The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

Interpretation E+W

2.—(1) In this Schedule—

“application” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of Schedule 5;

“drainage” has the meaning given in section 113(1) of the 1991 Act M1 and “drainage work” is to be construed accordingly;

“emergency” means an occurrence which presents a risk of—

(a)

serious flooding;

(b)

serious detrimental impact on drainage;

(c)

serious harm to the environment;

“flood defence structure” means any permanent works constructed, operated or maintained by the regulator for the purposes of managing flood risk;

“land” includes—

(a)

water;

(b)

land covered by water;

“main river” has the meaning given in section 113(1) of the 1991 Act M2 ;

“navigation authority” means any person who has a duty or power under any enactment to work, maintain, conserve, improve or control any canal or other inland navigation, navigable river, estuary, harbour or dock;

“non-tidal main river” means any part of a main river that is not a tidal main river;

“tidal main river” means that part of a main river downstream of the normal tidal limit;

“unauthorised flood risk activity” means a flood risk activity which is not authorised by an environmental permit but excluding any exempt or excluded flood risk activities;

“watercourse” has the meaning given in section 221 of the 1991 Act M3 , as read with section 113(1) of that Act.

(2) In this Schedule—

(a) except in the definition of “sea defence” in paragraph 3, “bank” means any bank, berm, wall or embankment that adjoins or confines any watercourse and includes the side of the bank that stretches down to the mean low-water mark (in the case of a watercourse in which tidal waters flow) or to the bed of the watercourse (in any other case);

(b) for the purposes of paragraph (a), in the case of a watercourse in which tidal waters flow, the bank includes any wall or embankment constructed or maintained by the regulator in the sea or an estuary for the purposes of or in connection with a river;

(c) any reference to a distance of 8 metres or 16 metres from a river is a reference to that distance as measured horizontally from the foot of the bank on the landward side of the river;

(d) any reference to a distance of 8 metres or 16 metres from any flood defence structure or culvert is a reference to that distance as measured from the foot of the flood defence structure or from the outside edge of the culvert, as the case may be.

Marginal Citations

M1 The definition of “drainage” was amended by section 100(1) of, and Schedule 24 to, the 1995 Act.

M2 The definition of “main river” was amended by section 59(3) of the Water Act 2014 (c. 21).

M3 The definition of “watercourse” was amended by paragraph 128 of Schedule 22 to the 1995 Act, section 59(4)(b) of the Water Act 2014, and by S.I. 2013/755 (W. 90).