(b) it is
terminated by the Minister, without the consent of the owners, and that
termination is authorised by this Act.
(3) The Minister must not consent to
the termination of a biodiversity stewardship agreement unless such measures
as may be required by the Minister are taken by the owner of the
biodiversity stewardship site to offset any negative impact of the termination
on the biodiversity values protected by the agreement. This subsection does
not apply if voluntary termination of the agreement is permitted under this
section.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), the required measures may
include one or more of the following--
(6) For the purposes of this
section, voluntary termination of a biodiversity stewardship agreement is
permitted only if the owner of the biodiversity stewardship site requests the
termination of the agreement within 3 months after it is entered into, or
after the expiry of 5 years after the agreement has been entered into, and at
the time of termination--
(b) in a case where
biodiversity credits have been created (and whether or not transferred)--none
of the credits created have been retired and all the credits are cancelled by
the Environment Agency Head with the consent of the holder of the credits.
(7) A request for the consent of the Minister to the termination of a
biodiversity stewardship agreement is to be made by application of the owner
of the site--
(a) in the form approved by the Minister and accompanied by the
information required by that form, and
(b) accompanied by a fee prescribed by
the regulations.
The Minister may require the applicant to provide such
additional information as the Minister may require to determine the
application.
Note : See section 14.6 with respect to recovery, waiver or
refund of fees.
