§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library copies of the correspondence his Department has received in the last six months concerning the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive as it affects the offshore oil and gas industry. [46009]
§ Mr. RaynsfordImplementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (85/337/EEC) as it applies to the offshore oil and gas industry is a matter for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. However, my Department has taken the lead in the initial public consultation on the implementation generally of the amended EIA Directive (97/11/EC) which must be done by 14 March 1999, and I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning, gave on 12 May 1998,Official Report, column 66.