PART II  Financial Provisions, Accounts and Report

21.-   

(a) such sums as may be provided annually for the purpose in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of the Island;

(b) all sums which the Authority is authorized to collect by or under this or any other enactment; and

(c) all other sums or property which may in any manner become payable to or vested in the Authority in respect of any matter incidental to its functions.

22.-

The expenses of the Authority, including the remuneration of members and staff thereof, shall be paid out of the funds and resources of the Authority.

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the Authority may borrow sums required by it for meeting any of its obligations or discharging any of its functions.

(2) The power of the Authority to borrow shall be exercisable only with approval of the Minister responsible for finance as to the amount, the sources of borrowing and the terms on which the borrowing may be effected, and an approval given in any respect for the purposes of this subsection may be either general or limited to a particular borrowing or otherwise, or may be either unconditional or subject to conditions.

(1) With the approval of the House of Representatives, the Minister responsible for finance may guarantee, in such manner and on such conditions as he may think fit, the repayment of the principal and the payment of interest on any authorized borrowings of the Authority.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, where any loan is, pursuant to subsection (1), guaranteed by the Minister responsible for finance, the repayment of the principal moneys and interest represented by the loan so guaranteed shall, during the continuance of such guarantee, be a first charge upon such revenue and assets of the Authority as shall be specified by that Minister.

(3) Where the Minister responsible for finance is satisfied that there has been default in the repayment of any principal moneys or in the payment of interest guaranteed under the provisions of this section, he shall direct the repayment or, as the case may be, the payment, out of the Consolidated Fund and assets of Jamaica, of the amount in respect of which there has been such default.

(4) The Authority shall make to the Accountant-General, at such times and in such manner as the Minister responsible for finance may direct, payments of such amounts as may be so directed in or towards repayment of any sums issued in fulfilment of any guarantee under this section, and payments of interest on what is outstanding for the time being in respect of any sums so issued at such rate as that Minister may direct, and different rates. of interest may be directed as respects different sums and as respects interest for different periods.

25.-

All moneys of the Authority not immediately required. to be expended for the purpose of meeting any obligations or discharging any functions of the Authority, may be invested in such securities as may be approved either generally or specifically by the Minister and the Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, sell all or any of such securities.

26.-

 (1) The Authority shall keep accounts and other records in relation to its business and shall prepare annually a statement of accounts in a form satisfactory to the Minister, being a form which shall conform to the best commercial standards.

(2) The accounts of the Authority shall be audited annually by the Auditor-General or by an auditor appointed in each year by the Authority with the approval of the Minister.

27.-

 (1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the Authority shall cause to be made and shall transmit to the Minister-

(a) a statement of its accounts audited in accordance with section 26 (2); and

(b)a report dealing generally with the proceedings and policies of the Authority during that financial year.

(2) The Minister shall cause a copy of such report together with the annual statement of accounts and the auditor's report thereon to be tabled in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

(3) The Authority shall, as soon as may be practicable before the 31st day of December in each year, submit to the Minister for approval, its estimates of revenue and expenditure in respect of the period commencing on the 1st day of April in the following year and ending on the thirty-first day of March of the subsequent year, and shall' during that year, submit to the Minister for approval any estimate of further expenditure as may become necessary.

(1) The Authority shall be exempt from income tax and property tax.

(2) All instruments executed by or on behalf of the Authority shall be exempt from stamp duty.

(3) Any transfer by the Authority of any property belonging to it or of any right or interest created in, over or otherwise with respect to any such property, shall be exempt from transfer tax.

(4) No customs duty or other similar impost shall be payable upon any article imported into Jamaica, or taken out of bond in Jamaica by the Authority and shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise to be required for the use of the Authority in the performance of its functions.

PART III Staff

(a) no salary in excess of the prescribed rate per annum shall be assigned to any post without the prior approval of the Minister; and

(b) no appointment shall be made to any post to which a salary in excess of the prescribed rate is assigned without prior approval of the Minister.

(3) The Governor-General may, subject to such conditions as he may impose, approve the appointment of any officer employed in the service of the Government to any office with the Authority and while so employed any officer so appointed shall be treated, in relation to any pension, gratuity, or other allowance and in relation to other rights as a public officer, as continuing in the service of the Government.

The Authority may with the approval of the Minister-

(a) enter into arrangements respecting schemes, whether by way of insurance policies or not; and

(b) make regulations,

for medical benefits, pensions, gratuities and other retiring benefits or disability or death benefits, in respect of the employees of the Authority and such arrangements or regulations may include provisions for the grant of benefits to the dependants and the legal representatives of such employees.

