Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1999/2892 |
| Year | 1999 |
1999 No. 2892
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999
Made 19th October 1999
Laid before Parliament 29th October 1999
Coming into force 19th November 1999
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, being the designated1Minister for the purpose of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to measures relating to the requirement for an assessment of the impact on the environment of projects likely to have significant effects upon the environment, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by that section and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 19th November 1999.
Definitions
2.—(1) In these Regulations unless the context otherwise requires—
“the consultation bodies” means—
(a) the local planning authority;
(b) the local highway authority;
(c) any principal council for the area in which the site where the project is to be carried out, if not the local planning authority;
and such of the following bodies as are applicable having regard to the place where a project is to be carried out—
(a) in England and Wales, the Environment Agency;
(b) in England, the Countryside Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council for England;
(c) in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales;
(d) in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;
“the Directive” means Council Directive 85/337/EEC3on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EEC4;
“EEA State” means a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area5;
“environmental impact assessment” means a process which identifies, describes and assesses in an appropriate manner, in the light of each individual case, the direct and indirect effects of a proposed project on—
(a) human beings, flora and fauna;
(b) soil, water, air, climate and the landscape;
(c) material assets and the cultural heritage;
(d) the interaction between the factors referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) above;
“the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive6;
“licensee” means a person to whom a nuclear site licence has been granted under the Nuclear Installations Act 19657whether or not that licence remains in force;
“local planning authority” means, in England and Wales a local planning authority within the meaning of Part I of the Town and Country Planning Act 19908and in Scotland, a planning authority within the meaning of Part I of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 19979;
“project” means the carrying out of any dismantling or decommissioning work on any nuclear power station or nuclear reactor to which these Regulations apply by virtue of regulation 3(1), but it does not include—
(a) the removal from a power station or reactor of fuel elements, neutron absorption cartridges or control rods carried out in accordance with normal operating procedures; or
(b) the removal of waste from, or decontamination work on, a power station or reactor when such an activity is carried out as part of routine operations not intended to be part of final dismantling or decontamination of that station or reactor;
and for the purposes of this definition dismantling or decommissioning of a nuclear power station or nuclear reactor shall not be treated as having commenced unless plant or equipment is disabled or removed for the purpose of permanently preventing the continued operation of that station or reactor.
(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; and
(b)
(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.
Application
3.—(1) These Regulations shall apply to nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installations for the production and conversion of fissionable and fertile materials, whose maximum power does not exceed 1 kilowatt continuous thermal load).
(2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), save for the purpose of regulation 13 these Regulations shall not apply to the carrying out of dismantling or decommissioning work on a nuclear power station or nuclear reactor commenced prior to the coming into force of these Regulations.
(3) These Regulations shall not apply to any project serving national defence purposes.
Consent for dismantling or decommissioning
4. A licensee shall not commence a project unless—
(a) he has applied to the Executive for a consent to carry out the project; and
(b) a consent to carry out the project has been granted for the purposes of this paragraph by the Executive in accordance with regulation 8(3).
Provision of an environmental statement
5.—(1) A licensee who applies for a consent under regulation 4(a) shall provide to the Executive an environmental statement, being a statement which—
(a)
(a) includes such of the information referred to in Part I of Schedule 1 as is reasonably required to assess the environmental effects of the proposed project and which the licensee can, having regard in particular to current knowledge and methods of assessment, reasonably be required to compile; and
(b)
(b) includes at least the information specified in Part II of Schedule 1.
(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) shall be provided to the extent that the information is relevant to—
(a)
(a) the consent procedure; and
(b)
(b) the specific characteristics of a particular project or type of project and of the environmental features likely to be affected.
Pre-application opinion as to the content of the environmental statement
6.—(1) Without prejudice to regulation 5, a licensee who is minded to apply for a consent to carry out a project may request the Executive to state in writing its opinion as to the information to be provided in connection with that application.
(2) The Executive shall, if it considers that it has not been provided with sufficient information to give an opinion on a request made under paragraph (1), notify the licensee of the matters in respect of which it requires further information and shall not be required to give an opinion under paragraph (1) until such further information has been provided.
(3) The Executive shall not give an opinion in response to a request under paragraph (1) until it has consulted the licensee, the consultation bodies and such other bodies as appear to the Executive to be appropriate having regard to the circumstances of the case, but the Executive shall, subject to paragraph (2), respond to such request within 21 days of the end of the period allowed by the Executive for responding to such consultation.
(4) An opinion given for the purposes of paragraph (1) shall not prevent the Executive subsequently requiring the licensee to submit further information.
Provision of information to licensee
7. The Executive and any other consultation body notified that a licensee has made or is proposing to make an application for consent under regulation 4(a) shall, if requested by the licensee or may without such a request, enter into consultation with the licensee to determine whether the body has in its possession any information which the licensee or that body consider relevant to the preparation of an environmental statement and, if it has, the body shall make any such information available to the licensee.
Procedure by the Executive
8.—(1) Where the Executive receives in relation to a proposed project an application for a consent pursuant to regulation 4(a) it shall—
(a)
(a) within 21 days of the date of receipt of such application notify the consultation bodies in writing of the name and address of the licensee and of the duty imposed on them by regulation 7 to make information available to the licensee; and
(b)
(b) inform the licensee of the names and addresses of the bodies notified under sub-paragraph (a) above.
(2) Where the Executive is provided with an environmental statement pursuant to regulation 5 it shall—
(a)
(a) consult the consultation bodies as to the information contained in that statement and for that purpose shall within 21 days of the date of receipt of such statement provide to them the information contained in that statement;
(b)
(b) require any body consulted under paragraph (1) to respond to the Executive within such reasonable time as the Executive may specify; and
(c)
(c) send a copy of the environmental statement to the Secretary of State stating whether or not in the opinion of the Executive the project to which the environmental statement relates is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another EEA State.
(3) The Executive shall not grant a consent (whether for the purposes of these Regulations or otherwise) in relation to an application to carry out a proposed project unless—
(a)
(a) there has been carried out an environmental impact assessment which takes into consideration the environmental statement provided under regulation 5;
(b)
(b) the Executive has taken into account—
(i) the assessment carried out pursuant to sub-paragraph (a) above;
(ii) the responses of those consulted pursuant to paragraph (2); and
(iii) any representations made to it pursuant to sub-paragraph (i) of regulation 9(1); and
(c)
(c) where paragraph (3) of regulation 12...
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