Environment (Wales) Act 2016

PART 1 — SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Introduction

Requirement to charge

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The purpose of this Part is to promote sustainable management of natural resources.

Natural resources

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In this Part, “natural resources” includes (but is not limited to)—

• (a) animals, plants and other organisms;

• (b) air, water and soil;

• (c) minerals;

• (d) geological features and processes;

• (e) physiographical features;

• (f) climatic features and processes.

Sustainable management of natural resources

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• (1) In this Part, “sustainable management of natural resources” means—

• (a) using natural resources in a way and at a rate that promotes achievement of the objective in subsection (2),

• (b) taking other action that promotes achievement of that objective, and

• (c) not taking action that hinders achievement of that objective.

• (2) The objective is to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems and the benefits they provide and, in so doing—

• (a) meet the needs of present generations of people without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and

• (b) contribute to the achievement of the well-being goals in section 4 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (anaw 2).

Principles of sustainable management of natural resources

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In this Part, the “principles of sustainable management of natural resources” are—

• (a) manage adaptively, by planning, monitoring, reviewing and, where appropriate, changing action;

• (b) consider the appropriate spatial scale for action;

• (c) promote and engage in collaboration and co-operation;

• (d) make appropriate arrangements for public participation in decision-making;

• (e) take account of all relevant evidence and gather evidence in respect of uncertainties;

• (f) take account of the benefits and intrinsic value of natural resources and ecosystems;

• (g) take account of the short, medium and long term consequences of actions;

• (h) take action to prevent significant damage to ecosystems;

• (i) take account of the resilience of ecosystems, in particular the following aspects—

• (i) diversity between and within ecosystems;

• (ii) the connections between and within ecosystems;

• (iii) the scale of ecosystems;

• (iv) the condition of ecosystems (including their structure and functioning);

• (v) the adaptability of ecosystems.

General duties of public authorities

General purpose of Natural Resources Body for Wales

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• (1) The Natural Resources Body for Wales (Establishment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1903) is amended as follows.

• (2) For article 4 substitute—

(4) (1) The Body must— (a) pursue sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales, and (b) apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources, in the exercise of its functions, so far as consistent with their proper exercise. (2) In this article— - “principles of sustainable management of natural resources” (“egwyddorion rheoli cynaliadwy ar adnoddau naturiol”) has the meaning given by section 4 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016; - “sustainable management of natural resources” (“rheoli cynaliadwy ar adnoddau naturiol”) has the meaning given by section 3 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.

• (3) In article 5—

• (a) in the heading, after “Body's” insert “ general ”;

• (b) in paragraph (1), for “purpose” substitute “ general purpose in article 4 ”;

• (c) in paragraph (3) for “functions” substitute “ general purpose in article 4 ”.

• (4) Omit articles 5B and 5E.

Biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty

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• (1) A public authority must seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity in the exercise of functions in relation to Wales, and in so doing promote the resilience of ecosystems, so far as consistent with the proper exercise of those functions.

• (2) In complying with subsection (1), a public authority must take account of the resilience of ecosystems, in particular the following aspects—

• (a) diversity between and within ecosystems;

• (b) the connections between and within ecosystems;

• (c) the scale of ecosystems;

• (d) the condition of ecosystems (including their structure and functioning);

• (e) the adaptability of ecosystems.

• (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to—

• (a) the exercise of a function by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or

• (b) the exercise of a judicial function of a court or tribunal.

• (4) In complying with subsection (1)—

• (a) the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister for Wales, the Counsel General to the Welsh Government, a Minister of the Crown and a government department must have regard to the United Nations Environmental Programme Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992, and

• (b) any other public authority must have regard to any guidance given to it by the Welsh Ministers.

• (5) In complying with subsection (1), a public authority other than a Minister of the Crown or government department must have regard to—

• (a) the list published under section 7;

• (b) the state of natural resources report published under section 8;

• (c) any area statement published under section 11 for an area that includes all or part of an area in relation to which the authority exercises functions.

• (d) the sustainable land management report published under section 6 of the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023.

• (6) A public authority other than a Minister of the Crown or government department must prepare and publish a plan setting out what it proposes to do to comply with subsection (1).

