The Water Environment (River Basin Management Planning: Further Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2013

Environmental objectives: phased achievement S

5.  The deadline by which an environmental objective set pursuant to regulation 3(1) must be achieved may be extended for the purposes of the phased achievement of the environmental objectives for a body of water (including the objectives for areas falling within section 7(4)(d) (areas designated in respect of water status) of the Act for the protection of habitats or species), if the following conditions are met—

(a) no further deterioration occurs in the status of the affected body of water;

(b) SEPA determines that all necessary improvements in the status of the body of water cannot reasonably be achieved within the timescales set out in regulation 3(1) for at least one of the following reasons—

(i) the scale of improvements required can only be achieved in phases exceeding the timescale, for reasons of technical feasibility;

(ii) completing the improvements within the timescale would be disproportionately expensive;

(iii) natural conditions do not allow timely improvement in the status of the body of water;

(c) extensions are limited to a maximum of two updates of the first river basin management plan (except in cases where the natural conditions are such that the environmental objectives cannot be achieved within that period);

(d) the river basin management plan (or the next update of it) sets out—

(i) the extension of the deadline, and explains the reasons for it;

(ii) a summary of the measures to be applied to achieve the environmental objectives set pursuant to regulation 3(1) which are envisaged as necessary to bring the body of water progressively to the required status by the extended deadline; and

(iii) the reasons for any significant delay in making these measures operational, and the expected timetable for their implementation; and

(e) a review of the implementation of the measures referred to in paragraph (d) and a summary of any additional measures is included in updates of the river basin management plan.