15.—(1) A licence may be surrendered by its holder to the Department in accordance with this regulation.
(2) A licence may only be surrendered if the Department accepts it.
(3) Where the holder of a licence desires to surrender it, he shall make an application to the Department on a form provided by the Department for the purpose and accompanied by such information in such form as the Department may reasonably require.
(4) On receiving an application under paragraph (3) the Department shall determine whether the cessation of the activity to which the licence relates is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment.
(5) Regulation 9 applies with the necessary modifications to an application under paragraph (3) as it applies to an application under regulation 8.
(6) If the Department is satisfied that the cessation of the controlled activity to which the application relates is unlikely to have a significant adverse impact on the water environment, the Department shall accept the surrender of the licence; but otherwise the Department shall refuse to accept it.
(7) Where the surrender of a licence is accepted under this regulation the Department shall issue to the applicant, with the notice of its determination, a certificate stating that it is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (6) and, on the issue of that certificate, the licence shall cease to have effect.