Part I The Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Chapter I The Environment Agency

Flood defence committees

17 Local flood defence schemes and local flood defence committees.

(1)

A scheme, known as a local flood defence scheme, may be made by the Agency, in accordance with the following provisions of this section—

(a)

for the creation in the area of a regional flood defence committee of one or more districts, to be known as local flood defence districts; and

(b)

for the constitution, membership, functions and procedure of a committee for each such district, to be known as the local flood defence committee for that district.

(2)

Any local flood defence scheme which was made under the 1991 Act or continued in force by virtue of paragraph 14(1) of Schedule 2 to the M1Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 and which, immediately before the transfer date, is in force in relation to the area of a regional flood defence committee, shall on and after that date have effect, and may be amended or revoked, as if it were a local flood defence scheme made under this section in relation to that area; and, accordingly, subject to any such amendment or revocation—

(a)

any local flood defence district created by that scheme and in being immediately before that date shall be treated, on and after that date, as a local flood defence district created by a scheme under this section in relation to the area of that regional flood defence committee; and

(b)

any local flood defence committee created by that scheme for any such district and in being immediately before that date shall be treated, on and after that date, as the local flood defence committee for that district.

(3)

A regional flood defence committee may at any time submit to the Agency—

(a)

a local flood defence scheme for any part of their area for which there is then no such scheme in force; or

(b)

a scheme varying a local flood defence scheme or revoking such a scheme and, if the committee think fit, replacing it with another such scheme;

and references in the following provisions of this section and in F1 sections 18 and 18A below to local flood defence schemes are references to schemes under either of paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

(4)

Before submitting a scheme to the Agency under subsection (3) above, a regional flood defence committee shall consult—

(a)

every local authority any part of whose area will fall within the area to which the scheme is proposed to relate; and

(b)

such organisations representative of persons interested in flood defence (within the meaning of Part IV of the 1991 Act) or agriculture as the regional flood defence committee consider to be appropriate.

(5)

It shall be the duty of the Agency to send any scheme submitted to it under subsection (3) above to one of the Ministers.

(6)

A local flood defence scheme may define a local flood defence district—

(a)

by reference to the districts which were local land drainage districts immediately before 1st September 1989;

(b)

by reference to the area of the regional flood defence committee in which that district is situated;

(c)

by reference to a map;

or partly by one of those means and partly by another or others.

(7)

A local flood defence scheme may contain incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions.

(8)

Either of the Ministers may approve a local flood defence scheme with or without modifications; and any scheme approved under this subsection shall come into force on a date fixed by the Minister approving it.