The Environmental Stewardship (England) Regulations 2005
| Year | 2005 |
2005 No. 621
AGRICULTURE, ENGLAND
COUNTRYSIDE, ENGLAND
The Environmental Stewardship (England) Regulations 2005
Made 8th March 2005
Laid before Parliament 10th March 2005
Coming into force 2nd April 2005
The Secretary of State, being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers contained in that section in so far as these Regulations could not have been made under the powers hereinafter mentioned, and otherwise in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 98 of the Environment Act 19953, with the consent of Treasury and after consulting the Countryside Agency, English Nature and the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England in accordance with section 99 of the Environment Act 19954, hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation, commencement and application
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Stewardship (England) Regulations 2005, shall come into force on 2nd April 2005 and shall apply to England only.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“agreement land” means land which is the subject of an environmental stewardship agreement;
“agreement year” means a period of 12 months commencing with the date of, or the anniversary of the date of, the coming into effect of an environmental stewardship agreement;
“beneficiary” means a person who has entered into an environmental stewardship agreement with the Secretary of State;
“carry out”, in relation to an obligation under an environmental stewardship agreement or a feasibility study agreement, includes ensuring that the obligation is carried out;
“Compendium of UK Organic Standards” means the Compendium of UK Organic Standards, May 2004 Edition, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs5;
“conventional land” means agreement land which is not organic land;
“conversion grant” means a grant for converting land to production in accordance with organic standards;
“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs6as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2254/20047;
“date of application” means the date on which an application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement is received by the Secretary of State;
“ELS element” means obligations relating to ELS options;
“ELS options” means the options set out in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a points value per unit is specified in column 2 of that Part of that Schedule;
“ELS points score” means the points score for conventional land calculated in accordance with paragraph 2 of Schedule 3;
“ELS points target” means the points target for conventional land calculated in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 3;
“environmental stewardship agreement” has the meaning given to it in regulation 3(2);
“HLS capital works items” means the capital works items set out in column 1 of Parts 4 and 5 of Schedule 2;
“HLS element” means obligations relating to—
(a) HLS options; or
(b) HLS capital works items;
“HLS options” means the options set out in—
(a) column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a maximum payment rate per agreement year is specified in column 4 of that Part of that Schedule; and
(b) column 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 2.
“improved land” means land which has been ploughed or has received artificial fertilizer during the period of 20 years immediately before the date of application and which is not—
(a) top fruit orchard; or
(b) planted with mature trees or shrubs or planted to woodland or coppice, unless such land is used for grazing or keeping livestock;
“interest”, in relation to land, means—
(a) a freehold interest;
(b) a leasehold interest;
(c) a licence to occupy; or
(d) in relation to common land, a right to graze or to represent a person with such a right;
“less favoured area” means all the land shown coloured blue and pink in the three volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each volume being marked “Volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in England”, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Ergon House, 2 Horseferry Road, London SW1 2AL;
“OELS element” means obligations relating to OELS options;
“OELS options” means the options set out in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 for which a points value per unit is specified in column 3 of that Part of that Schedule;
“OELS points score” means the points score for organic land calculated in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 3;
“OELS points target” means the points target for organic land calculated in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 3;
“organic land” means agreement land which—
(a) is registered with a private inspection body either as being in conversion to organic farming or as being fully organic; and
(b) if it is situated within the less favoured area, comprises of, or is situated within, a parcel with an area of less than 15 hectares;
“organic standards” means the standards for organic production set out in the Council Regulation, as read with any additional provisions set out in the Compendium of UK Organic Standards;
“parcel” has the same meaning as “reference parcel” in Article 2(26) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers8;
“private inspection body” means a private inspection body approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of Article 9(4) of the Council Regulation9;
“special project activity” has the meaning given to it by regulation 5(9)(a);
“special project element” means obligations relating to a special project activity;
“specified purposes” means—
(a) the conservation or enhancement of the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside (including its flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features) or of any features of archaeological interest there,
(b) the promotion of the enjoyment of the countryside by the public, or
(c) the upkeep of the landscape and historical features on agricultural land;
“top fruit” means apples (excluding cider apple varieties), cherries, pears and plums.
Power to make grants
3.—(1) The Secretary of State may make a grant in accordance with these Regulations to a person who undertakes to do anything in relation to land in which that person has an interest which in the Secretary of State’s opinion is conducive to any of the specified purposes.
(2) Such a grant shall be made subject to the condition that the beneficiary complies with the conditions set out in an agreement (“an environmental stewardship agreement”) made between that person and the Secretary of State.
(3) The Secretary of State may vary the conditions of an environmental stewardship agreement—
(a)
(a) by agreement with the beneficiary; or
(b)
(b) by notice served on the beneficiary if the variation is, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, necessary to prevent a breach of a provision of, or made under, the Community Treaties10.
(4) The amount of the grant shall be calculated in accordance with regulations 6 and 7(4).
Applications for grant
4.—(1) An application for a grant shall—
(a)
(a) include an application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement with the Secretary of State; and
(b)
(b) be made at such times, in such form and be accompanied by such information, as the Secretary of State requires.
(2) An application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement containing an HLS element must be accompanied by a plan (“a farm environment plan”), in such form as the Secretary of State requires, identifying the features of environmental significance on the relevant land.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), in paragraph (2) and Schedule 1 relevant land means land—
(a)
(a) which—
(i) is farmed by the applicant as a single farming business; or
(ii) would have been farmed as a single farming business but is instead farmed by the applicant as two or more farming businesses in order to comply with the requirement of the second paragraph of Part A of Annex III of the Council Regulation (which provides that production in accordance with organic standards must be clearly separated from production which is not in accordance with such standards);
and which includes the land which is the subject of the application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement with an HLS element; and
(b)
(b) which is registered on the Rural Land Register held by the Rural Payments Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and
(c)
(c) in relation to which the applicant, either—
(i) alone, or
(ii) with a person who countersigns the application,
has, on the date of the application, the right, for at least five years from that date, to carry out activities of the type required by HLS options.
(4) In paragraph (2), where the land which is the subject of the application forms all or part of a common, the relevant land is the land comprising the entire common.
(5) The Secretary of State shall make a grant (“a farm environment plan grant”) to an applicant in respect of a farm environment plan if the plan and the associated application to enter into an environmental stewardship agreement are in such form as the Secretary of State requires.
(6) The amount of a farm environment plan grant shall be calculated in accordance with Schedule 1.
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