They set out various situations under which those responsible for sewers and sewage treatment works are exempt from the water pollution offences described by the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and modified under the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 (ENDS Report 384, p 37 
). Exemptions include cases where a person or company discharging pollutants into a sewage works has a contractual agreement with its operator, and where a sewage works operator is unable to prevent pollutants entering its works.
