ANNEX
Letter from the Clerk of the Committee to the Department
of the Environment Transport and the Regions
The Committee has begun its consideration of the proposal for
the Deregulation (Pipe-lines) Order 1998. The Pipe-lines Act 1962
places a number of responsibilities on the Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry with regard to authorising the construction
of onshore pipe-lines.
The Act provides for two categories of pipe-lines; local pipe-lines
are subject to local authority planning permission, while cross-country
pipe-lines are subject to the pipe-line construction authorisation
(PCA) of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. It has
been suggested that it would be more appropriate if these planning
responsibilities currently held by the Department of Trade and
Industry were exercised by the Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions. The Committee would like to know whether
consideration has been given to this point.
3 July 1998
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