The Alkali Act 1863 ( 26 & 27 Vict. c. 124) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. Under the Alkali Act 1863, an alkali inspector and four subinspectors were appointed to curb discharge into the air of muriatic acid gas (

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

eous

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...

) 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 This section was repealed by section 1 of 31 & 32 Vict.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".

Related legislation

Alkali Act 1868

The act 31 & 32 Vict. c. 36, sometimes called the Alkali Act 1868, the Alkali Act Perpetuation Act 1868, or the Alkali Act (1863) Perpetuation Act 1868, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made perpetual the Alkali Act 1863 ( 26 & 27 Vict. c. 124). The bill for this act was originally called the Alkali Act Continuance Bill and was subsequently called the Alkali Act (1863) Perpetuation Bill. 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 c. 36 was repealed by section 30 of the Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1881 ( 44 & 45 Vict.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."

Alkali Act 1874

In 1874, under the Alkali Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. 43), sometimes called the Alkali Act (1863) Amendment Act 1874, the Inspector became the Chief Inspector. The first Chief Inspector was Dr

Robert Angus Smith Robert Angus Smith Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (15 February 1817 – 12 May 1884), commonly referred to as Angus Smith, was a Scottish chemist, who investigated numerous environmental issues. He is known for his research on air pollutio ...

, 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.

Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Acts 1881, 1892 and 1906

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.Paterson (ed). The Practical Statutes of the Session 1881. Law Times Office. London. 1881
Page 76
The Alkali Acts were finally replaced by the

Environmental Protection Act 1990 The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43) (initialism: EPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines, within England and Wales and Scotland, the fundamental structure and authority for waste management and control of e ...

(c. 43).

Timeline

The Inspectorate has worked under the purview of many different departments: * From 1863 to 1872, the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

* From 1873 to 1918, the

Local Government Board The Local Government Board (LGB) was a British Government supervisory body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871 to 1919. The LGB was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871 ( 34 & 35 Vict. c. 70) and took over the ...

* From 1919 to 1951, the Ministry of Health * From 1951 to 1970, the

Ministry of Housing and Local Government The Ministry of Housing and Local Government was a United Kingdom government department formed following the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government. It was formed, as the Ministry of Local Government and Planning, ...

* From 1970 to 1975, the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

The Chief Inspector's independence disappeared when the Inspectorate was transferred to the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a British public body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare. It has additionally adopted a research role into occupational risks in Great B ...

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

in 1987. HMIP became part of the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

and Scottish Environment Protection Agency on 1 April 1996. Together with amendments, the Alkali Act became the main legislative control of industrial

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

in the UK. It was finally repealed and replaced by the

Notes

References

*A Collection of the Public General Statutes passed in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode. London. 1863
635
to 639. *George Pitt Lewis, assisted by H A de Colyar, "Jurisdiction and Proceedings under the Alkali Act, 1863". A Complete Practice of the County Courts. Stevens and Sons. London. 1880. Part 2. Book 5. Division 1. Chapter 2. Page
909
to 914. *Baker, Thomas. "Alkali Works Act". The Laws Relating to Public Health, Sanitary-Medical-Protective. 1865
Page 62
See also page 591 to 595. *Pollock and Nicol. "The Alkali Act, 1863". Pollock's Practice of the County Courts. Sixth Edition. H Sweet. London. 1868
Page 4
See also pages 763 to 766. *"The Alkali Act, 1863". Report of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government 1959. Cmnd 1027. HMSO. Page 35. See also the rest of chapter 4, "The Alkali Inspectorate" at page 33 onwards
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* http://www.glossary.com/reference.php?q=Alkali%20Act%201863 {{reflist Environmental law in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1863 1863 in British law 1863 in the environment