The grant of a permit or a licence under this Act does not dispense with the necessity of obtaining planning permission when such permission is required under the Town and Country Planning Act, and in such circumstances, an application under that Act for planning permission in respect of any development which, pursuant to an order under section 9 (1), is of a prescribed description or category shall be made thereunder simultaneously with the making of an application for a permit or licence under this Act.

(1) Where the Authority reports to the Minister-

(a) the existence of any local condition in any part of the Island tending to endanger the environment, and there are no powers under any law other than this section whereby such condition may be removed or guarded against; or

(b)  that a natural resource in any part of the Island appears to be threatened with destruction or degradation and that measures apart from, or in addition to those specifically provided for in this Act should be taken promptly,

the Minister may by order published in the Gazette, direct the enforcement of any measures recommended by the Authority or any measures that he thinks expedient for removing or otherwise guarding against any such condition and the probable consequences thereof, or for preventing or mitigating as far as possible such destruction or degradation.

(2) An order made under subsection (1) may be made to extend to the whole Island or to any part thereof and may contain such ancillary and supplementary matters as the Minister thinks fit.

(3) The Authority shall cause a copy of every order made under this section to be published once in a daily newspaper circulating in Jamaica.

(4) Any person who obstructs a person who is taking any measures authorized by an order under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(5) Any person who contravenes the provisions of an order made under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment, and-

(a) where a person defaults in the payment of a fine imposed under this subsection, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year; and

(b) where the offence is a continuing offence, he shall be liable to a further fine not exceeding three thousand dollars for each day on which the offence continues after conviction.

33.-

(1) Without prejudice to the exercise of the power conferred on the Minister under section 32, the Minister may, on the recommendation of the Authority and if he is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, by order published in the Gazette declare any area to be an environmental protection area and direct the Authority to prepare and to submit to him, for approval an environmental protection plan for that area; and the Authority shall act accordingly.

(2) The undertaking of any activity in an environmental protection area shall be subject to such provisions as may be prescribed by regulations, subject to negative resolution, in relation to the protection of the environment and the natural resources in that area.

(3) The Authority shall cause an order made under subsection (1) to be published once in a daily newspaper circulating in Jamaica.

(1) There is hereby established for the purposes of this Act a Tribunal, and the provisions of the Second Schedule shall have effect as to the constitution of the Tribunal and otherwise in relation thereto.

(2) The Tribunal shall hear appeals made to it in respect of the issue of enforcement notices by the Authority pursuant to section 18 and in respect of any such appeal the Tribunal may, subject to the provisions of this section, quash or vary the notice or may dismiss the appeal; and if the notice is varied or the appeal dismissed, the Tribunal may direct that the enforcement notice shall not take effect until such date (not being later than twenty-eight days from the determination of the appeal) as the Tribunal thinks fit.

(3) Before determining an appeal the Tribunal shall give the appellant, who may be represented by an attorney-at-law or any other person, the opportunity to be heard by the Tribunal.

(4) The decision of the Tribunal shall be final.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, an aggrieved person may appeal to the Minister against a decision of the Authority in relation to a permit or licence and the appeal shall be made in writing within twenty-eight days of the date of the decision or within such further period as the Minister may in any special circumstances allow.

(2) On hearing an appeal under this section, the Minister may-

(a) dismiss the appeal and confirm the decision of the Authority;

(b) allow the appeal and set aside the decision;

(c) vary the decision; or

(d) allow the appeal and direct that the matter be determined afresh by the Authority,

and the Minister's decision shall be final. 

 (3) For the purposes of this section, an aggrieved person is a person-

(a) who has been refused a permit or a licence or who objects to the terms and conditions subject to which a permit or licence is granted; or

(b) who is the holder of a permit or licence and who objects to a decision of the Authority in respect of such permit or licence.

36.-

37.-

All prosecutions for offences against this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be commenced within twelve calendar months next after the commission of such offence or, if the Court is satisfied that the Authority with due diligence could not have been aware within that period that the offence had been committed, within such further period as the Court may allow.

38.-

(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Act, and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may contain provisions in relation to-

(a) standards and codes of practice with respect to the protection and rehabilitation of the environment and the conservation of natural resources;

(b) the description or category of enterprise, construction or development in respect of which an environmental impact assessment is required by the Authority;

(c) the quantity, condition or concentration of substances that may be released into the environment;

(d) the importation, collection, storage, recycling, recovery or disposal of substances which may be hazardous to the environment;

(e) the establishment of ambient air quality standards, an air pollution monitoring system and index, and the manufacture, use and emission of air contaminants;

(f) the discharge of waste generally, and the fees payable in relation thereto;

(g) the design, construction, operation, maintenance and monitoring of facilities for the control of pollution and the disposal of waste;

