The original section 63 foresaw the EPA providing advice and assistance to local authorities for the purposes of environmental protection and, where necessary, requiring local authorities to act in a specified manner. However, the general supervisory role for the EPA envisaged under section 63 did not develop as originally foreseen. This was due in part to some rigidities in the wording of the section and, in part, to a "let out" clause which left room for argument about financial resources available to local authorities to perform the functions in question. The new section 63 is an instrument for real action by the EPA and local authorities in cases where this is necessary to protect the environment. It provides for a graduated series of actions by the EPA, initially relying on a partnership approach, where it is concerned as to the environmental performance of a local authority.