• (7) A public authority must, before the end of 2019 and before the end of every third year after 2019, publish a report on what it has done to comply with subsection (1).

• (8) A public authority that has published a plan under subsection (6)—

• (a) must review the plan in the light of each report that it publishes under subsection (7), and

• (b) may revise the plan at any time.

• (9) In this section—

• “Minister of the Crown” (“Gweinidog y Goron”) has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 (c. 26);

• “public authority” (“awdurdod cyhoeddus”) means—the Welsh Ministers;the First Minister for Wales;the Counsel General to the Welsh Government;a Minister of the Crown;a public body (including a government department, a local authority , a corporate joint committee and a local planning authority ...);a person holding an office—under the Crown,created or continued in existence by a public general Act of the National Assembly for Wales or of Parliament, orthe remuneration in respect of which is paid out of money provided by the National Assembly for Wales or Parliament;a statutory undertaker.

• (10) In subsection (9)—

• “corporate joint committee” (“cyd-bwyllgor corfforedig”) means a corporate joint committee established by regulations made under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (asc 1);

• “local authority” (“awdurdod lleol”) means a council of a county, county borough or community in Wales;

• “local planning authority” (“awdurdod cynllunio lleol”) has the meaning given by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (c. 8);

• “statutory undertaker” (“ymgymerwr statudol”) means any of the following—a person authorised by any enactment to carry on any railway, light railway, tramway, road transport, water transport, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, pier or lighthouse undertaking or any undertaking for the supply of hydraulic power;an operator of an electronic communications code network (within the meaning of paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 17 to the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21));an airport operator (within the meaning of the Airports Act 1986 (c. 31)) operating an airport to which Part 5 of that Act applies;a holder of a licence under section 7 or 7AA of the Gas Act 1986 (c. 44);a holder of a licence under section 6(1) of the Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29);a water or sewerage undertaker;the Civil Aviation Authority or a holder of a licence under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Transport Act 2000 (c. 38), to the extent that the person holding the licence is carrying out activities authorised by it;a universal service provider within the meaning of Part 3 of the Postal Services Act 2011 (c. 5);

• ...

Biodiversity lists and duty to take steps to maintain and enhance biodiversity

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• (1) The Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a list of the living organisms and types of habitat which in their opinion are of principal importance for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales.

• (2) Before publishing a list under this section the Welsh Ministers must consult the Natural Resources Body for Wales (“NRW”) as to the living organisms or types of habitat to be included in the list.

• (3) Without prejudice to section 6, the Welsh Ministers must—

• (a) take all reasonable steps to maintain and enhance the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under this section, and

• (b) encourage others to take such steps.

• (4) The Welsh Ministers must, in consultation with NRW—

• (a) keep under review any list published by them under this section,

• (b) make such revisions of any such list as appear to them appropriate, and

• (c) publish any list so revised as soon as is reasonably practicable after revising it.

• (5) In exercising their functions under this section, the Welsh Ministers must apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources.

State of natural resources report

Duty to prepare and publish state of natural resources report

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• (1) NRW must prepare and publish reports in accordance with this section containing its assessment of the state of natural resources in relation to Wales.

• (2) Each report must, among other things, set out—

• (a) NRW's assessment of the extent to which sustainable management of natural resources is being achieved;

• (b) NRW's assessment of biodiversity (including the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under section 7);

• (c) what NRW considers to be the main trends and factors that are affecting, and are likely to affect, the state of natural resources;

• (d) any aspects of the state of natural resources about which NRW considers that it does not have sufficient information to make an assessment.

• (3) NRW must publish its first report before the end of four months starting with the day this section comes into force.

• (4) Subsequently, NRW must publish a report before the end of the calendar year preceding a year in which an ordinary general election is due to be held.

• (5) NRW must publish a draft of each report required by subsection (4) before the end of the calendar year preceding the year in which the report must be published.

• (6) In this section, “ordinary general election” means the poll held at an ordinary general election under section 3 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

National natural resources policy

Duty to prepare, publish and implement national natural resources policy

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• (1) The Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a document setting out their general and specific policies for contributing to achieving sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales (the “national natural resources policy”).

