The statutory provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended provide a basic financial framework for the relationship between Waste Collection Authorities ("WCAs") and Waste Disposal Authorities ("WDAs"), but authorities may wish to amplify the statutory provisions by entering a legally-binding Service Level Agreement ("SLA"). Such an SLA may be particularly helpful where the authorities, or some of the authorities, initiate the joint procurement of shared services or facilities and as a consequence there will be significant costs to the remaining authorities if one or more of the authorities withdraws from the procurement or the subsequent joint contract, or if waste collection authorities do not deliver the volumes of waste which the waste treatment contractor requires. This is particularly the case where the WDA or authorities are proposing to enter a long-term PFI contract for waste treatment and/or disposal facilities. Such costs include the cost of a new procurement process, delayed availability of facilities resulting in more waste going to landfill in the interim, and possibly contractual penalties and damages. Accordingly, authorities which are initiating major joint waste procurements will need to enter into legally-binding Inter-Authority Agreements between the procuring authorities providing mutual commitment to the project and covering the implications of such withdrawal, as well as seeking to agree SLAs with WCAs to ensure that waste is delivered in the manner required by the joint waste treatment contractor. Such an SLA will not replace the function of the MoU in terms of general collaboration between authorities.