The Offshore Electricity Development (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Interpretation

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

(2) In these Regulations —

“the 1992 Order” means the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992(2);

“another EEA State” means an EEA State other than the United Kingdom;

“any other relevant information” means any information relating to an environmental statement which is not contained in it;

“Article 39 consent” means a consent under Article 39 of the 1992 Order;

“Article 40 consent” means a consent under Article 40 of the 1992 Order;

“by general and local advertisement”, means—

(a)

publication of the notice in at least one newspaper circulating in the locality in which is situated the development to which the notice relates; and

(b)

where the Department maintains a website by publication of the notice on the website;

“consultation bodies” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 5(6);

“the Department” means the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment;

“developer” means a person carrying out or proposing to carry out a development;

“development” means,

(a)

in relation to an Article 39 consent, works carried out on the construction or extension of a generating station; and

(b)

in relation to an Article 40 consent, works carried out on installing or keeping installed an electric line,

and for this purpose “works” means any works which are a development within the meaning of the Planning Order;

“the Directive” means Council Directive 85/337/EEC as amended by Council Directives 97/11/EC and 03/35/EC;

“documents” includes photographs, drawings, maps and plans;

“EEA State” means a State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed in Brussels on 17th March 1993;

“EIA application” means an application for a relevant consent in relation to any EIA development;

“EIA development” means a development or proposed development which is either—

(a)

a development described in Schedule 1 or;

(b)

a development described in Schedule 2 which is likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location;

“environmental information” means the environmental statement, including any further information and any relevant other information, any representations made by any consultation body and any representations duly made by any other person about the likely environmental effects of a proposed development;

“environmental statement” means a statement that includes such of the information referred to in Part I of Schedule 4 as is reasonably required to assess the environmental effects of a development and which the applicant can, having regard in particular to current knowledge and methods of assessment, reasonably to be required to compile, but which includes at least the information referred to in Part II of Schedule 4;

“further information” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 12(1);

“Planning Order” means the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(3);

“proposed development” means the works intended by the applicant for any relevant consent to be carried out for the purposes thereof;

“relevant consent” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 4; and

“selection criteria” means the criteria set out in Schedule 3.

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations any development or proposed development is offshore if it is or is to be carried out outside the boundaries of any district council but within the Northern Ireland zone.

(4) In these Regulations, any reference to significant effects on the environment includes a reference to such effects on the environment in another EEA State.

(5) In these Regulations expressions which are also used in the Directive have the same meaning as they have in the Directive.

(1)

1954 c.33 (N.I.)

(2)

S.I. 1992/231 (N.I.1)

(3)

S.I. 1991/1220 (N.I. 11)