• (2) The national natural resources policy must set out what the Welsh Ministers consider to be the key priorities, risks and opportunities for sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales, including what they consider should be done in relation to climate change and biodiversity.

• (3) The Welsh Ministers may include anything in the national natural resources policy which they consider relevant to achieving sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales.

• (4) The Welsh Ministers must—

• (a) take all reasonable steps to implement the national natural resources policy, and

• (b) encourage others to take such steps.

• (5) The Welsh Ministers must publish the first national natural resources policy before the end of 10 months starting with the day this section comes into force.

• (6) The Welsh Ministers—

• (a) must review the national natural resources policy after each general election, and

• (b) may review the policy at any other time.

• (7) The Welsh Ministers may at any time revise the national natural resources policy and must publish the national natural resources policy as revised.

• (8) In exercising their functions under this section, the Welsh Ministers must apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources.

• (9) In preparing or revising the national natural resources policy, the Welsh Ministers must have regard to the most recent report under section 8 on the state of natural resources in relation to Wales.

• (10) When the Welsh Ministers publish the national natural resources policy (or a revised policy), they must also publish a report summarising—

• (a) any consultation that was carried out in preparing the policy, and

• (b) any representations that were received as a result of the consultation.

• (11) In subsection (6), “general election” means a poll held at an ordinary general election under section 3 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) or an extraordinary general election under section 5 of that Act.

Area-based implementation of the national policy

Meaning of public body in sections 11 to 15

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• (1) In sections 11 to 15, “public body” means any one of the following—

• (a) a council of a county or county borough in Wales;

• (b) a Local Health Board;

• (c) the following NHS Trusts—

• (i) Public Health Wales;

• (ii) Velindre;

• (d) a National Park authority for a National Park in Wales;

• (e) a Welsh fire and rescue authority;

• (f) the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research;

• (g) the Arts Council of Wales;

• (h) the Sports Council for Wales;

• (i) the National Library of Wales;

• (j) the National Museum of Wales.

• (2) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (1) by—

• (a) adding a person,

• (b) removing a person, or

• (c) amending a description of a person.

• (3) But the regulations—

• (a) may amend subsection (1) by adding a person only if that person exercises functions of a public nature;

• (b) may amend that subsection by adding a Minister of the Crown only if the Secretary of State consents.

• (4) If the regulations amend subsection (1) so as to add a person who has functions of a public nature and other functions, sections 11 to 15 apply to that person only in relation to those of the person's functions that are of a public nature.

• (5) Before making regulations under subsection (2), the Welsh Ministers must consult—

• (a) NRW,

• (b) each person the Welsh Ministers propose to add or remove by the regulations, and

• (c) such other persons as the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate.

Area statements

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• (1) NRW must prepare and publish statements (“area statements”) for the areas of Wales that it considers appropriate for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the national natural resources policy.

• (2) NRW may use the area statements for any other purpose in the exercise of its functions.

• (3) Each area statement must—

• (a) explain why a statement has been prepared for the area, by reference to—

• (i) the natural resources in the area,

• (ii) the benefits which the natural resources provide, and

• (iii) the priorities, risks and opportunities for the sustainable management of natural resources which need to be addressed;

• (b) explain how the principles of sustainable management of natural resources have been applied in preparing the statement;

• (c) state how NRW proposes to address the priorities, risks and opportunities, and how it proposes to apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources in doing so;

• (d) specify the public bodies which NRW considers may assist in addressing the priorities, risks and opportunities.

• (4) NRW must ensure that every part of Wales is included in at least one of the areas for which it prepares an area statement.

• (5) NRW must—

• (a) take all reasonable steps to implement an area statement, and

• (b) encourage others to take such steps.

• (6) NRW must keep area statements under review and it may revise them at any time.

• (7) Before publishing an area statement, NRW must consider whether—

• (a) another plan, strategy or similar document should be incorporated into the area statement, or

• (b) the area statement should be incorporated into another plan, strategy or similar document.

Welsh Ministers’ directions to implement area statements

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• (1) The Welsh Ministers may direct a public body to take such steps as appear to them to be reasonably practicable to address the matters specified in an area statement under section 11(3).

• (2) Before giving a direction the Welsh Ministers must consult the public body they intend to direct.