11(1)The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 shall be amended as follows.
(2)In section 10(5) (consultation with Council required before taking or killing a bat) after the word “Council” there shall be inserted the words “for the area in which the house is situated or, as the case may be, the act is to take place”.
(3)In section 15(2) (endangered species) for the word “Council” there shall be substituted the word “Councils”.
(4)In section 16 (power to grant licences)—
(a)in subsection (9)(a) and (9)(c), before the word “Nature” there shall be inserted the word “relevant”;
(b)in subsection (10)(a), for the words “the Nature Conservancy Council” there shall be substituted the words “each of the Nature Conservancy Councils” and, after the word “exercise” there shall be inserted the words “in the area of that Council”;
(c)in subsection (10)(b), before the word “Council” there shall be inserted the word “relevant Nature Conservancy”; and
(d)after subsection (10) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(11)For the purposes of this section a reference to a relevant Nature Conservancy Council is a reference to the Nature Conservancy Council for the area in which it is proposed to carry on the activity requiring a licence.”
(5)In section 22(3) (power of Secretary of State to amend Schedules 5 or 8 to Act) for the words “to him by the Nature Conservancy Council” there shall be substituted the words “jointly to him by the Nature Conservancy Councils”, and at the end of that subsection there shall be inserted the words—
“and the functions of the Nature Conservancy Councils under this subsection shall be special functions of the Councils for the purposes of section 133 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990”.
(6)In section 24 (functions of Nature Conservancy Council)—
(a)in subsection (1), for the word “Council” there shall be substituted the words “Councils, acting jointly,”, for the words “the passing of this Act” there shall be substituted the words “30th October 1991” and at the end there shall be inserted the words—
“and the functions of the Nature Conservancy Councils under this subsection shall be special functions of the Councils for the purposes of section 133 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990”;
(b)in subsection (2), for the words from “the Council” to the end there shall be substituted the words “to that advice being given.”;
(c)for subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
“(3)The Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of any advice so given and the statements accompanying it.”; and
(d)in subsection (4), for the word “Council” there shall be substituted the words “Nature Conservancy Councils”.
(7)In section 27 (interpretation of Part I)—
(a)in subsection (1), in the definition of authorised person, for the words “the Nature Conservancy Council” there shall be substituted the words “any of the Nature Conservancy Councils”; and
(b)after subsection (3) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(3A)Any reference in this Part to the Nature Conservancy Councils is a reference to the Nature Conservancy Council for England, the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland and the Countryside Council for Wales.”
(8)In Part II (nature conservation etc.), before section 28 there shall be inserted the following section—
In this Part references to “the Nature Conservancy Council” are, unless the contrary intention appears, references—
(a)in relation to land in, or land covered by waters adjacent to, England, to the Nature Conservancy Council for England;
(b)in relation to land in, or land covered by waters adjacent to, Scotland, to the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland; and
(c)in relation to land in, or land covered by waters adjacent to, Wales, to the Countryside Council for Wales;
and references to “the Council” shall be construed accordingly.”
(9)In section 29 (special protection for certain areas of special scientific interest), in subsection (4)(a), for the words “commencement date” there shall be substituted the words “making of the order”.
(10)In section 29 (special protection for certain areas of special scientific interest), in subsection (4)(a), after the word “Council” there shall be inserted the word “written”.
(11)In section 29 (protection for areas of special scientific interest), in subsection (11), for the words “paragraph 17 of Schedule 3 to the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973” there shall be substituted the words “paragraph 20 of Schedule 6 to the Environmental Protection Act 1990”.
(12)In section 33 (Ministerial guidance) in subsection (1) for the word “Council” there shall be substituted the word “Councils”.
(13)In section 52 (interpretation of Part II), in subsection (1) at the end there shall be inserted the following words—
“the Nature Conservancy Councils” means the Nature Conservancy Council for England, the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland and the Countryside Council for Wales;
and references to “the Nature Conservancy Council” shall be construed in accordance with section 27A.