The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999

Interpretation

3.—(1) In these Regulations–

“the 1998 Act” means the Petroleum Act 1998(1);

“application” means, except in regulations 16 and 17 (applications to court), an application in writing;

“appropriate particulars” means the name and address of the undertaker, the location of the project in question, the nature and purpose of the project and what the undertaker considers would be likely to be the main environmental consequences of the execution of the project;

“approval” means an approval of the kind referred to in regulation 11(1) below (approval of proposals for the carrying out of relevant project);

“authorisation” means a pipe-line works authorisation required by section 14 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (construction and use of pipe-lines);

“business day” means any day except a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in any part of the United Kingdom by virtue of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(2);

“consent” means, except in regulation 4 below (requirements as to contents of licences; requirement as to consent for use of floating installations in connection with a development etc.),–

(a)

in relation to any relevant project comprising the drilling of an exploration well, any consent required by or under a licence to the commencement or re-commencement of the drilling of that well;

(b)

in relation to a relevant project comprising a development–

(i)

any consent required by or under a licence in respect of the erection of any structure;

(ii)

any consent required by or under a licence to the getting of more than 500 tonnes of oil per day or 500,000 cubic metres of gas per day otherwise than as a by-product of the drilling or the testing of any well;

(iii)

any consent required by virtue of regulation 4(4)(a) below (consent to use of floating installation);

(iv)

any consent required by or under a licence in respect of the commencement or re-commencement of the drilling of any well used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the development; or

(v)

any authorisation for the execution of works for the construction of a pipe-line for the conveyance of petroleum, being a pipe-line which is to form an integral part of the development;

(c)

in relation to any relevant project comprising a pipe-line for the conveyance of petroleum other than a pipe-line which is to form an integral part of a development, any authorisation for the execution of works for the construction of that pipe-line; or

(d)

in relation to any relevant project comprising the use of a mobile installation for the extraction of petroleum where the principal purpose of the extraction is the testing of any well, any consent required under regulation 4(4)(b) below (requirement for consent to use of mobile installation for the purposes of the testing of well),

but does not in any case include any consent required pursuant to a licence in respect of anything done or to be done wholly outside the relevant area or any approval;

“development” means any project which has as its main object the getting of petroleum as opposed to the establishment of its existence, the appraisal of its quantity, characteristics or quality or the characteristics or extent of any reservoir in which it occurs;

“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 at Brussels on 17th March 1993;

“effect” includes, except where the context otherwise requires, any direct, indirect, secondary, cumulative, short, medium or long-term, permanent or temporary, or positive or negative effect;

“environmental authority” means any person on whom environmental responsibilities are conferred by or under any enactment other than these Regulations;

“environmental statement” means a statement prepared in respect of a relevant project and which includes the matters specified in Schedule 2 to these Regulations;

“exploration well” means any well other than a well drilled for the purposes of, or in connection with, a development;

“floating installation” means any floating construction or device maintained on a station by whatever means but does not include a structure;

“gas”, except in the definition of “petroleum” below, means natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata;

“the Gazettes” means the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes;

“licence” means a licence granted or having effect as if granted under section 3 of the 1998 Act (licences to search and bore for and get petroleum) and “licensee” shall be construed accordingly;

“notice” means notice in writing;

“oil”, except in the definition of “petroleum” below, includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon existing in its natural condition in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation;

“petroleum” includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation;

“the relevant area” means that area comprising–

(a)

tidal waters and parts of the sea adjacent to the United Kingdom from the low water mark up to the seaward limits of territorial waters;

(b)

waters in any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964(3) (designation of areas of continental shelf); and

(c)

the seabed and subsoil under the waters referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above;

“relevant project” means a project comprising–

(a)

the drilling of an exploration well;

(b)

a development;

(c)

the construction of a pipe-line for the conveyance of petroleum other than one which is to form an integral part of any development, or

(d)

the use of a mobile installation for the extraction of petroleum where the principal purpose of the extraction is the testing of any well,

wholly or partly within the relevant area;

“relevant requirement” means any requirement, imposed under a licence, of the kind referred to in regulation 11(4) below (powers of Secretary of State to require carrying out of relevant project);

“structure” means any structure used for or, as the case may be, to be used for the purpose of getting petroleum or conveying petroleum to land (including any structure for the storage of petroleum) which is intended to be permanent and is neither designed to be moved from place to place without major dismantling nor to be used only for searching for petroleum;

“undertaker” means any person who carries out, or may reasonably be taken to propose the carrying out of, a relevant project; and

“well” means any well or borehole drilled for the purposes of, or in connection with, the getting of petroleum, the exploration for petroleum or the establishment of the existence of, or appraisal of, the quantity, characteristics or quality of, petroleum in a particular location but does not include any well drilled in connection with the exploration for petroleum to a depth of 350 metres or less below the surface of the seabed for the purpose of obtaining geological information about strata or any drilling operation, the main purpose of which is the testing of the stability of the seabed.

(2) References in these Regulations to a project being in a particular area include, unless the context otherwise requires, references to a project proposed to be carried out in that area, a project which is in the course of being carried out in that area and a project which has been carried out in that area.

(1)

1998 c. 17.

(2)

1971 c. 80.

(3)

1964 c. 29.