The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 (“the 1999 Regulations”). The 1999 Regulations implement Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, in relation to offshore oil and gas activities, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997. These Regulations implement Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003. Directive 2003/35/EC provides for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amends, with regard to public participation and access to justice, Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC. The 1999 Regulations are also amended to deal with certain matters which came to light after those Regulations came into force.

Regulation 4 of these Regulations amends regulation 3 of the 1999 Regulations by inserting definitions for “the Directive”, “electronic communication” and “transboundary area”. Regulation 3 also amends the definition of “EEA State” (so as to ensure the inclusion of all the member States which joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007) and “environmental statement”.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 5 of the 1999 Regulations. The amendments provide that the Secretary of State can only grant or renew consent to a relevant project where it falls within the circumstances specified; it also amends the requirements regarding the information which the Secretary of State must provide in the notice setting out his decision on whether to grant consent for a relevant project.

Regulation 6 amends regulation 6 of the 1999 Regulations; it amends the circumstances in which the Secretary of State can direct that an environmental statement need not be prepared and introduces more detailed publicity requirements in respect of any decision to make such a direction.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 9 of the 1999 Regulations in relation to the information to be published when an application for consent for a relevant project is made where that application is accompanied by an environmental statement.

Regulation 8 amends regulation 10 of the 1999 Regulations; it requires that information which is of material relevance to the Secretary of State’s decision, but becomes available to the Secretary of State only after the date of the application for consent, is made available to the public.

Regulation 9 amends regulation 11 of the 1999 Regulations by providing that the Secretary of State must publish certain matters in the Gazettes and by any other means he considers appropriate.

Regulation 10 corrects a cross-referencing error in regulation 12 of the 1999 Regulations and clarifies the duty to send information to an EEA State which has requested to participate in the UK consultation procedure where a relevant project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment in that EEA State.

Regulation 11 inserts a new regulation 12A into the 1999 Regulations; it provides that the Secretary of State can request to participate in the consultation procedure of another EEA State, where a project in that EEA State is likely to have a significant effect on the environment in the transboundary area. The new regulation also sets out the procedure that the Secretary of State must follow in bringing such relevant projects to the attention of the public concerned in the UK.

Regulation 12 amends regulation 13 of the 1999 Regulations by providing that in cases where a relevant project is exempt from the Regulations, the Secretary of State must require certain information to be made available to the public and specify the manner in which it is to be made public.

Regulation 13 amends certain cross-referencing errors in regulation 16 of the 1999 Regulations.

Regulation 14 provides a transitional provision which applies to applications received prior to the coming into force of these Regulations.

A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Energy Development Unit, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.

A Transposition Note is available and can also be obtained from the Energy Development Unit, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.

The regulatory impact assessment and Transposition Note are also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum, which is available alongside the instrument on the Office of Public Sector Information website: www.opsi.gov.uk.