The Act – Section by Section Part 1 – Protection of the water environment Section 12 – River basin management plans: submission for approval
51.This section makes provision in connection with the submission of a river basin management plan to the Scottish Ministers.
52.Subsection (1) requires SEPA, when it has submitted a river basin management plan to the Scottish Ministers, to publicise that fact, to make copies of the plan available for public inspection free of charge, and to publicise arrangements for making such copies available.
53.Subsection (2) provides that a river basin management plan submitted to the Scottish Ministers by SEPA must be accompanied by a statement of the action taken by SEPA in publishing the draft plan, making it available for public inspection and consulting the bodies and persons described in section 11(6). The statement must also include a summary of the representations received about the draft plan and of any consequential adjustments made to the plan.
54.Subsection (3) provides that the Scottish Ministers may – having considered the statement and if they believe further work by SEPA on the issues covered by the statement is required – return the plan to SEPA. In doing so they may direct SEPA to take such further action in that regard as they may specify and to resubmit the plan with such modifications as SEPA considers appropriate. The Scottish Ministers may specify the timescale in which the plan should be resubmitted. Subsection (4) requires the Scottish Ministers to state their reasons for returning the plan to SEPA.
55.Subsection (5) provides that the requirements in this section – about publicising submission of a plan, making copies available, attaching a statement about consultation and about return of the plan to SEPA – also apply to resubmitted plans.