Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 29th March 2019
Amends:
- The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999
- The Radioactive Contaminated Land (Enabling Powers) (England) Regulations 2005
- The Radioactive Contaminated Land (Modification of Enactments) (England) Regulations 2006
- The Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006
- The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004
Amendment
The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999
This instrument intends to address deficiencies in the operation of retained European Union (€œEU€) law as provided for by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Specifically, this instrument is intended to remedy deficiencies in:
- Regulation 2 is amended to change the definition of EU environmental assessment, which was inserted by The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, to mean, an assessment carried out because of any EU retained law, apart from any UK law that implements Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(the EIA Directive).
- Regulation 3 is amended to make it clear that any updates to the EIA Directive after exit day will not be relevant to Regulation 3.
- Reference to another EEA state is amended to read an EEA state, this removes reference to the UK as a member state. This is applicable to Regulations 3, 9 and 12.
- Regulation 10B (Conclusion about the environmental impact), which was inserted by The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, is slightly amended so that species and habitats are now protected by any law of any part of the UK that implements the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directive.
- Regulation 12 paragraph 5 concentrates on consultation, is amended to remove reference to the EIA Directive, as the Secretary of State will no longer be required to comply with the Directive.
Schedule 1 (information to include in an environmental statement) also sees slight wording changes to to remove direct application of EU directives and replace them with reference retained EU law, with the following implications:
- The the description of significant environmental effects should take into account the environmental protection objectives established in retained EU and UK law.
- Information available and obtained through risk assessments for retained EU law that implements the COMAH Directive or the Nuclear Safety Directive can be included in the environment statement as long as the requirements of any law that implemented the EIA Directive are met.
Schedule 2 also sees a slight wording change with regards reference to location of projects in determining further assessment. The schedule now refers to the environmental quality standards in retained EU law and EU law as it applied to the UK prior to exit day, which should be considered when calculating absorption capacity.
The Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (€œthe NI RCL Regulations€)
This instrument intends to address deficiencies in the operation of retained European Union (€œEU€) law as provided for by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Specifically, this instrument is intended to remedy deficiencies in:
- In Regulation 2 (Interpretation), an additional paragraph (4) has been added to state that the definition of inspection in Annex 4 of Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation should be read as an investigation by or on behalf of the Chief Inspector to verify compliance with national legal requirements. This is to replace the phrase any competent authority.
The Radioactive Contaminated Land (Modification of Enactments) (England) Regulations 2006 (€œthe RCL Regulations€);
This instrument intends to address deficiencies in the operation of retained European Union (€œEU€) law as provided for by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Specifically, this instrument is intended to remedy deficiencies in:
- Regulation 5 which is amended to make it clear that in this Regulation inspection means an investigation by or on behalf of the enforcing authority to verify compliance with national legal requirements.
This has been done by replacing competent authority with enforcing authority when reading the definition of inspection Article 4 of Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation for this Regulation.
The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004
This amendment intends to address deficiencies in the operation of retained European Union (€œEU€) law as provided for by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Specifically, this instrument is intended to remedy deficiencies in:
- Regulation 2 (application) which has been amended to state that any changes to Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation after the UKs exit from the EU will not be applicable to this Regulation and any practices regulated under it.
- Regulation 3 (interpretation) is amended to state that any words and expressions used in these Regulations and the Directive have the meaning given in the Directive, apart from inspection which means an investigation by or on behalf of the justifying authority to verify compliance with national legal requirements. [February 2019]
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