HS2 Phase One: Water Framework Directive compliance assessment review
Review of the Water Framework Directive compliance assessment in light of clarifications made by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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Details
The hybrid Bill for Phase One of High Speed Two (HS2) running from London to the West Midlands, including additional provisions, (collectively the proposed scheme) was assessed for compliance against the Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives in a series of published WFD compliance assessment documents.
Since the WFD compliance assessment methodology was developed and applied for the proposed scheme, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled in favour of a challenge against a WFD objective assessment process applied for a scheme in Germany, known as the ‘Bund case’.
In making its judgment on the Bund case, the CJEU clarified the way in which compliance with the Directive’s key environmental objectives should be interpreted in the assessment of new developments and scheme proposals.
In light of the ruling, the WFD compliance assessment for the proposed scheme has been reviewed and updated.