POWERS OF THE ASSEMBLY OVER DREDGING IN THE UKWhat
is the ambit and decision making powers of the Assembly and what powers
from the Devolution Act and statutory instruments have to be considered
on matters of dredging in the UK, i.e the Waterways Act and coastal
waters licensing?
The
Planning Division of the National Assembly for Wales has confirmed
that dredging for marine aggregates is controlled under the non-statutory
Interim Government View Procedure (Government View: New Arrangements
for the Licensing of Minerals Dredging).
These arrangements apply only to seabed owned by the Crown
Estate. The
Government View (GV) process has five main stages: ¨
Application
Stage ¨
Consultation ¨
Confirmation
Stage ¨
Assessment
and Determination Stage ¨
Decision
Stage – where the Environment Minister issues a positive or negative
Government View over a Dredging License Application. The
GV process applies to Welsh waters, as defined in the National Assembly
for Wales (Transfer of Functions Order) 1998, but not to areas within
the jurisdiction of Local Authorities.
Within Local Authority boundaries, local authorities are Minerals
Planning Authorities and a planning application will be processed
in the usual manner under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The
Interim Arrangements will be replaced later in 2001 by new Statutory
Regulations. The Secretary
of State for the Environment for England and the Environment Minister
in Wales will act as the regulatory and enforcement authorities with
the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) being consulted
in the decision‑making process.
The Department for Environment Transport and the Regions is preparing new statutory Regulations in consultation with the National Assembly for Wales that, for the first time, provide a statutory basis for the control of the extraction of minerals by dredging in marine waters regardless of ownership i.e. not just the Crown Estate. The
new Regulations transpose into UK law the requirements of the European
Community (EC) Directives on Environmental Impact Assessment (EC Directive
85/337/EEC as amended by Directive 97/11/EC), and the protection of
natural habitats of international importance under the Conservation
(Natural Habitats, & c.) Regulations 1994 (The Habitats Regulations)
for this type of activity. The
statutory Regulations will replace the Interim Arrangements for the
non-statutory GV and will apply to: ¨
The
tidal waters and parts of the sea adjacent to England, Wales and Northern
Ireland from the mean high water mark up to the seaward limits of
territorial waters including inland waters; and ¨
Waters
in any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the
Continental Shelf Act 1964 (designation of areas of continental shelf),
with the exceptions listed in paragraph 7. The
statutory Regulations will not apply to: ¨
Dredging
agreements issued prior to their introduction except where the Secretary
of State or Environment Minister considers that their implementation
is likely to have an adverse effect on a European protected site,
for example, Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) or Special Protection
Areas (SPA), or where proposals to vary such agreements are considered
likely to have significant effects on the environment; ¨
To
the removal of material from above the mean low water mark which is
within Local Authority areas and within the jurisdiction of a Minerals
Planning Authority which is covered by the Town and Country Planning
Act (see paragraphs); ¨
Areas
of seabed that fall under the jurisdiction of a Local Planning Authority; ¨
Areas
of seabed that fall under the jurisdiction of Port or Harbour Authorities
including: navigational dredging carried out under Section 34 of the
Coast Protection Act 1949; dredging undertaken under the Harbours
Act 1964; dredging to which the Harbour Works (Assessment of Environmental
Effects) (No.2) Regulations 1989 apply; dredging to which the Harbour
Works (Environmental Impacts Assessment) Regulations 1999 apply; ¨
Prospecting
for, or bulk sampling of less than 5000 tonnes of, minerals unless
this is considered likely to have a significant effect on a European
Marine site. The
new procedures do not affect areas licensed prior to the statutory
Regulations coming into force, unless a variation to the Dredging
Licence is proposed; or the licensed dredging activities are considered
likely to have, or are already having, a significant effect on a European
protected site as defined under the Habitats Regulations i.e. SACs
and SPAs. Additional sources of informationYou
can access the Crown Estate web-site at: Sources: NafW Planning Division
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