UK Act of Parliament 1981 Northern Ireland

Clean Air (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

Read the Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)
Enforced by
NIEA
Status
In Force
Penalty ceiling
Imprisonment 5 of 25 obligations carry a criminal penalty. 1 carries different penalties and 19 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Does it bind you?

Business-side roles with duties under this instrument.

Occupier9 Any Person6

Plus 10 duties on the regulator, Crown ministers and public bodies — folded into the section list below.

Other Acts binding the same actors

If a role above is yours, these are the other instruments that most often bind it.

Occupier — also bound by 246 other Acts
Highways Act 1980 23 duties
Any Person — also bound by 2684 other Acts

What it requires

Sections creating concrete business duties or carrying penalties, grouped as the instrument is structured. Titles link to the source text — blue means you’re leaving for legislation.gov.uk.

s.art003 Prohibition of dark smoke from chimneys Regulated
  • Emit dark smoke from a chimneyOccupier
s.art004 Prohibition of dark smoke from industrial or trade premises Regulated
  • Emit dark smoke from industrial or trade premisesOccupier
s.art005 Certain furnaces to be so far as practicable smokeless Regulated
  • Install only smokeless-capable furnaces and notify the councilAny Person
s.art007 Grit and dust from furnaces Regulated
  • Exceed grit and dust emission limits or fail to minimise furnace emissionsOccupier
s.art008 New furnaces to be fitted with plant to arrest grit and dust Regulated
  • Fit approved grit and dust arrestment plant to prescribed furnacesOccupier
s.art009 New furnaces to be fitted with arrestment plant Regulated
  • Fit and maintain approved grit arrestment plant on furnacesOccupier
s.art011 Measurement of grit and dust from furnaces Regulated
  • Monitor and report furnace grit, dust and fumes if council directsOccupier
s.art012 Information about furnaces and fuel consumed Regulated
  • Fail to provide furnace and fuel information when askedOccupier
s.art014 Height of chimneys Regulated
  • Submit chimney plans to district council for approval before buildingAny Person
s.art015 Height of chimneys serving a furnace Regulated
  • Do not use a furnace until its chimney height is approvedOccupier
s.art017 Smoke control areas Regulated
  • Don't emit chimney smoke in smoke control areas unless using authorised fuelOccupier
s.art018 Adaptation of fireplaces in private dwellings Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must repay 70% of fireplace adaptation costs in smoke control areasLocal authority
s.art025 Relation to, and amendment of, Alkali Act Regulated
  • Notify the Department before altering registered industrial works or erecting works that would be registeredAny Person
s.art026 Railway engines Regulated
  • Minimise smoke emissions from your railway locomotive engineAny Person
s.art029 Crown premises, etc. Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Government departments must investigate and fix air pollution from Crown premisesCrown / Minister / Government department
s.art034 Suspected offences in relation to motor vehicles Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Department must investigate reported vehicle emission offencesCrown / Minister / Government department
s.art036 Unjustified disclosures of information Regulated
  • Disclose trade secrets without consentAny Person
s.art037 Duty to notify occupiers of offences Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must notify occupiers and responsible persons of clean air offencesLocal authority
s.art038 Penalties Imprisonment
  • Breach Clean Air (NI) Order (dark smoke and other offences)Any Person
s.art039 Enforcement Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District councils must enforce the Clean Air OrderLocal authority
26 other provisions — procedural and definitional
s.art001 Title and commencement
s.art002 Interpretation
s.art010 Exemptions from Article 9
s.art013 Grit and dust from outdoor furnaces,
s.art016 Application to fumes of certain provisions as to grit and dust
s.art019 Contributions by Department to district councils
s.art020 Interpretation of Articles 18 and 19
s.art021 Variation of provisions in Articles 18, 19 and 20
s.art022 Power of district council to make grants towards adaptations in certain premises
s.art023 Abatement of smoke nuisances
s.art024 New building over-reaching adjacent chimneys
s.art024 Relation to Industrial Pollution Control (Northern Ireland) Order 1997
s.art024 Relation to Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002
s.art027 Vessels
s.art028 Exemption for purposes of investigations and research
s.art030 Heating and cooking arrangements in buildings
s.art031 Powers of district councils as to research and publicity
s.art032 Power of county court to authorise works and order payments
s.art033 Recovery of expenses
s.art035 Extension of Order to certain emissions
s.art040 Application of Public Health Acts (Northern Ireland) 1878 to 1962
s.art041 Powers of district councils to act jointly
s.art042 Premises in two or more districts
s.art043 Notices and regulations
s.art044 Transitional provision, saving, amendments and repeals
s.paragraph/p1 Art. 6 rep. by 1985 NI 15
Schedules

Schedules

5 of 18 shown
s.sch001 A district council shall give notice in writing to the person who made the application... Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must give written notice of application decision and reasonsLocal authority
s.sch002 After making an order, the district council shall cause to be published in the Belfast... Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must publish notice of smoke control orderLocal authority
s.sch002 Besides publishing the notice referred to in paragraph 2, the district council who have made... Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must post and keep posted copies of order noticesLocal authority
s.sch002 If any objection duly made to the Department is not withdrawn, the Department— (a) may,... Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Department must consider non-withdrawn objections before confirming an orderCrown / Minister / Government department
s.sch002 On receipt of notice that the Department has confirmed an order, the district council shall... Regulated
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • District council must publicise confirmed clean air ordersLocal authority
13 other schedules
s.sch001 In this Schedule “application” means an application— (a) for the approval by a district council—...
s.sch001 Where an application is made to a district council, the council may— (a) grant the...
s.sch001 If within— (a) two months after an application has been made to a district council;...
s.sch001 If an application for approval is granted (whether unconditionally or subject to conditions) by a...
s.sch001 A person— (a) by or on whose behalf an application was made to a district...
s.sch001 Before determining any appeal under paragraph 6 the Department may, or if the person who...
s.sch001 A decision of the Department on any appeal under paragraph 6 shall be final and...
s.sch002 In this Schedule “order” means an order made by a district council under Article 17.
s.sch002 If no objection is duly made to the Department within the period mentioned in paragraph...
s.sch002 An order when confirmed shall, subject to paragraph 8, come into operation on such date...
s.sch002 If, before the date on which an order is to come into force, the district...
s.sch003 Any regulations in force immediately before 1st October 1973 which were made under section 23(1)...
s.sch003 The repeal by Article 44(3) and Schedule 6 of the Clean Air Act (Northern Ireland)...

Connected legislation

Instruments made under this Act. They carry the detail the Act delegates.

Duty extraction and severity labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the instrument, not the instrument itself. Always verify against the linked source text.