Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009

Part 2 S Principal expressions

3 “Flood” and “flood risk” S

In this Act—

• “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 (and related expressions such as “flooding” are to be construed accordingly),

• “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 in or blockage of a sewerage system which is not connected with any loading on the system by external hydraulic factors (for example by heavier than usual rainfall or higher than usual river levels).

4 SEPA S

In this Act, “SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

5 Responsible authorities S

(1) For the purposes of this Act, responsible authorities are—

(a) local authorities,

(b) Scottish Water, and

(c) such other public bodies and office-holders (or public bodies or office-holders of such descriptions) as the Scottish Ministers may designate by order.

(2) Before making an order under subsection (1)(c), the Scottish Ministers must consult—

(a) SEPA,

(b) every responsible authority,

(c) the public bodies and office-holders who will be responsible authorities by virtue of the order being made, and

(d) such other persons as they consider appropriate.

6 “The Directive” S

In this Act, [F1 subject to section 6A,] “the Directive” means Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment and management of flood risks.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 6 inserted (1.6.2022) by The Environment and Trade in Animals and Related Products (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.S.I. 2022/138), regs. 1, 6(2)

[F2 6A. Interpretation of the Directive S

(1) The Directive is to be interpreted in accordance with this section.

(2) When interpreting the Directive for the purposes this Act—

(a) a reference to one or more member States in a provision imposing an obligation, or conferring a discretion, on a member State or member States is to be read as a reference to the Scottish Ministers,

(b) a reference to Community legislation is to be read as a reference to [F3 assimilated] law,

(c) a reference to Directive 2000/60/EC is to be read as a reference to that Directive as interpreted in accordance with Part 1 of schedule 5 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003,

(d) the Directive is to be read subject to the following rules.

(3) The final paragraph of Article 3(2) is to be ignored.

(4) Articles 4(3), 5(2) and 6(2) are to be ignored.

(5) In Article 6(5)(c) the reference to “Annex I to Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution and prevention control” is to be read as a reference to “Annex 1 of Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control)”.

(6) Articles 7(4), 8(2) to (5), 11 to 13, 15, 16 and 17(2) are to be ignored.

(7) Section 1 of Part A of the Annex is to be read as if—

(a) in paragraph 4, for “other Community acts, including Council Directives 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996 on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances” there were substituted “ [F4 assimilated] law which implemented Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC”,

(b) in paragraph 5, for “Member States concerned” there were substituted “Scottish Ministers”.]

Textual Amendments

F2 S. 6A inserted (1.6.2022) by The Environment and Trade in Animals and Related Products (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.S.I. 2022/138), regs. 1, 6(3)

F3 Word in s. 6A(2)(b) substituted (1.1.2024) by The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/374), reg. 1(1), sch. 1 para. 7(2)

F4 Word in s. 6A(7)(a) substituted (1.1.2024) by The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/374), reg. 1(1), sch. 1 para. 7(3)