Section 7: Licensing of public gas transporters., Gas Act 1986

In this Part "gas transporter" means the holder of a licence under this section except where the holder is acting otherwise than for purposes connected with—

the carrying on of activities authorised by the licence;

the conveyance of gas through pipes which—

are situated in an authorised area of his; or

are situated in an area which was an authorised area of his, or an authorised area of a previous holder of the licence, and were so situated at a time when it was such an area; or

the conveyance through pipes of gas which is in the course of being conveyed to or from a country or territory outside Great Britain.

Subject to subsections (3) and (3A) below, the Director may grant a licence authorising any person to do either or both of the following, namely—

to convey gas through pipes to any premises in an authorised area of his, that is to say, any area specified in the licence as it has effect for the time being;

to convey gas through pipes either to any pipe-line system operated by another gas transporter, or to any pipe-line system so operated which is specified in the licence or an extension of the licence.

A licence shall not be granted under this section to a person who is the holder of a licence under section 7ZA or 7A below.

A licence authorising the conveyance of gas through pipes to any premises must not be granted under this section to a person who is a gas producer unless it is a condition of the licence that the person must not convey gas through pipes to 100,000 or more sets of premises.

Subject to subsection (3A), the Director may, with the consent of the licence holder, direct that any licence under this section shall have effect—

as if any area or pipe-line system specified in the direction were specified in the licence;

in the case of a licence under subsection (2)(a) above, as if it were also a licence under subsection (2)(b) above and any pipe-line system specified in the direction were specified in the licence; or

in the case of a licence under subsection (2)(b) above, as if it were also a licence under subsection (2)(a) above and any area specified in the direction were specified in the licence;

and references in this Part to, or to the grant of, an extension under this section, or an extension of such a licence, shall be construed as references to, or to the giving of, such a direction.

The Authority may, with the consent of the licence holder, direct that any licence under this section shall have effect as if any area or pipe-line system specified in the direction were not specified in the licence; and references in this Part to, or to the grant of, a restriction under this section, or a restriction of such a licence, shall be construed as references to, or to the giving of, such a direction.

Before granting a licence . . . under this section, the Director shall give notice—

stating that he proposes to grant the licence . . .;

stating the reasons why he proposes to grant the licence . . .; and

specifying the time from the date of publication of the notice (not being less than two months . . .) within which represent- ations or objections with respect to the proposed licence . . . may be made,

and shall consider any representations or objections which are duly made and not withdrawn.

A notice under subsection (5) above shall be given—

by publishing the notice in such manner as the Director considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons likely to be affected by the grant of the licence . . .; and

by sending a copy of the notice to the Secretary of State, to the Health and Safety Executive and to any gas transporter whose area includes the whole or any part of the area proposed to be specified in the licence . . ..

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As soon as practicable after the granting of a licence under this section, the gas transporter shall publish, in such manner as the Director considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons who are likely to do business with the transporter, a notice—

stating that the licence has been granted; and

explaining that, as a result, it might be necessary for those persons to be licensed under section 7A below.

In this section—

"gas producer" means a person who—

gets natural gas from its natural condition in strata otherwise than as an unintended consequence of the storage of gas, and requires a licence under section 3 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (licences to search and bore for and get petroleum) to do so or would require such a licence if getting the gas in Great Britain; or

produces any other gas, including in particular biomethane, which is suitable for conveyance through pipes to premises in accordance with a licence under section 7;

"relevant main" has the same meaning as in section 10 below;

references to an area specified in a licence or direction include references to an area included in an area so specified; and

references to a pipe-line system specified in a licence or direction include references to a pipe-line system of a description, or situated in an area, so specified.

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Section 7: Licensing of public gas transporters.

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