The Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007

Interpretation U.K.

2.—(1) —In these Regulations—

(a) subject to sub-paragraph (b)—

(i) “the Habitats Directive” means Council Directive 92/43/EEC(1) on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(2); and

(ii) “the Wild Birds Directive” means Council Directive 79/409/EEC(3) on the conservation of wild birds(4); and

(b) references to any Annex to the Habitats Directive or any Annex to the Wild Birds Directive are references to that Annex as amended from time to time.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the 1994 Regulations” means the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994(5);

“a British aircraft” means an aircraft registered in the United Kingdom;

“British fishery limits” has the meaning given by the Fishery Limits Act 1976(6);

“competent authority” is to be construed in accordance with regulation 5;

“devolved administrations” means the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and, in Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment;

“the EC Treaty” means the Treaty establishing the European Community(7);

“European offshore marine site” has the meaning given by regulation 15;

“European protected species” means the species of animals listed in Schedule 1;

“European site” has the meaning given by regulation 24;

“functions” includes powers and duties;

“management scheme” means—

(a)

for the purposes of regulation 19(3)(c), a scheme established under regulation 34 of the 1994 Regulations or regulation 29 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995(8);

(b)

for all other purposes, a scheme established under regulation 19(1);

“Natura 2000” means the European network of special areas of conservation, and special protection areas under the Wild Birds Directive, provided for by Article 3(1) of the Habitats Directive;

“Northern Ireland department” has the same meaning as in the Northern Ireland Act 1998(9);

“the offshore marine area” means—

(a)

any part of the seabed and subsoil situated in any area designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964(10); and

(b)

any part of the waters within British fishery limits (except the internal waters of, and the territorial sea adjacent to, the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man);

“offshore marine installation” means any artificial island, installation or structure (other than a ship) which is situated—

(a)

in any part of the waters in any area designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964; or

(b)

in any part of the waters in any area designated under section 84(4) of the Energy Act 2004(11);

“Petroleum Act approval” means an approval of an abandonment programme under section 32 of the Petroleum Act 1998(12);

“Petroleum Act authorisation” means an authorisation granted pursuant to section 14 of the Petroleum Act 1998 relating to the construction or use of a pipe-line;

“Petroleum Act consent” means—

(a)

a consent granted pursuant to a Petroleum Act licence, including any consent required pursuant to the Offshore Petroleum Productions and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999(13); or

(b)

a consent granted pursuant to regulation 4(1) of the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001(14);

“Petroleum Act licence” means a licence which is granted under or has effect as if granted under the Petroleum Act 1998, or a licence which is to be granted under that Act;

“premises” includes land (including buildings), movable structures, ships and vehicles;

“the register” means the register of European offshore marine sites provided for by regulation 16;

“Scotland” has the same meaning as in the Scotland Act 1998(15);

“ship” means any vessel (including hovercraft, submersible craft and other floating craft) other than one which permanently rests on, or is permanently attached to, the seabed;

“third country ship” means a ship which—

(a)

is flying the flag of, or is registered in, any State or territory (other than Gibraltar) which is not a member State; and

(b)

is not registered in a member State;

“wild bird” means a bird which—

(a)

is a member of a species referred to in Article 1 of the Wild Birds Directive; and

(b)

is wild;

“wildlife officer” means a person authorised by the Secretary of State under regulation 52(1) or by a competent authority under regulation 52(2); and

“within devolved competence” is to be construed in accordance with section 54 of the Scotland Act 1998.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires—

(a) expressions used in these Regulations and in the Habitats Directive have the same meaning as in that Directive; and

(b) expressions used in these Regulations and in the Wild Birds Directive (but not in the Habitats Directive) have the same meaning as in that Directive.

(1)

O.J. No. L206, 22.7.92, p 7.

(2)

The Habitats Directive was last amended by Council Directive 2006/105/EC of 20 November 2006 adapting Directives 79/409/EEC, 92/43/EEC, 97/68/EC, 2001/80/EC and 2001/81/EC in the field of environment, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania (O.J. No. L363, 20.12.2006, p. 368; and see O.J. L80, 21.3.2007, p. 15, for the Corrigendum amending the original title).

(3)

O.J. No. L103, 25.4.79, p.1.

(4)

The Wild Birds Directive was last amended by Council Directive 2006/105/EC (referred to above).

(5)

S.I. 1994/2716, to which relevant amendments have been made by the Environment Act 1995 (c.25), the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37), the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 2), S.I. 1996/525, 1996/973, 1997/3055, 1999/1820, 2000/192, 2000/1973 and 2007/1843 and S.S.I. 2000/323, and 2004/475.

(6)

1976 c.86.

(7)

A consolidated version can be found at O.J. No. C321E, 29.12.06.

(8)

S.R. (N.I.) 1995 No 380.

(9)

1998 c.47.

(10)

1964 c.29. Section 1(7) was amended by the Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982 (c.23) section 37 and Schedule 3, paragraph 1. Areas have been designated under section 1(7) by S.I. 1987/1265, 2000/3062 and 2001/3670.

(11)

2004 c.20. An area has been designated under section 84(4) by S.I. 2004/2668.

(12)

1998 c.17.

(13)

S.I. 1999/360, amended by S.I. 2007/933.

(14)

S.I. 2001/1754, amended by S.I. 2007/77.

(15)

1998 c.46.