Environmental Nuisance Flashcards
What is Section 79 of the EPA 1990?
Basically applies to any premises or anything emanating from that premises that is “prejudicial to health or a nuisance”. Statutory Nuisances.
What is meant by prejudicial to health?
Cunningham v. Birmingham suggests physical health, rather than mental health.
What is statutory nuisance?
Different from common law nuisance in that it can a one off event like a rave (East Northamptonshire v. Fossett)
Who is the regulatory authority?
It is the duty of a local authority to take reasonable steps to investigate any nuisance; this is ordinarily dealt with by a local authority’s Environmental Health Department.
How does the regulatory authority deal with statutory nuisance?
If a local authority ‘is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists’ ‘is likely to exist or recur’, then it must serve an abatement notice (s80 EPA 1990).
There is no discretion as to whether the local authority can serve an abatement notice or not.
What are the contents of an s.80 abatement notice?
Nature of statutory nuisance and likelihood of recurrence;
Time limits for compliance;
Right of appeal to the Magistrates’ Court.
What defence is available?
S. 80(7) reads that if the best practicable means were used to prevent or counteract the nuisance can be proved, then this can be used as a defence.
What is the relationship with contaminated land?
There cannot be a statutory nuisance if the would-be nuisance arises as a result of contaminated land (s79(1)(a)).
This prevents an overlap between the contaminated land regime contained in s78 and the statutory nuisances prescribed by s79.
Can a claim in private nuisance (an action in tort) succeed if the defendant has an Environmental Permit, planning permission or a waste management license?
Yes. Consider Blackburn v Arc and Barr v Biffa.
What happens if a tort has been authorised by statute?
This will provide a complete defence.
