Section 3(1)

In these Regulations— “the 1949 Act” means the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 ; “the 2010 Regulations” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 ; “the Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations” means the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 ; “the appropriate authority” means the Secretary of State in relation to England and the Welsh Ministers in relation to Wales (but see modifications of the meaning of that term in regulations 9(4) and 10(12)(a), and modifications of references to that term in regulations 68ZA(14), 69(1)(b), (3)(c), (5) and (8)(b), 97(6), 110(3)(b) and 112(3)(c)), and any person exercising any function of the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers; “competent authority” is to be construed in accordance with regulation 7 (competent authorities); “conservation” has the meaning given by Article 1(a) of the Habitats Directive (definitions); “conservation status” and “favourable conservation status” have the meanings given by paragraphs (e) (in relation to habitats) and (i) (in relation to species) of Article 1 of the Habitats Directive; “destroy”, in relation to an egg, includes doing anything to the egg which is calculated to prevent it from hatching, and “destruction” is to be construed accordingly; “the devolved administrations” means the Welsh Ministers, the Scottish Ministers, and, in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs; “the Directives” means the Habitats Directive and the new Wild Birds Directive; “enactment” includes a local enactment and an enactment contained in subordinate legislation, and “subordinate legislation” has the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 1978 ; “English inshore region” means the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to England; “European marine site” has the meaning given by regulation 8(3) (European sites and European marine sites); “European offshore marine site” means a European offshore marine site within the meaning of regulation 18 of the Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations (meaning of European offshore marine site); “European site” has the meaning given by regulation 8; “functions” includes powers and duties; “the Habitats Directive” means Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora ; “land” includes land covered by water; “local planning authority” means, except as otherwise provided, any authority having any function as a local planning authority or mineral planning authority under the TCPA 1990; “management agreement” means an agreement made, or having effect as if made, under regulation 20 (management agreements); “the Marine Act” means the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 ; “marine area” means (subject to regulations 9(5) and 10(12)(b)) the English inshore region and the Welsh inshore region; “the national Ramsar site series” means all the wetlands in the United Kingdom that have been designated under paragraph 1 of article 2 of the Ramsar Convention for inclusion in the list of wetlands of international importance referred to in that article; “the national site network” means the network of sites in the United Kingdom’s territory consisting of such sites as— immediately before exit day formed part of Natura 2000; or at any time on or after exit day are European sites, European marine sites and European offshore marine sites for the purposes of any of the retained transposing regulations; “Natura 2000” means the European network of special areas of conservation, and special protection areas under the old Wild Birds Directive or the new Wild Birds Directive, provided for by Article 3(1) of the Habitats Directive (network of special areas of conservation: Natura 2000) (but see paragraphs (10) and (11)); “natural habitats” has the meaning given by Article 1(b) of the Habitats Directive; “nature conservation body” and “appropriate nature conservation body” have the meaning given by regulation 5 (nature conservation bodies); “the new Wild Birds Directive” means Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds ; “Northern Ireland inshore region” means the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Northern Ireland; “officer”— in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, and in relation to an unincorporated body, means any member of its governing body or a chief executive, manager or other similar officer of the body; “offshore marine area” has the meaning given by regulation 4(2) (Plans or projects relating to offshore marine area or offshore marine installations) “the old Wild Birds Directive” means Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds ; “priority natural habitat types” has the meaning given by Article 1(d) of the Habitats Directive; “priority species” has the meaning given by Article 1(h) of the Habitats Directive; “Ramsar Convention” means the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat signed at Ramsar on 2 February 1971, as amended by— but if that Convention is further amended after the passing of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, the references to the Ramsar Convention in these Regulations are to be taken after the entry into force of the further amendments as referring to that Convention as further amended (and the reference to paragraph 1 of article 2 is, if necessary, to be taken as referring to the appropriate successor provision); the Protocol known as the Paris Protocol done at Paris on 3 December 1982, and the amendments known as the Regina Amendments adopted at the Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties held at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, between 28 May and 3 June 1987; “Ramsar site” means a site that has been designated under paragraph 1 of article 2 of the Ramsar Convention for inclusion in the list of wetlands of international importance referred to in that article; “relevant authorities”, in relation to marine areas and European marine sites, is to be construed in accordance with regulation 6 (relevant authorities in relation to marine areas and European marine sites); “relevant licensing body” has the meaning given by regulation 58 (relevant licensing body); “the requirements of the Directives” is to be interpreted in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 3A; “research” includes inquiries and investigations; “the retained transposing regulations”, means— and “the other retained transposing regulations” means the retained transposing regulations other than these Regulations; the Offshore Marine Conservation Regulations 2017 ; the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995; the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994; and these Regulations; “sample” means a sample of blood, tissue or other biological material; “Scottish inshore region” means the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland; “sea” includes— and any reference to an area of sea includes the bed and subsoil of the sea within that area; any area submerged at mean high water spring tide, and the waters of every estuary, river or channel, so far as the tide flows at mean high water spring tide, “ship” means any vessel (including hovercraft, submersible craft and other floating craft) other than one which permanently rests on, or is permanently attached to, the seabed; “site” has the meaning given by Article 1(j) of the Habitats Directive; “site of Community importance” has the meaning given by Article 1(k) of the Habitats Directive; “special area of conservation” has the meaning given by Article 1(l) of the Habitats Directive , and includes any such site designated after exit day under the retained transposing regulations; “specimen”— for the purposes of Part 7 (enforcement), means any animal or plant, or any part of, or anything derived from, an animal or plant; and for all other purposes has the meaning given by Article 1(m) of the Habitats Directive; “statutory undertaker” means a person who is, or is deemed to be, a statutory undertaker for the purposes of any provision of Part 11 of the TCPA 1990 (statutory undertakers); “the TCPA 1990” means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ; “the United Kingdom’s territory” means the United Kingdom and the offshore marine area; “the WCA 1981” means the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 ; “Welsh inshore region” means the area of sea within the seaward limits of the territorial sea adjacent to Wales; “wild bird” means a bird which is— a member of a species referred to in Article 1 of the new Wild Birds Directive (scope of the Directive); and wild.

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Source: legislation.gov.uk · retrieved 2026-07-30