3A.—(1) In this Part—

the expression "Act of 1999" means the Electricity Regulation Act 1999;

the expression "consultation body" means—

(a) such Ministers of the Government as the Minister considers appropriate having regard to their specific environmental responsibilities or local and regional competencies,

(b) the Environmental Protection Agency,

(c) Inland Fisheries Ireland,

(d) a local authority in whose functional area arterial drainage works are proposed to be carried out,

(e) a regional assembly established in respect of a region in which arterial drainage works are proposed to be carried out,

(f) National Roads Authority,

(g) Irish Water,

(h) the holder of the licence granted under section 14(1)(e) of the Act of 1999,

(i) the holder of the licence granted under section 14(1)(f) of the Act of 1999,

(j) the holder of the licence granted under section 14(1)(g) of the Act of 1999,

(k) the holder of the licence granted under section 14(1)(k) of the Act of 1999,

(l) the holder of the licence granted under section 16(1)(c) of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002,

(m) the holder of the licence granted under section 16(1)(d) of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002,

(n) Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail,

(o) Waterways Ireland,

(p) An Taisce — The National Trust for Ireland, or

(q) any other person having a statutory function or a specialist skill or expertise in, or knowledge of, a particular relevance that the Minister considers appropriate having regard to the matters referred to in a drainage scheme submitted to the Minister under section 7B;

the expression "directive" means Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011³; as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014⁴;

the expression "EEA Agreement" means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993;

the expression "EIA drainage scheme" means a drainage scheme in pursuance of which arterial drainage works, in respect of which an environmental impact assessment is required to be carried out under section 4C, are to be executed;

the expression "EIA portal" means the website referred to in section 172A of the Planning and Development Act 2000;

the expression "environmental impact assessment" shall be construed in accordance with section 4A;

the expression "environmental impact assessment report" shall be construed in accordance with section 4E;

the expression "local authority" has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 2001;

the expression "Member State" means a state, other than the State, which is a Member State of the European Union, or not being such a Member State, a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;

the expression "proposed arterial drainage works" means the drainage works proposed to be executed in pursuance of a drainage scheme;

the expression "sub-threshold drainage works" means proposed arterial drainage works which would be of a class for the time being specified under Article 24 of the European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1989 (S.I. No. 349 of 1989), or a provision amending or replacing that Article, but for not exceeding a quantity, area or other limit.

(2) A word or expression which is used in this Part and is also used in the directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Part as it has in the directive.]