Environment Bill

Annex A - Territorial extent and application in the United Kingdom

Clause 127 sets out the territorial extent of the clauses in the Bill. The extent of a Bill is the legal jurisdiction where it forms part of the law. The extent of a Bill can be different from its application. Application refers to where it has practical effect.

Most of the Bill forms part of the law of England and Wales and applies to England. Around half of the Bill's provisions extend and apply to Wales, with a significant number of provisions having Great Britain, UK or England, Wales and Northern Ireland extent. Clauses 42, 45, 53, 55, 57, 60, 62, 66, 81 and Schedules 2 and 5 form part of the law of Northern Ireland and apply to Northern Ireland only. Clause 80 and 85 apply to Wales only.

The following provisions apply to England only, disregarding minor or consequential effects outside England, and, in the view of the UK Government, would be within the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly for the purposes of EVEL: clauses 1 to 6 (environmental targets); clauses 7 to 14 (environmental improvement plans); clause 15 (environmental monitoring); clauses 16 to 18 (policy statement on environmental principles); clause 52 (separation of waste: England); clause 76 (water and sewerage undertakers in England: modifying appointments); clause 78 (water abstraction: no compensation for certain licence modifications); clause 84 (valuation of other land in drainage district: England); clauses 88 to 90 (biodiversity); clauses 91 to 95 (local nature recovery strategies); clauses 96 to 97 (tree felling and planting); clauses 98 to 121 (conservation covenants); Schedule 14 (Modifying water and sewerage undertakers’ appointments: procedure for appeals); Schedule 15 (Biodiversity gain as condition for planning permission); Schedule 16 (Controlling the felling of trees in England); Schedule 17 (Discharge or modification of obligations under conservation covenants); Schedule 18 (Application of Part 7 to Crown land); and Schedule 19 (Consequential amendments relating to Part 7).

The following provisions apply to England and Wales only, disregarding minor or consequential effects outside England and Wales, and, in the view of the UK Government, would be within the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly for the purposes of EVEL: clause 56 (hazardous waste: England and Wales); clause 61 (enforcement powers); clause 63 (littering enforcement); clause 64 (fixed penalty notices); clause 65 (regulation of polluting activities); clause 73 (water resources management plans, drought plans and joint proposals); clause 74 (drainage and sewerage management plans); clause 75 (authority’s power to require information); clause 77 (electronic service of documents); clause 86 (valuation of agricultural land in drainage district: England and Wales); clause 87 (disclosure of Revenue and Customs information); and Schedule 11 (Enforcement powers). 1

Minor or consequential effects 2

The following provisions that apply to England have effects outside England, all of which are, in the view of the Government of the United Kingdom, minor or consequential:

Minor or consequential effects outside England

Executive and Legislative competence is devolved to Welsh Government on a wholly or mainly in Wales basis. Some water companies operate cross-English/Welsh border, so there will be some minor effects of the Ofwat licence condition modification powers in Wales (clause 76 (water undertakers and sewerage undertakers in England: modifying appointments) and Schedule 14) to the extent that they will affect how Ofwat regulates a water or sewerage undertaker wholly or mainly in England, but which may have some customers in Wales. When provisions in the Wales Act 2017 are implemented, executive and legislative competence will change to a "down the border" basis.

Executive and legislative competence in relation to water resources is devolved to the Welsh and Scottish Government. Subsection (2) of clause 78 (water abstraction: no compensation for certain licence modifications) amends section 27 of the Water Act 2003, providing that this section will not apply to licences varied or revoked on or after 1 January 2028 unless the licence applies in relation to Wales. This is because, after 1 January 2028, new section 61ZA of the Water Resources Act 1991 will effectively supersede section 27 of the Water Act 2003 in England. Section 27 of the Water Act 2003 extends and applies to England and Wales and so the amendment has the same extent and application. Subsection (3) of clause 81 amends section Schedule 8 to the Water Act 2014 in relation to the powers under which the relevant Minister may make secondary legislation to regulate the use of water resources. The amendment to Schedule 8 will permit any future regulations relating to water resources to make provision similar to the existing legislation regulating water resources as that legislation has effect when the regulations are made, where it currently provides that regulations can make provision similar to the legislation as it had effect on 14 July 2014. The amendment is intended to ensure that future regulations can make provision similar to new sections 61ZA and 61ZB. Schedule 8 extends and applies to England and Wales and parts of Scotland for specific purposes. 3 The amendment to Schedule 8 has the same extent and application. As there are no substantive changes being made to the water resources legislation in Wales or Scotland, this amendment has only minor effect in these nations.

