# Harbours Act 1964, Paragraph 20D


(1) The Secretary of State may give a deferral direction in respect of a project which requires an environmental impact assessment if satisfied that—
(a) an assessment of the effects of the project on the environment, or any activity to be carried out in the course of it, has been, is being or will be carried out by a consenting authority, and
(b) the assessment comprises, or will comprise, the steps set out in paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of “environmental impact assessment” in paragraph 1 in respect of the project.
(2) In this paragraph, “consenting authority”, in relation to a project or an activity, means an authority (including the Secretary of State) whose consent to, or authority for, the project or the activity is required under an enactment (other than this Act).
(3) The Secretary of State must—
(a) as soon as reasonably practicable, make a copy of any deferral direction given and a statement of the reasons for which it is given available on an official website, and
(b) keep the copy of the direction and statement available throughout the period required to ensure the effective participation of the public in the environmental impact assessment.
(4) A failure to make a copy of a deferral direction or statement available throughout the period specified in sub-paragraph (3)(b) is to be disregarded if—
(a) the copy was available on the official website for part of that period, and
(b) the failure is wholly attributable to circumstances that it would not be reasonable to expect the Secretary of State to prevent or avoid.
(5) The effect of a deferral direction is set out in paragraphs 20E to 20G.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/40/schedule/3/paragraph/20D (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/harbours-act-1964/schedule-3/paragraph-20D
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.