(h) the management of national parks, marine parks, protected areas and public recreational beaches or other public recreational facilities, the fees (if any) payable in respect of their use, and the standards of care and sanitation, cleanliness and safety to be observed in relation thereto;

(i) the employment of lifeguards at beaches to which members of the public habitually resort and the training and qualification of lifeguards,

(j) the preservation of order and good conduct among members of the public using national parks, marine parks, protected areas, public recreational beaches or other public recreational facilities;

(k)  the erection on lands forming part of or adjoining any public recreational facility of huts, booths, tents, sheds, stands and stalls, whether fixed or moveable,

(l) the limitation or prohibition of-

(i) the production, importation, exportation, trade or use of any type of equipment, means or device designed to kill, catch, or destroy, indiscriminately, prescribed animals or prescribed plants,

(ii) any action or method which may bring about the extinction of or major adverse effects on, prescribed fauna or flora species;

(m)  the protection of particular species of prescribed fauna and flora;

(n)  the form and manner of, and the fees payable in connection with, an application for any licence or permit that may be granted by the Authority under any enactment;

(o) the grant, refusal, revocation or suspension of any licence or permit that may be issued by the Authority and the terms, conditions or restrictions subject to which such licence or permit may be granted;

(p) the fees or charges payable to the Authority for services rendered by the Authority, its servants or agents in carrying out the provisions of any enactment under which the Authority exercises functions;

(q) the grant, in accordance with section 30, of benefits to and in respect of, employees of the Authority;

(r) any other matter required by this Act to be prescribed.

(2) For the purposes of paragraphs (l) and (m), "prescribed" means prescribed by the Minister by notice published in the Gazette.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 29 of the Interpretation Act, regulations made under this Act may prescribe greater penalties than those specified in that section, so, however, that the maximum penalty that may be imposed shall be a fine of fifty thousand dollars and imprisonment for two years.

39.-

This Act binds the Crown.      

40.-

(1) The Minister may, by order, with effect from any date specified in the order, not being earlier than the 5th day of July, 1991, alter any enactment if he considers such alteration to be necessary or expedient on account of anything contained in this Act.

(2) An order made pursuant to subsection (1) shall be subject to affirmative resolution.

(3) In this section-        

(a) "alter" includes adapt or repeal;

(b) "enactment" includes any instrument having the force of law but does not include this Act.

41.-

42.-

(1) Where an area is prescribed by an order under section 9 (1) and any enterprise, construction or development of a description or category prescribed pursuant to that section is being undertaken in such area at the date on which the order takes effect, the person responsible shall apply for a permit within such time as may be specified in the order.

(2) Any person who is engaged in doing or causing to be done any act referred to in section 12 in respect of which a licence is required under that section, shall apply for a licence in accordance with regulations made under this Act.

1

The Authority shall consist of such number of members, not being less than seven nor more than ten persons as the Minister may from time to time determine.

2

(1) The Minister shall appoint a chairman and a deputy chairman from amongst the members of the Authority.

(2) In the case of the absence or inability to act of the chairman the deputy chairman shall exercise the functions of the chairman.

3 

 (1) The appointment of every member shall be evidenced by instrument in writing and, subject to the provision of this Schedule, such instrument shall specify the period of office of the member, which shall not exceed three years.

(2) Every member of the Authority shall be eligible for reappointment.

(3) The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the chairman, the deputy chairman, or any other member of the Authority if he thinks it expedient so to do.

Leave

4

The Minister may, on the application of any member, grant leave of absence to such member.

5

The Minister may appoint any person to act temporarily in the place of any member of the Authority in the case of the absence or inability to act of that member.

(1) Any member of the Authority, other than the chairman, may at any time resign his office by instrument in writing addressed to the Minister and transmitted through the chairman, and from the date of receipt by the Minister of such instrument, that member shall cease to be a member of the Authority.

(2) The chairman may at any time resign his office by instrument in writing addressed to the Minister, and such resignation shall take effect as from the date of receipt by the Minister of such instrument. 

7

The names of the members of the Authority as first constituted and every change in the membership thereof shall be published in the Gazette.       

(1) The Authority shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of land and other property of whatever kind.

(2) The seal of the Authority shall be kept in the custody of the chairman or the secretary and shall be affixed to instruments pursuant to a resolution of the Authority in the presence of the chairman or any other member of the Authority, and the Secretary.

(3) The seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signatures of the chairman or a member of the Authority authorized to act in that behalf by the Authority, and the secretary.

(4) All documents other than those required by law to be under seal, made by, and all decisions of, the Authority may be signified under the hand of the chairman or any other member authorized to act in that behalf by the Authority.

(5) The Authority may sue or be sued in its corporate name and may for all purposes be described by such name.

