The Environmental Impact Assessment (Fish Farming in Marine Waters) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The Environmental Impact Assessment (Fish Farming in Marine Waters) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (“the 1999 Regulations”) provided for the implementation in Northern Ireland of the requirements of Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (O.J. No. L175, 5.7.85, p.40) as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC (O.J. No. L73, 14.3.97, p.5) insofar as that Directive relates to an assessment of the environmental effects of certain projects in respect of fish farming in marine waters. These Regulations (which revoke and re-enact with amendments the 1999 Regulations) implement further changes to Directive 85/337/EEC made by Directive 2003/35/EC (O.J. No. L156, 25.6.03, p.17).

The Regulations apply to applications as regards fish farming in marine waters, made on or after [………], where any part of the proposed development is in a sensitive area, or the proposed development is designed to hold a biomass of 100 tonnes or greater, or will extend to 0.1 hectare or more of the surface area. The Regulations provide for decisions on whether consideration of environmental information in respect of such applications for fish farming in marine waters is required to be taken by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (“the Department”).

The principal changes are as follows—

1.  The Regulations provide for more information to be provided to the public in cases where the Department must determine whether a proposed fish farm is likely to have a significant effect on the environment.

2.  The Regulations introduce into the processes for consultation about the environmental impact of the proposed development a requirement for the Department to make available to the public any additional information which comes to light after the stage in the process at which such information should have been formally publicised.

3.  The Regulations set out in more detail the information to be provided in public notices and provide for wider means of notifying the public of relevant information. These include the use of electronic means.

4.  The Regulations impose on the Department and the Water Appeals Commission a duty to formally record their determinations under the Regulations and to make them available to the public.

5.  The Regulations introduce a new general duty on the Department to make information available to the public at large.