Clause 89 (general duty to conserve and enhance biodiversity) amends section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Section 40 (following amendments made by the Environment (Wales) Act 2016) currently extends to England and Wales, and applies to all public bodies carrying out functions in England, and also to HMRC. The amendments to section 40 have the same application as the provision currently has, and therefore apply primarily to England but also to HMRC carrying out functions in England or Wales.

Minor or Consequential Effects outside England and Wales

Clause 76 (water undertakers and sewerage undertakers in England: modifying conditions of appointment) and Schedule 14 (Modifying water and sewerage undertakers’ appointments: procedure for appeals) extend to England and Wales, and largely apply to England. However, the definition of "specialist utility functions" in paragraph 35(3) of Schedule 4 to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (CMA Panels) is also being amended. This definition extends UK-wide, so the amendment will have the same extent.

Subject matter and legislative competence of devolved legislatures

The subject matter of clauses 1 to 6 (environmental targets) and 8 to 15 (environmental improvement plans) is within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. The primary purpose of the clauses relates to the environment, which is within the legislative competence of each of the three devolved legislatures, being not within Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 and not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament (see section 29 of that Act); not within Schedules 2 or 3 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly (see section 6 of that Act); not a reserved matter listed within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006 and not within an exception listed therein, and not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales (see section 108A of that Act). In Wales, the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 imposes duties in relation to "sustainable development" and "well-being goals" which have the effect of imposing duties on Welsh public bodies with respect to the environment, together with reporting and monitoring provisions. Section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, section 1 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, and section 1 of the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 all impose duties on public bodies in respect of the improvement of the environment and biodiversity.

The subject matter of clause 73 (water resources management plans, drought plans and joint proposals); clause 74 (drainage and sewerage management plans); clause 75 (authority’s power to require information); clause 76 (water and sewerage undertakers in England: modifying appointments) and Schedule 14 (Modifying water and sewerage undertakers’ appointments: procedure for appeals); clause 87 (electronic service of documents); and clause 81 (water abstraction: no compensation for certain licence modifications) relate to the water supply and sewerage, abstraction and impounding of water, water resources management, water quality, and the water industry including the regulation of water companies. As subject areas, these matters are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. In relation to Wales, these matters are not in the list of reserved matters listed within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006 and not within an exception listed therein, and not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales (see section 108A of that Act). The subject matters are not within Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 and are not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament (see section 29 of that Act); the primary purpose of the subject matter of the instrument is not within Schedules 2 or 3 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and is not otherwise outside the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly (see section 6 of that Act).

Clauses 84 to 86 (land drainage) relate primarily to the subject matters of flooding and land drainage. These matters are within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, being matters which are: (i) not excepted or reserved matters within Schedules 2 or 3 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, (ii) not reserved matters within Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, (iii) not reserved matters within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006, and (iv) not otherwise outside the legislative competence of any of those three devolved legislatures.

Clause 71 (smoke control areas; amendments to the Clean Air Act 1993) and Schedule 13 (Smoke control in England and Wales) relate to air quality. Air quality is within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, being a matter which is: (i) not an excepted or reserved matter within Schedules 2 or 3 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, (ii) not a reserved matter within Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, (iii) not a reserved matter within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006, and (iv) not otherwise outside the legislative competence of any of those three devolved legislatures.

Clause 88 (biodiversity gain as condition of planning permission) (and Schedule 15) relates to nature conservation and town and country planning, while clauses 91 to 95 (local nature recovery strategies), clauses 96 and 97 (tree felling and planting) and Schedule 16 (Controlling the felling of trees in England) relate to nature conservation. These are matters within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, being matters which are: (i) not excepted or reserved matters within Schedules 2 or 3 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, (ii) not reserved matters within Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, (iii) not reserved matters within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006, and (iv) not otherwise outside the legislative competence of any of those three devolved legislatures.

Clause 53 (separation of waste: England); clause 57 (hazardous waste: England and Wales); clause 61 (enforcement powers) and Schedule 11; clause 63 (littering enforcement); clause 64 (fixed penalty notices); and clause 65 (regulation of polluting activities) relate to waste. These are matters within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, being matters which are: (i) not excepted or reserved matters within Schedules 2 or 3 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, (ii) not reserved matters within Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, (iii) not reserved matters within Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006, and (iv) not otherwise outside the legislative competence of any of those three devolved legislatures.