| Short Title: | Alkali Act 1863[1] |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for the more effectual condensation of Muriatic Acid Gas in Alkali Works. |
| Year: | 1863 |
| Citation: | 26 & 27 Vict. c. 124 |
| Royal Assent: | 28 July 1863 |
| Commencement: | 1 January 1864[2] |
| Expiry Date: | 1 July 1868 |
| Repeal Date: | 1 January 1882[3] |
| Repealing Legislation: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881, s 30 |
| Status: | repealed |
The Alkali Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 124) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Under the Alkali Act 1863, an alkali inspector and four subinspectors were appointed to curb discharge into the air of muriatic acid gas (gaseous hydrochloric acid) from Leblanc alkali works. It was later extended to cover other industrial pollutants.
Section 19 provided that the Alkali Act 1863 was to continue in force until 1 July 1868, and no longer. This section was repealed by section 1 of 31 & 32 Vict. c. 36, which enacted that the Alkali Act 1863 was "continued without any such limitation".
| Short Title: | Alkali Act 1868 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to make perpetual the Alkali Act 1863. |
| Year: | 1868 |
| Citation: | 31 & 32 Vict. c. 36 |
| Royal Assent: | 25 June 1868 |
| Repeal Date: | 1 January 1882[4] |
| Amends: | Alkali Act 1863 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881, s 30 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The act 31 & 32 Vict. c. 36,[5] sometimes called the Alkali Act 1868,[6] the Alkali Act Perpetuation Act 1868,[7] or the Alkali Act (1863) Perpetuation Act 1868,[8] was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made perpetual the Alkali Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 124).[9] The bill for this act was originally called the Alkali Act Continuance Bill and was subsequently called the Alkali Act (1863) Perpetuation Bill.[10] The act 31 & 32 Vict. c. 36 was repealed by section 30 of the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 37), which further provided that this repeal was "without prejudice to anything done or suffered before the commencement of this Act, or to the recovery of any penalty incurred before or proceeding pending at the commencement of this Act; and any such penalty or proceeding may be recovered or continued as if this Act had not been passed."
| Short Title: | Alkali Act 1874 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend the Alkali Act, 1863. |
| Year: | 1874 |
| Citation: | 37 & 38 Vict. c. 43 |
| Royal Assent: | 30 July 1874 |
| Amends: | Alkali Act 1863 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
In 1874, under the Alkali Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 43), sometimes called the Alkali Act (1863) Amendment Act 1874,[11] the Inspector became the Chief Inspector. The first Chief Inspector was Dr Robert Angus Smith, he was statutorily responsible for the standards set and maintained by the Inspectorate, and reported directly to the Permanent Secretary of his department. For the first sixty years of its existence, the inspectorate was solely concerned with the heavy chemicals industry, but from the 1920s onwards, its responsibilities were expanded, culminating in the Alkali. &c. Works Order 1958 (SI 1958/497). This placed all major heavy industries which emitted smoke, grit, dust and fumes under the supervision of the Inspectorate.
| Short Title: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to consolidate the Alkali Acts, 1863 and 1874, and to make further provision for regulating Alkali and certain other works in which noxious or offensive gases are evolved. |
| Year: | 1881 |
| Citation: | 44 & 45 Vict. c. 37 |
| Royal Assent: | 11 August 1881 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1892 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1892 |
| Citation: | 55 & 56 Vict. c. 30 |
| Royal Assent: | 27 June 1892 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to consolidate and amend the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Acts 1881 and 1892. |
| Year: | 1906 |
| Citation: | 6 Edw. 7. c. 14 |
| Royal Assent: | 4 August 1906 |
| Commencement: | 1 January 1907 |
| Status: | partially_repealed |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/6/14/contents/enacted |
| Uk-Leg Title: | Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The 1863 act was extended and expanded at least three times: first by the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 37), then by the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 30), and subsequently by the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906 (6 Edw. 7. c. 14). There were subsequent amendments.
The Alkali Act 1863 was formally repealed by section 30 of Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 37), though the substance was consolidated in this and later acts.[12]
The Alkali Acts were finally replaced by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43).
The Inspectorate has worked under the purview of many different departments:
The Chief Inspector's independence disappeared when the Inspectorate was transferred to the Health and Safety Executive in 1975.
The Inspectorate was known as Industrial Air Pollution Inspectorate from 1983 to 1987 and became Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) when it was transferred back to the Department of the Environment in 1987.
HMIP became part of the Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency on 1 April 1996.
Together with amendments, the Alkali Act became the main legislative control of industrial pollution in the UK. It was finally repealed and replaced by the Environmental Protection Act 1990.