Infrastructure Act 2015

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Infrastructure Act 2015
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Long title An Act to make provision for strategic highways companies and the funding of transport services by land; to make provision for the control of invasive non-native species; to make provision about nationally significant infrastructure projects; to make provision about town and country planning; to make provision about the Homes and Communities Agency and Mayoral development corporations; to make provision about the Greater London Authority so far as it exercises functions for the purposes of housing and regeneration; to make provision about Her Majesty’s Land Registry and local land charges; to make provision to enable building regulations to provide for off-site carbon abatement measures; to make provision for giving members of communities the right to buy stakes in local renewable electricity generation facilities; to make provision about maximising economic recovery of petroleum in the United Kingdom; to provide for a levy to be charged on holders of certain energy licences; to enable Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to exercise functions in connection with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; to make provision about onshore petroleum and geothermal energy; to make provision about renewable heat incentives; to make provision about the reimbursement of persons who have paid for electricity connections; to make provision to enable the Public Works Loan Commissioners to be abolished; and for connected purposes.
Citation 7
Dates
Royal assent 12 February 2015
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Infrastructure Act 2015 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Infrastructure Act 2015 is a wide-ranging piece of planning and infrastructure legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during David Cameron's administration. [1] [2] The act targets "transport, energy provision, housing development and nationally significant infrastructure projects", [1] and has been the subject of some degree of controversy. [3]

Contents

Environmental issues

The Infrastructure Act 2015 seeks to include safeguards around hydraulic fracturing. [4] Opponents to hydraulic fracturing claim that the definition of hydraulic fracturing used by the bill is too exclusive based on existing hydraulic fracturing operations. Specifically, it is claimed that the requirement for ten thousand cubic metres of fluid total or one thousand cubic metres of fluid per stage or expected stage is too high, and that it is a greater amount of fluid than the amount used at the Preese Hall shale well. [3]

Preese Hall is a particularly sensitive point of comparison for political opponents of hydraulic fracturing, as the minor earthquakes around the Preese Hall shale well were widely reported. [5] Other areas of the Infrastructure Act 2015 closely related to environmental issues include sections on Renewable Heat Incentives, off-site carbon abatement measures and cycling and walking investment strategies, making environmental issues a significant focus of the Act. [6] [7] [8]

Development

The Infrastructure Act 2015 is especially relevant to development and planning law around development. [2] [9] [10] An explicit aim of the legislation was to increase housing development within Britain, which became an increasingly important political issue in the beginning of the twenty-first century. [1] [11] In addition to housing, key UK development and planning issues were addressed within the Act by efforts "to make provision about nationally significant infrastructure projects...to make provision about town and country planning...to make provision about the Homes and Communities Agency and Mayoral development corporations...to make provision for giving members of communities the right to buy stakes in local renewable electricity generation facilities". [9]

Provisions

Part 6 Energy

Recovery of UK petroleum (sections 41 and 42)

Clauses on maximizing economic recovery of UK petroleum. [12]

Petroleum and geothermal energy in deep-level land (sections 43 to 48)

Section 43 permits fracking without consent under 'landward areas' in England and Wales, below a surface level of 300 meters. The legislation is limited to the petroleum and geothermal industries. [13]

Other provision about onshore petroleum (sections 49 and 50)

Clauses on meeting climate change requirements. [14] Section 50 appends section 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998. It defines 'associated hydraulic fracturing' as more than 1,000 cubic metres of fluid per stage, or more than 10,000 cubic metres of fluid in total. In addition, conditions were attached that mean no fracking can take place at a depth shallower than 1,000 meters, and that soil and air monitoring must be put in place. The regulations state that "The associated hydraulic fracturing will not take place within protected groundwater source areas". [15] 'Groundwater protection source area' does not appear to be defined. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers</span> Canadian oil group

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), with its head office in Calgary, Alberta, is a lobby group that represents the upstream Canadian oil and natural gas industry. CAPP's members produce "90% of Canada's natural gas and crude oil" and "are an important part of a national industry with revenues of about $100 billion-a-year ."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in the United States</span>

Fracking in the United States began in 1949. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), by 2013 at least two million oil and gas wells in the US had been hydraulically fractured, and that of new wells being drilled, up to 95% are hydraulically fractured. The output from these wells makes up 43% of the oil production and 67% of the natural gas production in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns about hydraulic fracturing emerged in the 1980s, and are still being debated at the state and federal levels.

The British Columbia Energy Regulator (BCER), formerly the BC Oil and Gas Commission, is a British Columbia, Canada Crown Corporation, established in October 1998. It has offices in seven cities: Fort St. John, Fort Nelson, Kelowna, Victoria, Terrace, Dawson Creek, and Prince George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas</span> Natural gas trapped in shale formations

Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Well stimulation</span>

Well stimulation is a well intervention performed on an oil or gas well to increase production by improving the flow of hydrocarbons from the reservoir into the well bore. It may be done using a well stimulator structure or using off shore ships / drilling vessels, also known as "Well stimulation vessels".

