The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“activity” means any economic activity, whether public or private and whether or not carried out for profit;

“baselines” means the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured for the purposes of the Territorial Sea Act 1987(1);

“Directive 2000/60/EC” means Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy(2);

“Directive 2004/35/EC” means Directive 2004/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage;

“enforcing authority” means the person or body responsible for enforcing these Regulations, in accordance with regulation 10 or 11;

“local authority” means—

(a)

where there is a unitary authority for a local government area, that authority;

(b)

where there is not a unitary authority—

(i)

in a metropolitan district, the council of that district;

(ii)

in a non-metropolitan county, the district council;

(iii)

in each London borough, the council of that borough;

(iv)

in the City of London, the Common Council;

(v)

on the Isles of Scilly, the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

“marine waters” means waters classified as marine waters pursuant to Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of marine environmental policy(3);

“natural habitat” means—

(a)

the habitats of species mentioned in Article 4(2) of, or Annex I to, Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds(4) or listed in Annex II to Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(5);

(b)

the natural habitats listed in Annex I to Council Directive 92/43/EEC; and

(c)

the breeding sites or resting places of the species listed in Annex IV to Council Directive 92/43/EEC;

“natural resources” means—

(a)

a protected species;

(b)

a natural habitat;

(c)

a species or habitat on a site of special scientific interest by reason of which the site has been notified under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(6);

(d)

water; and

(e)

land;

“operator” means the person who operates or controls an activity, including the holder of a permit or authorisation relating to that activity, or the person registering or notifying an activity for the purposes of any enactment;

“protected species” means a species of a kind mentioned in Article 4(2) of Council Directive 2009/147/EC or listed in Annex I to that Directive or Annexes II and IV to Council Directive 92/43/EEC;

“remediation notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 20(2);

“responsible operator” means the operator in relation to an activity that has caused environmental damage;

“the Scottish zone” has the meaning it has in the Scotland Act 1998(7);

“services” means the functions performed by natural resources which benefit other natural resources or the public;

“site of special scientific interest” has the same meaning as in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(8).

(2) Unless otherwise defined in these Regulations, expressions used in Directive 2004/35/EC have the same meaning in these Regulations.

(1)

1987 c.49. See S.I. 2014/1353.

(2)

OJ No. L 327, 22.12.2000, p.1; last amended by Commission Directive 2014/101/EU (OJ No. L 311, 31.10.2014, p.32).

(3)

OJ No. L 164, 25.6.2008, p.19.

(4)

OJ No. L 20, 26.1.2010, p.7; amended by Council Directive 2013/17/EU (OJ No. L 158, 10.6.2013, p.193).

(5)

OJ No. L 206, 22.7.1992, p.7; last amended by Council Directive 2013/17/EU (OJ No. L 158, 10.6.2013, p.193).

(6)

1981 c.69. Section 28 was substituted by paragraph 1 of Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37) and amended by paragraph 79 of Schedule 11 to the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (c.16) and paragraph 2(1) and (2) of Schedule 13 to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c.23).

(7)

1998 c.46. The term “the Scottish zone” is defined by section 126(1). The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1126) made under section 126(2) defines the boundaries between waters which are to be treated as internal waters or territorial waters, or waters within British fishery limits, adjacent to Scotland and those which are not.

(8)

See section 52, amended by paragraph 5(1) and (2) of Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37).