European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011.
Jurisdiction | Ireland |
Citation | IR SI 477/2011 |
Year | 2011 |
PART 1: |
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL |
1. Citation |
2. Interpretation |
3. Service of notices |
PART 2: |
AUTHORISED OFFICERS |
4. Appointment of Authorised Officers |
5. Functions of Authorised Officers |
6. Search warrant |
7. Functions relating to off-road vehicles and recreational watercraft |
PART 3: |
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL HABITATS AND HABITATS OF SPECIES |
8. Priorities for designation |
9. Surveillance and monitoring |
10. Identification of sites for consideration as sites of Community importance |
11. Information on candidate sites of Community importance |
12. Notification regarding candidate sites of Community importance |
13. Objections relating to candidate sites of Community importance |
14. Designation, amendment and de-designation of special areas of conservation |
15. Identification and notification regarding candidate special protection areas |
16. Classification: Notification regarding special protection areas |
17. Objections relating to special protection areas |
18. Designation, amendment and de-designation of classified special protection areas |
19. Consultation initiated by the European Commission to add sites |
20. Notifications from the European Commission of non-adoption of candidate sites of Community importance |
21. Submissions by the public in relation to the selection, designation, classification, de-designation and protection of European Sites |
22. Multiple status |
23. Erection of notices |
24. Management plans and agreements |
25. Change of owner or occupier |
PART 4: |
ACTIVITIES, PLANS OR PROJECTS AFFECTING EUROPEAN SITES |
26. Conservation objectives and measures to be undertaken by the Minister |
27. Duties of public authorities relating to nature conservation |
28. Ministerial Directions in respect of activities requiring consent |
29. Ministerial Directions to control specified activities in specified places. |
30. Derogation consents in relation to activities, plans or projects referred to in Regulations 28 and 29 |
31. Ministerial consents and referrals to An Bord Pleanála |
32. Ministerial consents and referrals to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
33. Objections relating to Ministerial Directions |
34. Review of Ministerial Directions |
35. General provisions for the prevention of damage to European Sites |
36. Restoration of land in a European Site following damage |
37. Appeals to Appeals Officer |
38. Injunctions |
39. Threat response plans |
40. Administrative agreements |
41. Compensation |
PART 5: |
APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT |
42. Screening for Appropriate Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of implications for European Sites |
43. Considerations of overriding public interest |
44. Consent by public authorities |
45. Compensatory measures |
46. Review of existing plans |
47. Assessments relating to the same subject matter |
48. Minister’s advice and specific guidance |
PART 6: |
PROTECTION OF FLORA AND FAUNA |
49. Prohibition on introduction and dispersal of certain species |
50. Prohibition on dealing with and keeping certain species |
51. Protection of fauna set out in the First Schedule |
52. Protection of flora set out in the First Schedule |
53. Measures to control the taking of fauna and flora species referred to in Part 2 of the First Schedule |
54. Derogations — flora, fauna and habitats |
55. Derogations — birds |
PART 7: |
MISCELLANEOUS |
56. Miscellaneous amendments |
57. Education and research |
58. Introduction of certain species |
59. Reports |
60. Power of Minister to obtain information from public authorities |
61. Retention of records |
62. Veracity and completeness of information, data and declarations |
63. General provisions regarding licences, etc. |
64. Licenced wildlife dealer |
65. Offence of inciting or aiding and abetting |
66. Offences by Body Corporate |
67. Offences and penalties |
68. Prosecution of offences |
69. Cost of prosecutions |
70. Payment of fines to prosecuting authorities |
71. Guidelines and codes of practice |
72. Guidelines and codes of practice in criminal and civil proceedings |
73. Revocations and savings |
74. Transitional provisions in relation to Regulations 49 and 50 |
SCHEDULES |
S.I. No. 477 of 2011 |
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (BIRDS AND NATURAL HABITATS) REGULATIONS 2011 |
Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in |
“Iris Oifigiúil” of 27th September, 2011. |
WHEREAS, I, Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the Act of 1972 and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 (which codifies Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 (as amended)) and Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 (as amended by Council Directive 97/62/EC of 27 October 1997, Regulation (EC) No. 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 September 2003, Council Directive 2006/105/EC of 20 November 2006 and as amended by Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland (adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC), Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded and as amended by the Corrigendum to that Directive) hereby make the following Regulations: |
PART 1 |
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL |
Citation |
1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. |
(2) The Wildlife Act 1976 , the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 , the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2010 and these Regulations shall be construed together as one. |
(3) These Regulations shall come into operation on 21 September 2011. |
Interpretation |
2. (1) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise requires: |
“Act of 1972” means the European Communities Act 1972 , as inserted by section 2 of the European Communities Act 2007 and section 4 of the European Union Act 2009 ; |
“Act of 2000” means the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 ; |
“activity” includes any operation or activity likely to impact on the physical environment or on wild flora or fauna or on the habitats of wild flora and fauna, other than— |
(a) development requiring permission under Part 111 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended, |
(b) activities requiring the consent of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, under the European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Agriculture) Regulations 2011, |
(c) activities to which the exercise of statutory power in favour of that activity, pursuant to Regulations made under the Act of 1972 or under any of the enactments set out in the Second Schedule of these Regulations, applies, or |
(d) activities for which, under the Act of 1972, the function of giving or refusing consent for an activity, or deciding on its own behalf to carry out any activity, is assigned to a public authority and the activity is carried out with and in compliance with a consent given under the applicable regulations; |
“activity requiring consent” includes any activity that has, before the commencement date of these Regulations, been notified pursuant to Regulation 4(3)(b) of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997, any activity listed in Regulations made under the Act of 1972 for the purpose of designating a site as a special protection area or as a special area of conservation, and any activity in relation to which the Minister has given a Direction pursuant to Regulation 28 of these Regulations, as being an activity that requires the approval of the Minister or is covered by the consent of a public authority; |
“animal” includes any vertebrate or invertebrate animal and any species, hybrid, subspecies, breed, race, strain, sport, variety, or other infraspecific taxon of such an animal, and all stages of the biological cycle and resting stages thereof; |
“Appropriate Assessment” means Appropriate Assessment as referred to in Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive; |
“authorised officer” means a person standing appointed as an authorised officer under Regulation 4; |
“the Birds Directive” means Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 (which codifies Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 (as amended)); |
“the Board” means An Bord Pleanála; |
“candidate site of Community importance” means— |
(a) a site— |
(i) in relation to which the Minister has given notice pursuant to Regulations under the Act of 1972 that he or she considers the site may be eligible for identification as a site of Community importance pursuant to Article 4 of the Habitats Directive, which notice may be amended in accordance with such Regulations under the Act of 1972, |
(ii) that is included in a list transmitted to the European Commission in accordance with Article 4(1) of the Habitats Directive, or |
(iii) that is added in accordance with Article 5 of the Habitats Directive, to the list transmitted to the European Commission pursuant to Article 4(1) of the Habitats Directive, |
but only until the adoption in respect of the site of a decision by the European Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21 of the Habitats Directive for the purposes of the third paragraph of Article 4(2) of that Directive, or |
(b) a site— |
(i) which is subject to a consultation procedure in accordance with Article 5(1) of the Habitats Directive, or |
(ii) in relation to which a Council decision is pending in accordance with Article 5(3) of the Habitats Directive; |
“candidate special area of conservation” means a site that is a candidate site of Community importance or a site of Community importance; |
“candidate special... |
To continue reading
Request your trialUnlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
