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(1) Federation of British Industries :—
(а) That the standard should be one of three minutes in a continuous
period of half an hour.
(b) That the protection of exempted industries, which are already
protected nationally, should be included in the proposed by-law.
(c) That the decisions arrived at regarding other difficult processes in
other areas should be incorporated in the proposed by-law.
(2) National Union of Manufacturers:—
(а) That the standard should be one of three minutes in a continuous
period of half an hour.
(b) That owing to difficulties in preventing smoke during the lighting up
of fires, a five-minute period in half an hour should be allowed
before 8 a.m.
(c) That calculation of time in respect of each chimney is unreasonable
and that the by-law should provide for an aggregate of three
minutes a furnace and not in respect of each chimney.
In support of the plea that greater latitude in the aggregate period of emission
of smoke in the half-hour should be allowed, it was urged that, under the present
economic conditions it would be a hardship to industry generally and to the
struggling manufacturer particularly if a too rigorous limit of smoke emission were
prescribed ; that too stringent conditions should not be imposed on industry
forthwith ; and that a reasonable period of grace should be allowed to manufacturers
for the renewal and remodelling of plant which the imposition of a twominute
standard would necessitate.
In those cases in which objections have been lodged on behalf of organisations
of industry against proposals of local authorities to incorporate the two-minute
standard in a by-law, the Minister of Health has, after public enquiry, conceded the
three-minute standard. Realising this fact and desiring that the two-minute
standard should be prescribed at the earliest possible date with the goodwill and
co-operation of the parties concerned, the appropriate Committee of the Counci
have formulated a revised by-law in the following terms :—
The emission of black smoke for a period of three minutes, and after five
years from the date of conformation of this by-law, for a period of two minutes
in the aggregate within any continuous period of thirty minutes from any
one chimney of a building other than a private dwelling house shall until the
contrary is proved be presumed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily
under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891.
Provided that nothing in this by-law shall extend to the emission of
smoke from a chimney of a building (not being a chimney of a building or
part of a building mainly used for steam raising) used for the following
processes, that is to say, the smelting of ores and minerals, the calcining,
puddling and rolling of iron and other metals, the conversion of pig iron into
wrought iron, the re-heating, annealing, hardening, forging, converting and
carburising of iron and other metals, and the manufacture of glass, so as to
obstruct or interfere with any of such processes respectively, or to the emission
of smoke from a kiln which is fed with fuel otherwise than from above.
The Federation of British Industries and the National Union of Manufacturers
have both agreed not to offer any further opposition to the making of a by-law, in
the above revised form. Both bodies have been informed that the processes
mentioned in the proviso to the revised by-law would continue to be subject to
the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, as amended by the Public
Health (Smoke Abatement) Act, 1926.
In these circumstances I am directed to submit the revised draft by-law for the
observations of the sanitary authorities in London in accordance with the procedure
indicated in section 114 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, as applied