potential fines for operating without licences from the new Environmental Authority.

Many of them are hotels, whose fines could exceed $280,000 because they have been operating without applying for environmental licences under the Clean Air Act since the April 4, 1994 deadline.

And the fines could increase at a rate of up to $5,000 a day.

Government estimates less than half the companies required to seek the Environmental Authority approval have done so.

Failure to comply can lead to fines, and even forced closure.

The Act came into effect in October and the deadline for application, originally set at March 31, was extended to April 4.

The good news for offending companies is Government is swamped trying to deal with the applications it already has.

The Authority is still wading through its first major application, the Tynes Bay incinerator.

The Act extends to a wide range of plants, many of which still may have not yet been identified by Government.

The second major plant facing Government scrutiny will be the detailed application from the Bermuda Electric Light Company, which officials believe Belco has been preparing for a number of years.

The larger plants will generally have reporting requirements attached to their licences.

There are many small applications, some of which have already been approved.

But Environmental Engineer, Dr. Tom Sleeter, said the schedule of companies subject to the new Act includes the banks, supermarkets, cruise ships, asphalt and concrete plants, sewage treatment plants, hotels, firms with emergency generators and a host of others.

"There was a six-month grace period from the time the act came into force in October, but that has now ended,'' said Dr. Sleeter. "There are clearly a whole number of companies which have not yet applied.

"We are not looking toward prosecution at this time, because the whole idea in the beginning is not to be punitive, but to get people to comply. But if they repeatedly fail to meet the requirements, there is the legal avenue.

"We would just like to get everybody registered in the first year.

"We have reminded some people of the requirements when we investigate complaints against them, and they often plead ignorant. There are probably a couple hundred plants that require licensing. Of those, we have about 50 applications.

"And hotels, for example, may need to have five licences, if they have five boilers or generators. Emergency generators are in abundance in Bermuda. It is surprising how many there are at hospitals, the police, banks and other financial institutions.

"There are still some hotels that have not complied. We met with the hotel association last summer. So we are surprised that some have not applied.

Hotels are the largest single group of companies so far that have failed to apply.'' Two cruise ships have applied to license their incinerators. Dr. Sleeter is not expecting to get applications from a whole lot more.

He said, "The two that applied have state-of-the-art cruise ship incinerators. A couple of others, I've been told however, have looked at our applications and decided not to apply. They will instead not use their incinerators in Bermuda's inshore waters.''