An injection well is a device that places fluid deep underground into porous rock formations, such as sandstone or limestone, or into or below the shallow soil layer. The fluid may be water, wastewater, brine, or water mixed with industrial chemical waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas in the United States</span>

Shale gas in the United States is an available source of unconventional natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of U.S. natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas in Canada</span>

The inclusion of unconventional shale gas with conventional gas reserves has caused a sharp increase in estimated recoverable natural gas in Canada. Until the 1990s success of hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett Shales of north Texas, shale gas was classed as "unconventional reserves" and was considered too expensive to recover. There are a number of prospective shale gas deposits in various stages of exploration and exploitation across the country, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking</span> Fracturing bedrock by pressurized liquid

Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants hold the fractures open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in the United Kingdom</span>

Fracking in the United Kingdom started in the late 1970s with fracturing of the conventional oil and gas fields near the North Sea. It was used in about 200 British onshore oil and gas wells from the early 1980s. The technique attracted attention after licences use were awarded for onshore shale gas exploration in 2008. The topic received considerable public debate on environmental grounds, with a 2019 high court ruling ultimately banning the process. The two remaining high-volume fracturing wells were supposed to be plugged and decommissioned in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking by country</span>

Fracking has become a contentious environmental and health issue with Tunisia and France banning the practice and a de facto moratorium in place in Quebec (Canada), and some of the states of the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of fracking in the United States</span>

Environmental impact of fracking in the United States has been an issue of public concern, and includes the contamination of ground and surface water, methane emissions, air pollution, migration of gases and fracking chemicals and radionuclides to the surface, the potential mishandling of solid waste, drill cuttings, increased seismicity and associated effects on human and ecosystem health. Research has determined that human health is affected. A number of instances with groundwater contamination have been documented due to well casing failures and illegal disposal practices, including confirmation of chemical, physical, and psychosocial hazards such as pregnancy and birth outcomes, migraine headaches, chronic rhinosinusitis, severe fatigue, asthma exacerbations, and psychological stress. While opponents of water safety regulation claim fracking has never caused any drinking water contamination, adherence to regulation and safety procedures is required to avoid further negative impacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of fracking</span>

The environmental impact of fracking is related to land use and water consumption, air emissions, including methane emissions, brine and fracturing fluid leakage, water contamination, noise pollution, and health. Water and air pollution are the biggest risks to human health from fracking. Research has determined that fracking negatively affects human health and drives climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exemptions for fracking under United States federal law</span>

There are many exemptions for fracking under United States federal law: the oil and gas industries are exempt or excluded from certain sections of a number of the major federal environmental laws. These laws range from protecting clean water and air, to preventing the release of toxic substances and chemicals into the environment: the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.

Shale gas in the United Kingdom has attracted increasing attention since 2007, when unconventional onshore shale gas production was proposed. The first shale gas well in England was drilled in 1875. As of 2013 a number of wells had been drilled, and favourable tax treatment had been offered to shale gas producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcellus natural gas trend</span> Natural gas extraction area in the United States

The Marcellus natural gas trend is a large geographic area of prolific shale gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale or Marcellus Formation, of Devonian age, in the eastern United States. The shale play encompasses 104,000 square miles and stretches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and into eastern Ohio and western New York. In 2012, it was the largest source of natural gas in the United States, and production was still growing rapidly in 2013. The natural gas is trapped in low-permeability shale, and requires the well completion method of hydraulic fracturing to allow the gas to flow to the well bore. The surge in drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale since 2008 has generated both economic benefits and considerable controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in South Africa</span>

Fracking in South Africa is an energy production strategy at early stages of development using high-pressure drilling techniques to release natural gas trapped in shale rock. After initially imposing a moratorium on fracking in April 2011, the South African government lifted the moratorium in September 2012 after an initial investigation by an interdepartmental task team. Several energy companies were subsequently granted exploration licenses. Fracking in South Africa is a current topic of debate, with proponents pointing to substantial economic and energy benefits and opponents voicing concerns about potentially adverse environmental impacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking in Canada</span>

Fracking in Canada was first used in Alberta in 1953 to extract hydrocarbons from the giant Pembina oil field, the biggest conventional oil field in Alberta, which would have produced very little oil without fracturing. Since then, over 170,000 oil and gas wells have been fractured in Western Canada. Fracking is a process that stimulates natural gas or oil in wellbores to flow more easily by subjecting hydrocarbon reservoirs to pressure through the injection of fluids or gas at depth causing the rock to fracture or to widen existing cracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petroleum Act 1998</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Petroleum Act 1998 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidated arrangements for the licensing, operation and abandonment of offshore installations and pipelines. As a consolidation Act, it did not change the substantive law, although certain Acts were amended and repealed.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Infrastructure Act will get Britain building".
  2. 1 2 "Planning Law in the Infrastructure Act 2015 | Kingsley Smith Solicitors".
  3. 1 2 "How Can Cameron Stop Fracking Causing Earthquakes? Easy. Change the Definition of Fracking". 20 February 2015.
  4. "Infrastructure Act 2015".
  5. "Cuadrilla admits drilling caused Blackpool earthquakes".
  6. "Infrastructure Act 2015".
  7. "Infrastructure Act 2015".
  8. "Infrastructure Act 2015".
  9. 1 2 "Infrastructure Act 2015".
  10. "Infrastructure Act 2015 - townplanninginfo.com". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  11. "The Home Front: Why housing will be a key general election battleground". 8 June 2021.
  12. "Maximising economic recovery of UK petroleum". UK Govt. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  13. "Petroleum and geothermal energy: right to use deep-level land". UK Govt. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  14. "Advice on likely impact of onshore petroleum on the carbon budget". UK Govt. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  15. "Onshore hydraulic fracturing: safeguards". UK Govt. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  16. Brown, Adam (10 February 2015). "UK fracking: the pursuit of safety". Dentons . Retrieved 2 May 2015.

Further reading