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Gas (Amendment) Act, 2000

Amendment of sections 40 and 40A of Principal Act.

19.—(1) The following section is substituted for section 40 of the Principal Act:

“Restriction on construction and operation of pipelines by persons other than Board.

40. —(1) A person, other than the Board, shall not—

(a) without having given previous and reasonable notice to the Minister before 27 April 2000, or

(b) if no such notice was given before that date, without the consent of the Minister,

construct or operate a pipeline on, over or under the surface of land or of any sea bed that is situate in the territorial seas of the State or a designated area (within the meaning of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968 ).

(2) Where notice is received by the Minister pursuant to subsection (1) of this section or the Minister gives his consent under that subsection the Minister shall, as the case may be—

(a) require the relevant pipeline to be constructed or operated, as may be appropriate, in accordance with such conditions of the kind mentioned in section 8(8) of this Act or conditions analogous to all or any of the requirements of section 8(9) of this Act, as he considers appropriate, or

(b) attach to the consent such conditions, with respect to the construction or operation of the relevant pipeline, of the kind mentioned in section 8(8) of this Act or analogous to all or any of the requirements of section 8(9) of this Act, as he considers appropriate.

(3) Where the Minister makes a requirement under subsection (2) of this section or attaches, under that subsection, conditions to a consent given under subsection (1) of this section, the person constructing or operating, as may be appropriate, the relevant pipeline shall comply with that requirement or those conditions.”.

(2) Section 40A of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (a) of subsection (1):

“(a) A statement of the likely effects on the environment (hereafter in this section referred to as an ‘environmental impact statement’) of a proposed pipeline of a class for the time being specified under Article 24 of the European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations, 1989, or under any provision amending or replacing the said Article 24—

(i) shall be submitted with, or within a reasonable time after the making of, an application to the Minister—

(I) by the Board for his consent under section 8(7) of this Act, or

(II) by a person other than the Board for his consent under section 40(1) of this Act,

in relation to the proposed construction of such pipeline, and

(ii) shall be submitted with a notice given to the Minister by a person other than the Board under section 40(1) of this Act in relation to the proposed construction of such pipeline.

(aa) The Minister shall not be obliged to consider an application referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection until an environmental impact statement has been submitted in relation to the application.”,

(b) in subsection (1)(b), by the insertion after “is made by the Board” of “or another person”,

(c) in subsection (1)(c), by the insertion after “is made by the Board” of “or another person”, and

(d) in subsection (8), by the insertion after “an application by the Board” of “or another person”.