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PART 1U.K.INTRODUCTION

InterpretationU.K.

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the 1985 Act” means the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985(1);

[F1“the 2009 Act” means the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009;

“the 2010 Act” means the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010;]

“Annex I project” means a project of a type specified in Annex I to the EIA Directive;

“Annex II project” means a project of a type specified in Annex II to the EIA Directive;

“applicant” means—

(a)

an applicant (or prospective applicant) for the issue of a regulatory approval; or

(b)

any person giving notice to a regulator for the purpose of obtaining a regulatory approval;

“application” includes the giving of notice to a regulator for the purpose of obtaining a regulatory approval;

[F2“appropriate authority” means—

(a)

where the regulator is the Secretary of State, the Marine Management Organisation or a devolved authority, the regulator;

(b)

where the regulator is any other person—

(i)

as regards any regulated activity in Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment;

(ii)

as regards any regulated activity in Scotland or the Scottish offshore region (or both), the Scottish Ministers;

(iii)

as regards harbour works in Wales relating to fishery harbours or carried out for the purposes of extracting minerals by dredging, the Welsh Ministers; and

(iv)

in any other case, the Secretary of State;

and for the purpose of sub-paragraph (a), “a devolved authority” means any Northern Ireland Department, the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers;;]

[F3“consenting authority”, in relation to a project, means any authority—

(a)

whose consent to any activity to be undertaken in the course of the project is required under any enactment, or

(b)

whose determination was required under any of the Government View documents, and for this purpose, “the Government View documents” means—

(i)

the document entitled “Offshore Dredging for Sand, Gravel and Other Minerals”, dated April 1989, and published by the Department of the Environment and the Welsh Office;

(ii)

the document entitled “Government View: New Arrangements for the Licensing of Minerals Dredging”, dated May 1998, and published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Welsh Office; and

(iii)

the document entitled “Government View: Interim Arrangements for the Licensing of Marine Minerals Dredging in Northern Ireland”, dated May 2006, and published by the Department of the Environment;]

“the consultation bodies” means—

(a)

the local planning authority;

(b)

such of the nature conservation bodies as the appropriate authority considers likely to have an interest in the activity by reason of their responsibilities;

(c)

any relevant authority;

(d)

any consenting authority; and

(e)

such other bodies as the appropriate authority considers likely to have an interest in the regulated activity (whether by virtue of their having specific environmental responsibilities under an enactment or otherwise);

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“EIA consent” means consent for a regulated activity given by an appropriate authority in accordance with these Regulations and on the basis of an assessment of the effects of the regulated activity on the environment;

“EIA consent decision” means a decision whether to give EIA consent and (where the decision is to give such consent) as to the terms on which to do so;

“the EIA Directive” means Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(2);

[F6“England” includes any part of the territorial sea that is not part of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland;]

“environmental statement” means a statement complying with regulation 12(2);

“excluded information” means—

(a)

in the case of information to which the Environmental Information Regulations 2004(3) or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004(4) apply, any information that the regulator would be entitled to withhold in response to a request made in accordance with those Regulations; and

(b)

in any other case, any information which is exempt information for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000(5) or the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002(6);

“fishery harbour” has the meaning assigned to it in section 21(7) of the Sea Fish Industry Act 1951(7);

“harbour” has the meaning assigned to it in section 57(1) of the Harbours Act 1964(8);

[F7“harbour authority” has the same meaning as in section 57(1) of the Harbours Act 1964](8)

[F8“harbour works” means—

(a)

works involved in the construction of a harbour;

(b)

works involving the making of modifications to an existing harbour;

(c)

any dredging operation undertaken by or on behalf of a harbour authority and carried out for the purpose of extracting minerals; and

(d)

works involving the deposit of spoil from any such dredging operation;]

“local planning authority” means—

(a)

in relation to England or Wales, any authority that is a local planning authority for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990(9) in or adjacent to whose area the regulated activity is proposed to be carried out;

(b)

in relation to Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment; and

(c)

in relation to Scotland—

(i)

any authority that is a planning authority for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997(10) in or adjacent to whose area the regulated activity is proposed to be carried out; and

(ii)

where the regulated activity is carried out in or adjacent to a National Park, the National Park authority for the National Park;

“the nature conservation bodies” means—

(a)

the Joint Nature Conservation Committee(11);

(b)

Natural England(12);

(c)

Scottish Natural Heritage(13); and

(d)

the Countryside Council for Wales(14);

“Northern Ireland” has the meaning assigned to it by section 98(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(15);

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F10...

