Environment Bill

Annex A - Territorial extent and application in the United Kingdom

Clause 130 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 45, 56, 58, 62, 64, 68, 83 and Schedule 2 form part of the law of Northern Ireland and apply to Northern Ireland only. Clauses 82 and 87 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 54 (separation of waste); clause 20 (reports on international environmental protection legislation); clause 80 (water abstraction: no compensation for certain licence modifications); clause 86 (valuation of other land in drainage district: England); clauses 90 to 92 (biodiversity gain in planning); clauses 93 to 94 (biodiversity objective and reporting); clauses 95 to 99 (local nature recovery strategies); clauses 100 to 101 (tree felling and planting); clauses 102 to 124 (conservation covenants); Schedule 14 (Biodiversity gain as condition of planning permission); Schedule 15 (Controlling the felling of trees in England); Schedule 16 (Discharge or modification of obligations under conservation covenants); Schedule 17 (Application of Part 7 to Crown land); and Schedule 18 (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 57 (hazardous waste: England and Wales); clause 63 (enforcement powers); clause 65 (littering enforcement); clause 66 (fixed penalty notices); clause 67 (regulation of polluting activities); clause 75 (water resources management plans, drought plans and joint proposals); clause 76 (drainage and sewerage management plans); clause 77 (authority’s power to require information); clause 79 (electronic service of documents); clause 88 (valuation of agricultural land in drainage district: England and Wales); and Schedule 10 (Enforcement powers). 1

Minor or consequential effects 1

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 in relation to water resources is devolved to the Welsh and Scottish Government. Subsection (2) of clause 80 (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 80 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. 2 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 93 (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 66 amends section 33ZA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Section 33ZA extends to England, Wales and Scotland by virtue of regulation 1 of the Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) Regulations 2016. However, section 33ZA only applies where an authorised officer of an English waste collection authority believes an offence has been committed in the area of the authority. English waste collection authority is defined as a waste collection authority whose area is in England (section 33ZA(12)). Section 33ZA therefore extends to but does not apply in Scotland and, as a result, this amendment will have no, or only a minor, effect in Scotland.

Subject matter and legislative competence of devolved legislatures

The subject matter of 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); and clause 20 (reports on international environmental protection legislation) 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.

Clause 54 (separation of waste); clause 57 (hazardous waste: England and Wales); clause 63 (enforcement powers) and Schedule 10; clause 65 (littering enforcement); clause 66 (fixed penalty notices); and clause 67 (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.

The subject matter of clause 75 (water resources management plans, drought plans and joint proposals); clause 76 (drainage and sewerage management plans); clause 77 (authority’s power to require information); clause 79 (electronic service of documents); and clause 80 (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 86 to 88 (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.

Clauses 90 to 92 (biodiversity gain in planning), clauses 93 and 94 (biodiversity objective and reporting) and Schedule 14 (Biodiversity gain as condition of planning permission) relate to nature conservation and town and country planning, while clauses 95 to 99 (local nature recovery strategies), clauses 100 and 101 (tree felling and planting), clauses 102 to 124 (conservation covenants) and Schedule 15 (Controlling the felling of trees in England) and Schedules 16 to 18 (conservation covenants) relate to nature conservation and the environment. 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.