The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

Amendment of the 1999 Regulations U.K.

6.  In regulation 6 (Provisions as to directions that no environmental statement need be prepared)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “subject to paragraph (5) below” substitute “subject to paragraphs (5) and (5A) below”;

(b) for paragraph (2) substitute—

“(2) Where a relevant project has been the subject of an environmental assessment in accordance with regulation 5(4) above (grant of consent by Secretary of State in respect of relevant projects subject to environmental assessment), the Secretary of State may, on the application of the undertaker concerned, give a direction that further applications for consents of such kind as may be specified in that direction need not be accompanied by an environmental statement provided that—

(a) the Secretary of State is satisfied that if such consents were granted anything that might be done pursuant to them would not give rise to substantially different effects from, or significantly greater effects than, those mentioned in the environmental statement originally prepared in respect of the relevant project; and

(b) any such consents, if granted, would not otherwise fall within any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of paragraph (5) below.”;

(c) before paragraph (6), insert—

“(5A) No direction shall be given pursuant to paragraph (1) above in respect of any application for an extension of a consent.

(5B) For the purposes of paragraph (5A) above, an “extension of a consent” is a variation of an existing consent for a relevant project, where, if the effect of the variation were itself the subject of a separate application, the application would be for consent to—

(a) the getting of more than 500 tonnes of oil per day, or 500,000 cubic metres of gas per day otherwise than in the course of the drilling or testing of any well;

(b) the erection of any structure in relation to a relevant project comprising a development which the Secretary of State is not satisfied would be likely to produce 500 tonnes or less of oil per day or 500,000 cubic metres or less of gas per day; or

(c) the execution of works for the construction of a pipe-line of 40 kilometres or more in length and a diameter of 800 millimetres or more (regardless of whether that pipe-line forms an integral part of a development).”;

(d) for paragraph (6) substitute—

“(6) Paragraph (5) above shall not prevent the giving of a direction pursuant to paragraph (1) above in respect of an application for a variation of any consent to the erection of any structure in relation to a development (whether the structure has already been erected pursuant to that consent or not).”;

(e) omit paragraph (9); and

(f) after paragraph (10), insert—

“(11) Where the Secretary of State makes a decision in relation to any application for a direction in accordance with this regulation, regulations 5(8) and 5(8A) shall apply in respect of such an application for a direction in the same way as they apply to an application for a consent accompanied by an environmental statement.”.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 6 in force at 16.4.2007, see reg. 1