“regulated activity” means any activity (or proposed activity) for which a regulatory approval is (or would be) required;

“regulator” means the person responsible for considering an application for a regulatory approval;

[F11“regulatory approval” means—

(a)

a licence under Part 2 of the 1985 Act;

(b)

a marine licence, or variation of a marine licence, under Part 4 of the 2009 Act;

(c)

a marine licence, or variation of a marine licence, under Part 4 of the 2010 Act; or

(d)

except in relation to Northern Ireland, an approval or consent for harbour works under—

(i)

any local Act;

(ii)

such an Act read together with a notice given and published under section 9 of the Harbours Transfer Act 1862; or

(iii)

any order under section 14 or 16 of the Harbours Act 1964;]

“regulatory decision” means a decision whether to grant or issue a regulatory approval and (where the decision is to grant or issue such an approval) as to the terms on which to do so;

[F12“relevant authority” means—

(a)

where a regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of Northern Ireland and the appropriate authority is not a Northern Ireland Department, such of the Northern Ireland Departments as the appropriate authority considers likely to have an interest in the activity by reason of their environmental responsibilities;

(b)

where a regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of Scotland, or the Scottish offshore region (or both) and the appropriate authority is not the Scottish Ministers, the Scottish Ministers;

(c)

where the regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of the Scottish offshore region and the appropriate authority is not the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State;

(d)

where a regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of Wales and the appropriate authority is not the Welsh Ministers, the Welsh Ministers;

(e)

where a regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of England or a relevant offshore region and the appropriate authority is the Marine Management Organisation, the Secretary of State; and

(f)

where a regulated activity is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of England or a relevant offshore region and the appropriate authority is the Secretary of State, the Marine Management Organisation;]

“relevant legislation” means, in relation to an application, a regulatory decision or a regulatory approval, the legislation under which the application was made, the regulatory decision taken or the regulatory approval granted or issued (as the case may be);

[F13“relevant offshore region” means—

(a)

the English offshore region;

(b)

the Welsh offshore region; or

(c)

the Northern Ireland offshore region;

within the meaning of those expressions given by section 322(1) of the 2009 Act;

“the relevant Public Register” means the register on which information must be recorded in accordance with (as the case may be)—

(a)

section 14 of the 1985 Act;

(b)

section 101 of the 2009 Act; or

(c)

section 54 of the 2010 Act;]

“scoping opinion” means an opinion given by an appropriate authority as to the information to be provided in an environmental statement for an application;

[F14“Scotland” (other than in the definition of “the Scottish offshore region”) includes the Scottish inshore region;]

[F15“the Scottish inshore region” means the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland;

“the Scottish offshore region” means so much of the UK marine area as lies outside the Scottish inshore region and consists of—

(a)

areas of sea which lie within the Scottish zone, and

(b)

areas of sea which lie outside the Scottish zone but which are nearer to any point on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland is measured than to any point on the baselines in any other part of the United Kingdom;

and for this purpose “the Scottish zone” has the meaning given by section 126(1) of the Scotland Act 1998;;]

F16...

“screening opinion” means an opinion given by an appropriate authority as to whether or not an environmental impact assessment is required for a regulated activity;

[F17“sea” includes—

(a)

any area submerged at mean high water spring tide, and

(b)

the waters of every estuary, arm of the sea, river or channel, so far as the tide flows at mean high water spring tide,

and any reference to an area of sea includes the bed and subsoil of the sea within that area;;]

[F18“UK marine area” has the same meaning as in section 42 of the 2009 Act;]

F19...

F20...

[F21“Wales” has the meaning given by section 158(1) of the Government of Wales Act 2006;]

F22...

F23...

F24...

F25...

[F26(1A) The area of sea referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of the definition of “sea” in paragraph (1) includes waters in any area—

(a)which is closed, whether permanently or intermittently, by a lock or other artificial means against the regular action of the tide, but

(b)into and from which seawater is caused or permitted to flow, whether continuously or from time to time.]

(2) In these Regulations, any term used in the EIA Directive has the same meaning as in that Directive.

Textual Amendments

(2)

OJ No. L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40, as last amended by Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26th May 2003, OJ No. L 156, 25.6.2003, p. 17.

(10)

1997 c.8.

(11)

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee was re-constituted by section 31 of the Natural Environmental and Rural Communities Act 2006 (2006 c.16).

(12)

Natural England is constituted by section 1 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (2006 c.16).

(13)

Scottish Natural Heritage is constituted by section 1 of the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 (1991 c.28).

(14)

The Countryside Council for Wales is constituted by section 128 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (1990 c.43).

(15)

1998 c.47.