The Water Environment (Floods Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

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 2003 Regulations” means the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(2);

“the Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

“flood” means the temporary covering by water from any source of land not normally covered by water, but does not include a flood solely from a sewerage system;

“the Floods Directive” means Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of flood risks(3);

“flood risk” means the combination of the probability of a flood and of the potential adverse consequences, associated with a flood, for human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity;

“flood solely from a sewerage system” means the temporary covering of land by sewage caused solely by a failure or blockage of a sewerage system or which is not connected with any loading on the system by abnormal external hydraulic factors (for example by heavier than usual rainfall or higher than usual river levels);

“Implementation body” means—

(a)

Waterways Ireland; or

(b)

The Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission;

“international river basin district” means an area identified under regulation 4(1) of the 2003 Regulations as an international river basin district for the purposes of those Regulations;

“Northern Ireland” has the meaning given by section 98(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(4);

“public body” means—

(a)

a Northern Ireland department;

(b)

a department of the Government of the United Kingdom;

(c)

a body established by or under a statutory provision;

(d)

a statutory undertaker (within the meaning of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(5)); or

(e)

an implementation body;

“river basin district” means the area identified under regulation 4(1) of the 2003 Regulations as a river basin district for the purposes of those Regulations;

“statutory provision” has the meaning given in section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954; and

“the Water Framework Directive” means Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy(6).

(3) Any other word or expression used both in these Regulations and in the Floods Directive or in the Water Framework Directive has the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in those Directives.

(1)

1954 c.33 (N.I.)

(2)

S.R. 2003 No. 544

(3)

O.J. No. L288, 6.11.2007, p.27

(4)

1998 c.47

(5)

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

(6)

O.J. No. L327, 22.12.2000, p.1 as last amended by Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (O.J. No. L140, 5.6.2009, p.114)