Service of documents

Any summons, notice or other document required or authorized to be served upon the Authority under the provisions of this Act or any other law may, unless in any case there is express provision to the contrary, be served by delivering the same to the chairman or secretary, or by sending it by registered post addressed to the secretary at the principal office of the Authority.

(1) The Authority shall meet at such times as may be necessary or expedient for the transaction of its business and such meetings shall be held at such places and times and on such days as the Authority may determine.

(2) The chairman may at any time call a special meeting of the Authority and shall call a special meeting within seven days of the receipt of a written request for that purpose addressed to him by any two members of the Authority.

(3) The chairman or, in the case of the absence or inability to act of the chairman, the deputy chairman shall preside at meetings of the Authority and in the case of the absence of both the chairman and deputy chairman from a meeting, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside at that meeting.

(4) A quorum of the Authority shall be four.

(5) The decisions of the Authority shall be by a majority of the votes and in addition to an original vote the chairman, deputy chairman or other person presiding at a meeting shall have a casting vote in any case in which the voting is equal.

(6) Minutes of each meeting of the Authority shall be kept in proper form and shall be confirmed as soon as practicable at a subsequent meeting.

(7) The validity of the proceedings of the Authority shall not be affected by any vacancy amongst the members thereof or by any defect in the appointment of a member thereof.

(8) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the Authority may regulate its own proceedings.

(a) shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Authority; and

(b) shall not take part in any deliberation or decision of the Authority with respect to that matter.

There shall be paid from the funds of the Authority to the chairman, deputy chairman and other members of the Authority such remuneration (whether by way of honorarium, salary or fees) and such allowances as the Minister may determine.

(1) No action, suit, prosecution or other proceedings shall be brought or instituted personally against any member of the Authority in respect of any act done bona fide in pursuance or execution or intended execution of the Authority's functions under this or any other enactment.

(2) Where any member of the Authority is exempt from liability by reason only of the provisions of this paragraph, the Authority shall be liable to the extent that it would be if the said member were a servant or agent of the Authority.

The office of chairman or member of the Authority shall not be a public office for the purpose of Chapter V of the Constitution of Jamaica.

SECOND SCHEDULE
Constitution and Procedure of Tribunal (Section 34 (1) )

(1) The Tribunal shall consist of not less than three nor more than five members appointed by the Minister, being persons appearing to the Minister to be knowledgeable and experienced in matters relating to the environment.

(2) For the hearing of any appeal under this Act, the Tribunal may consist of one member sitting alone if the parties to the appeal agree.

If the chairman or other member of the Tribunal is absent or unable to act the Minister may appoint another person to act temporarily as chairman or such other member.

(1) The appointment of every member of the Tribunal shall be evidenced by instrument in writing and shall be for a period not exceeding three years.

(2) Every member of the Tribunal shall be eligible for reappointment.

(3) The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the chairman or any other member of the Tribunal.

(1) Any member of the Tribunal other than the chairman may at any time resign his office by instrument in writing addressed to the Minister and transmitted through the chairman, and from the date of the receipt by the Minister of such instrument such member shall cease to be a member of the Tribunal.

(2) The chairman may at any time resign his office by instrument in writing addressed to the Minister and such resignation shall take effect as from the date of the receipt of such instrument by the Minister.

The names of the members of the Tribunal as first constituted and every change in membership thereof shall be published in the Gazette.

All documents made by, and all decisions of, the Tribunal may be signified under the hand of the chairman or any member of the Tribunal authorized to act in that behalf.

(1) The Tribunal shall meet at such times as may be necessary or expedient for the transaction of business and such meetings shall be held at such places and times and on such days as the Tribunal may determine.

(2) The chairman or any other person appointed to act temporarily as chairman shall preside at meetings of the Tribunal.

(3) Subject to paragraph 1 (2) the decisions of the Tribunal shall be by a majority of votes of the members and in addition to an original vote, the chairman shall have a casting vote in any case in which the voting is equal.

(4) The Tribunal shall have power to regulate its own proceedings.

(5) Proper records of all proceedings of the Tribunal shall be kept.

There shall be paid to the chairman and other members of the Tribunal such remuneration (whether by way of honorarium, salary or fees) and such allowances as the Minister may determine.

No action, suit, prosecution or other proceedings shall be brought or instituted personally against any member of the Tribunal in respect of an act done bona fide in pursuance or execution or intended execution of the provisions of this Act.

Any member of the Tribunal who has any interest, directly or indirectly, in any matter brought before the Tribunal-

(a) shall disclose the nature of the interest to the Tribunal; and

(b) shall not take part in any deliberations or decisions of the Tribunal with respect to that matter.

The office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall not be a public office for the purposes of Chapter V of the Constitution of Jamaica.