Environmental Protection		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-
Decision(s): The Minister approved the draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-, together with the accompanying report, and determined that the report and proposition should be lodged “au Greffe” for debate at the earliest practical opportunity.
Reason(s) for Decision: This Law amends the existing Water (Jersey) Law 1972 allowing the replacement and renewal of water pipes and apparatus on private land. The measures in the Water (Jersey) Law 1972 are cumbersome and the changes made will allow the Jersey Water company to more efficiently fulfil its objectives - consistent with the overall States objective of removing unnecessary red tape.
Resource Implications: Nil
Action required: The Director of Environment is to arrange for the Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200- to be lodged “au Greffe” for states debate at the earliest opportunity
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Draft Water (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-.

PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION

Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-

(Public)

Purpose of the Report

This Draft Law amends the existing Water (Jersey) Law 1972 by allowing Jersey Water to carry out the replacement and renewal of its pipes and apparatus on private land. This report is to request that The Minister approves The Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200- for lodging “au Greffe” for debate at the earliest opportunity.

Background

Jersey Water have been in discussion with the Director of Environment in respect of difficulties that have been experienced in being required to serve notice on all the owners of private land when carrying out the replacement or renewal of pipe work. It was concluded after discussion with the Law Officers Department that to overcome these difficulties the law would need a minor amendment. The Chairman of Jersey Water wrote to the Minister on the 21 November 2007 to seek such a change to the law. This change has been encompassed in the Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200- .

Discussion

Whilst the Water (Jersey) Law 1972 under Article 3(8) provides for Jersey Water to have “access thereto by its servants or agents at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspection, maintenance and repair”, legal advice has concluded that it is not clear if this can be construed to include the replacement and renewal of pipes and equipment. As many modern repairs are achieved by laying new pipes adjacent to existing ones and by upgrading equipment with modern equivalents e.g. a meter chamber rather than a valve box they are not specifically “like for like” and may be judged to be going beyond the meaning of “repair”. Having to notify all the owners and occupiers in a private road when, for instance, installing a meter chamber at the request of one property owner is a time consuming and unnecessary process. It is not consistent with the States policy of reducing red tape. The situation can be resolved by a minor amendment to the existing law that adds the terms “replace or renew” to the permitted actions mentioned in article 3(8). This has been encompassed within the Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-.

Recommendation

To approve for lodging “au Greffe” this amending law to allow Jersey Water to more efficiently fulfil its objectives..

Written by:	Willie Peggie, Assistant Director – Environmental Protection
Endorsed by:	Chris Newton, Director of Environment

Date: 4 December 2007

Decision ref: MD-PE-2008-0051

L:\Environment Department\15 Ministerial Decisions\01 Environment\04 2008\WP Feb 08\Draft Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200-\Water (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 200- Report.doc