1998 No. 1298

AGRICULTURE

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

Whereas, pursuant to section 18(1) of the Agriculture Act 19861, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (“the Minister”) has by order designated an area in the Somerset Levels and Moors as an environmentally sensitive area;

Now, therefore, the Minister, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 18(1) and (4)2 of the said Act, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, with the consent of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Order:

Title and commencement1

This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 22nd June 1998.

Interpretation2

In this Order “the principal Order” means the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 19973.

Amendments to the principal Order

3

The principal Order shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

4

For the table set out in Part II of Schedule 10 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the following—

Item

Schedule

Maximum rate in £ per hectare of land per annum

1.

Schedule 2

200

2.

Schedule 3

230

3.

Schedule 4

80

4.

Schedule 5

190

5.

Schedule 6

18

6.

Schedule 7

430

Amendments to the 1992 Order5

The Environmentally Sensititve Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 19924 shall, in so far as, by virtue of article 6(1)(b) of the principal Order, it continues to apply to agreements made before the coming into force of the principal Order, be amended in article 6(2) by the substitution, for the table set out therein, of the following table:

Schedule

£ per hectare of land per annum

Schedule 2

230

Schedule 3

80

Schedule 4

430

Schedule 2 to the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 1997.

200

Provisions equivalent to Schedule 5 to the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 1997.

190

Provisions equivalent to Schedule 6 to the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 1997.

18

Saving6

Articles 4 and 5 of this Order shall not have effect for the purposes of any annual payment to a farmer which relates wholly or in part to any period before 1st April 1998.

Elliot MorleyParliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

We consent,

Graham AllenJim DowdTwo of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 1997 (S.I.1997/1442) (“the principal Order”) which designated an area in the Somerset Levels and Moors as an environmentally sensitive area, in implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92 (OJNo. L215, 30.7.92, p.85) on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2772/95 (OJNo. L288, 1.12.95, p.35) as in turn rectified by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1962/96 (OJNo. L259, 12.10.96, p.7).

Subject to a saving provision, the Order amends the maximum rates of payments to be made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food pursuant to an agreement made under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 (articles 3 and 4).

This Order also further amends the rates of payment specified by the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Somerset Levels and Moors) Designation Order 1992 (S.I.1992/53), in so far as, by virtue of article 6(1)(b) of the principal Order, it continues to apply to agreements made before 1st July 1997.

No regulatory appraisal has been prepared in respect of this Order.