Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2011

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A decision made on 8 September 2011:

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2011-0081
Decision Summary Title:	Approval of the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011		Date of Decision Summary:	12-08-2011
Decision Summary Author (Job Title):	Hydrogeologist		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title:	Approval of the Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011		Date of Written Report:	12-08-2011
Written Report Author (Job Title):	Hydrogeologist		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Approval of the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011.
Decision(s): The Minister made the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007 requires that the overall cost needed to meet the regulator’s expenditure in carrying out functions under this Law is recovered by charges that can be prescribed under the Law. The Order prescribes revised charges which will be levied for Water Resources licences as previously approved under MD-PE-2011-0072.
Resource Implications: The Order will permit the levy of revised charges in respect of Water Resources licences to abstract water. This will provide funds to support the implementation and enforcement of the Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007, as required under Article 25 of that Law.
Action required: The approved Order should be made, signed and sealed, to be forwarded to the States Greffe.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2011

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

APPROVAL OF THE WATER RESOURCES (CHARGES)(AMENDMENT)(JERSEY) ORDER 2011

Public Item

Purpose of the Report

The purpose of this report is to request that the Minister make the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order.

Background

Under Article 25 of the Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007 (The Law), the regulator (defined under Article 1 as the Minister of Planning and Environment) may prescribe;

Article 25(1)(a) - ‘charges that shall be payable to the regulator by applicants, licensees and proposed transferees, in respect of applications for the grant, variation, transfer and revocation of licences’.

Article 25(1)(b) - ‘charges that shall be payable to the regulator periodically by licensees’.

In addition, Article 25(2) states that ‘in prescribing charges under this Article, the regulator shall have regard to the amounts that are needed to meet the regulator’s expenditure in carrying out functions under this Law’.

The user pays principle has therefore already been accepted by The States [r1] under the principal legislation. The charges prescribed in the Order, to be levied for Water Resources licences, reflect the estimated amount required to meet the regulator’s expenditure in carrying out functions under this Law.

The drafting of the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011 by the Law Draftsman was originally approved by the Minister under DS-MD-PE-2011-0072 on 17 August 2011.

Discussion

The Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007 requires that the overall cost needed to meet the regulator’s expenditure in carrying out functions under this Law will be borne by the user.

Water Resources abstraction licence charges will be increased by 2.5%, in keeping with all other fees and charges administered by the Department of the Environment. The amended charges prescribed in the Order, are as previously detailed in WR-MD-PE-2011-0072 and will fully meet the estimated cost managing and regulating the Island’s water resources under the Law for 2012.

Conclusion

It will be necessary to bring this Order into force by 30 September 2011, in order that charges can be invoiced by the end of October 2011 and paid by licence holders by 31 December 2011.

Recommendation

The Minister makes the Water Resources (Charges)(Amendment)(Jersey) Order 2011.

Written by:	Hydrogeologist, Department of the Environment

Approved by:	Director, Environmental Protection

Attachments:

Water Resources (Charges)(Jersey) Order 2009

12 August 2011

Jersey Crest

Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2011

Explanatory Note

This Order increases the annual charges specified in the Water Resources (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2009 by approximately 2.5%. The charges have not been increased since that Order was made.

This Order comes into force 7 days after it is made.

File No.320/2/2

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Jersey Crest

Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 201-

Arrangement

Article

1 Water Resources (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2009 amended

2 Citation and commencement

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Jersey Crest

Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 201-

Made [date to be inserted]

Coming into force [date to be inserted]

THE MINISTER FOR PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT, in pursuance of Article 25(1)(b) of the Water Resources (Jersey) Law 2007, orders as follows –

1 Water Resources (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2009 amended

In Article 1(1) of the Water Resources (Charges) (Jersey) Order 2009 –

(a) in sub-paragraph (a) for the amount “£40” there shall be substituted the amount “£41”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (b) for the amount “£80” there shall be substituted the amount “£82”;

(d) in sub-paragraph (d) for the amount “£99,040” there shall be substituted the amount “£101,516”.

2 Citation and commencement

This Order may be cited as the Water Resources (Charges) (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 201- and shall come into force 7 days after it is made.

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[r1] Of Jersey?