11.—(1) By 15th July 2012, the Secretary of State must determine the characteristics of good environmental status for the marine waters in the marine strategy area in accordance with Article 9—
(a)in consultation with the devolved policy authorities; and
(b)in accordance with regulation 7(3).
(2) The characteristics must be determined on the basis of the qualitative descriptors in Annex 1.
(3) The Secretary of State must take account of—
(a)the list of elements in Table 1 of Annex 3; and
(b)the impact of human activity in the marine strategy area, having regard to the list of pressures and impacts in Table 2 of that Annex.
(4) The Secretary of State must periodically review and update the characteristics of good environmental status determined under paragraph (1), in consultation with the devolved policy authorities and in accordance with regulation 7(3), by each sixth anniversary of the date on which those characteristics of good environmental status are determined, to ensure that those characteristics are kept up to date.