Habitats Directive

HC Deb 19 September 2003 vol 410 cc1189-90W

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment. Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the 96 Habitats Directive sites identified by the

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Category 1 incidents affecting water	156	194	128	90	77	118	79
Category 2 incidents affecting water	1,510	1,354	1,238	863	758	860	760
Category 1 affecting all media (air, land and water) from 1999	—	—	—	131	99	147	109
Category 2 affecting all media (air, land and water) from 1999	—	—	—	1,387	1,198	1,707	1,357

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many current applications for pollution prevention and control permits have been pending for four months or longer. [129351]

Margaret Beckett

Schedule 1 to the PPC Regulations categorises installations subject to integrated pollution prevention and control into Part A(1) and Part A(2). If the installation is categorised as a Part A(1) installation then the permit application must be made to the Environment Agency. The Part A(1) installations are generally larger or more complex than Part A(2) installations, which are regulated by the relevant local authority.

If a regulator requires more information before it can reach a final decision on an application, it can issue a notice to an operator requesting the information under Schedule 4 of the PPC Regulations. This inevitably delays the process significantly.

Environment Agency in its Composite Plan, page 8, as most at risk of being damaged, including in each case the nature and source of the damage. [129347]

Margaret Beckett

The Habitats Directive sites identified on page 8 of the Environment Agency's Corporate Plan for England have been placed in the Library of the House; the responsibility for Wales rests with the National Assembly for Wales.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of the results and conclusions of the Environment Agency's Habitats Directive benefits assessment of 2003. [129348]

Margaret Beckett

I am happy to place a copy of the conclusions of the Environment Agency's benefits assessment of 2003 in the Library. It should be noted that the addendum (item (iii) in para. 1.3 of the covering paper) is the result of further work done after consideration of the initial paper, and the figures therefore replace those shown in para. 4.1 and Appendix 1 of that paper.