The Public Gas Transporter Pipe-line Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999

Further information and evidence respecting environmental statements

11.—(1) Where the Secretary of State has been provided with an environmental statement he may in writing require the public gas transporter to provide in respect of such statement such further information as he may specify.

(2) Where, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, any of the information provided pursuant to a requirement imposed under paragraph (1) above ought to have been included in the environmental statement in question, the Secretary of State shall notify the public gas transporter and the relevant planning authority in writing accordingly, specifying the information in question, and the provisions of paragraphs (3) to (7) below shall apply in respect of such information.

(3) The public gas transporter shall serve a copy of the further information on the consultation bodies, together with a notice referring to the material previously served on that body and stating that further representations may be made in writing to the Secretary of State by a date specified in the notice which shall be at least 28 days after the date on which the further information and notice were served on the body and the public gas transporter shall inform the Secretary of State in writing of the names and addresses of every such body on whom he has served those documents, and the dates on which they were served.

(4) The public gas transporter and the relevant planning authority shall make available to the public copies of the application for consent, the environmental statement and the further information in the same way as they each previously made available the application and the environmental statement for the period commencing on the date of first publication of the notice referred to in paragraph (5) below and expiring on a date not less than 28 days after the date on which the notice is to be last published, in each case whether pursuant to paragraph (5) or (6) below.

(5) The public gas transporter shall publish in two successive weeks in one or more local newspapers circulating in each area in which the proposed pipe-line works would be carried out a notice–

(a) referring to the previous notice in respect of the application and environmental statement and stating that further information is available supplementing the environmental statement which has already been provided;

(b) stating that a copy of the application, environmental statement and further information may be inspected by members of the public at all reasonable hours;

(c) giving the address at which copies of those documents may be inspected and the latest date (being a date not less than 28 days after the date on which the notice is to be last published, whether pursuant to this paragraph or paragraph (6) below) on which they will be available for inspection;

(d) giving the address at which copies of the environmental statement and further information may be obtained and stating that copies of those documents may be obtained there and, subject to regulation 12 (charges) below, specifying the amount of any charge to be made for a copy of the statement or information; and

(e) stating that any person wishing to make representations about the application should make them in writing to the Secretary of State by a date not less than 28 days after the date on which the notice is to be last published, whether pursuant to this paragraph or paragraph (6) below and specifying the address to which any such representations should be sent.

(6) The public gas transporter shall also publish a copy of the notice referred to in paragraph (5) above in the London or the Edinburgh Gazette, or in both of them, as appropriate, depending on the location of the proposed pipe-line works.

(7) The public gas transporter shall provide the Secretary of State with copies of each of the newspapers and Gazettes in which the notices referred to in paragraphs (5) and (6) above appeared in each case no later than 7 days after the date of publication of those newspapers and Gazettes.

(8) The Secretary of State may in writing require a public gas transporter to produce such evidence as he may reasonably require in support of anything contained in the public gas transporter’s environmental statement.