WATER, ENGLAND AND WALES Citation, commencement, extent and interpretation 1 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Drought Plan Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 1 st October 2005. 2 These Regulations extend to England and Wales. 3 In these Regulations— “ the Act ” means the Water Industry Act 1991; “drought plan” means a plan prepared and maintained by a water undertaker in accordance with their duty under section 39B(1) of the Act. “draft drought plan” means a draft drought plan sent to the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales in accordance with section 37B(1) of the Act. 4 Reference in these Regulations to section 37B of the Act is a reference to that section as applied by section 39B(5) of the Act. 5 References in these Regulations to “the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales” shall mean, in relation to a water undertaker whose area is wholly or mainly in Wales, the National Assembly for Wales, and in all other cases, the Secretary of State. Publication of draft drought plans 2 1 A draft drought plan published in accordance with section 37B(3) of the Act shall be published both in paper form and on a website. 2 The persons to whom a water undertaker shall send a copy of the published draft drought plan and accompanying statement in accordance with sections 37B(3)(c) of the Act are— a those bodies and persons specified in section 39B(7) of the Act; b any regional development agencies, established under the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 , in the water undertaker’s area; c in England, any elected regional assembly, established under an enactment following a referendum held under section 1 of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003 , in the water undertaker’s area; d all local authorities (except the council of any parish) as defined in section 270(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 in the water undertaker’s area; e any National Park Authorities, established under section 63 of the Environment Act 1995 for any part of the water undertaker’s area; f if the water undertaker’s area includes any part of the Broads, as defined in section 2(3) of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988 , the Broads Authority; g if the water undertaker’s area includes any part of England, the Countryside Commission, English Nature and the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England; h in relation to a water undertaker whose area is mainly but not wholly in Wales, the Secretary of State; i if the water undertaker’s area includes any part of Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales and Cadw, being the executive agency responsible for carrying out the functions vested in the National Assembly relating to the historic environment ; j in relation to a water undertaker whose area includes any part of Wales, but is not wholly or mainly in Wales, the National Assembly for Wales; k in relation to a water undertaker who abstracts water in Wales, but whose area does not include any part of Wales, the National Assembly for Wales; l any navigation authority, exercising functions in relation to any canal or other inland navigation which is wholly or partly in the water undertaker’s area; and m as from the coming into force of section 27A of the Act, the Consumer Council for Water. Publication of statement accompanying draft drought plans 3 Where a water undertaker publishes a statement accompanying the draft drought plan in accordance with section 37B(3)(b) of the Act, it shall specify in the statement that any person making representations— a to the National Assembly for Wales, must send a copy of those representations to the Secretary of State if those representations are made in response to a draft drought plan sent to the National Assembly of Wales in accordance with regulation 2(2)(j) or (k); and b to the Secretary of State, must send a copy of those representations to the National Assembly for Wales if those representations are made in response to a draft drought plan sent to the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 2(2)(h). Representations received by the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales 4 A water undertaker shall, in relation to any representations received by the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales and sent to that undertaker in accordance with section 37B(4) of the Act, produce a statement detailing— a the consideration that it has given to those representations; b any changes that it has made to the draft drought plan as a result of consideration of those representations and its reasons for doing so; and c where no change has been made to the draft drought plan as a result of consideration of any representation, the reason for this. Inquiries 5 1 The Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales may cause an inquiry or other hearing to be held in connection with a draft drought plan. 2 Where the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales causes an inquiry or other hearing to be held in accordance with paragraph (1), subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972 shall apply to such inquiry or other hearing as they apply to inquiries under that section, except that for any reference in that section to a “local authority” there shall be read instead a reference to the water undertaker whose draft drought plan is the subject of the inquiry or other hearing. Publication 6 A drought plan published in accordance with section 37B(8) of the Act shall be published both in paper form and on a website. Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales, D.Elis-Thomas The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly 5th July 2005 Elliot Morley Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 10th July 2005