PART 1Introduction

Citation and commencement1

These Regulations may be cited as the Water Abstraction and Impounding (Exemptions) Regulations 2017 and come into force on 1st January 2018.

Interpretation2

1

In these Regulations—

  • the 1991 Act” means the Water Resources Act 1991;

  • the 2010 Regulations” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 M1;

  • conservation site” means—

    1. a

      a site appearing on the list provided to the European Commission pursuant to regulation 10(5) of the 2010 Regulations M2;

    2. b

      a special area of conservation within the meaning of regulation 11 of the 2010 Regulations;

    3. c

      a special protection area or proposed special protection area within the meaning of regulations 12A and 12B, respectively, of the 2010 Regulations;

    4. d

      a site of special scientific interest confirmed by the Natural Resources Body for Wales or Natural England pursuant to section 28(5)(b) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 M3;

    5. e

      in so far as not falling under sub-paragraph (d), a wetland designated under the Ramsar Convention, within the meaning of section 37A of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 M4;

    6. f

      an area designated by order by the Natural Resources Body for Wales or Natural England under section 7 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 M5;

    7. g

      a nature reserve established by a local authority under section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 M6;

  • managed wetland system” means—

    1. a

      an area of land that is periodically inundated or saturated by abstracted water in order to provide ecological benefits to flora and fauna, or

    2. b

      an area of land through which abstracted water flows, through a system of channels, sluices, carriers or other apparatus in order to provide ecological benefits to flora and fauna;

  • normal tidal limit” means the normal tidal limit as marked on the Ordnance Maps (1:25,000 scale);

  • protected species” means—

    1. a

      a European protected species within the meaning of regulation 40(1) of, and Schedule 2 to, the 2010 Regulations;

    2. b

      a species designated under section 9 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 M7;

    3. c

      a species included in a list published by the Secretary of State under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 M8 or by the Welsh Ministers under section 7 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 M9.

2

In these Regulations, references to alteration, in relation to impounding works, include the removal or partial removal of those works and cognate expressions are construed accordingly.