The legislation.gov.uk text states that the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 were made on 17 June 2026 and take effect on 8 July 2026. It also places the instrument under section 14 of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, a power that allows a relevant national authority to revoke or replace secondary retained EU law; that Act defines a Northern Ireland department as one such authority. (legislation.gov.uk) The amendment is technical rather than expansive. The 1995 Regulations sit within Northern Ireland’s protected-sites framework, including the regime used for Special Protection Areas and other European sites. (legislation.gov.uk)
The gatekeeping change is clearest in regulation 6 and regulation 8A. The legislation.gov.uk text adds a new paragraph 6(10) so that the Department may not designate a European site without the agreement of the Secretary of State. It also substitutes regulation 8A(6)(b) so that the Department may not classify a European marine site without the consent of the Secretary of State. In practical terms, DAERA leads the process but does not complete those two decisions alone. The final legal step on designation or classification still carries a Secretary of State check.
The broader drafting pattern runs the other way. In the unamended 1995 text, regulation 28 gave the Secretary of State responsibility for site markers and advice, regulation 29 required copies of management schemes and amendments to be sent to the Secretary of State, regulation 30 allowed the Secretary of State to direct the establishment or amendment of a scheme, and regulation 66 allowed either the Department or the Secretary of State to authorise byelaw enforcement. (legislation.gov.uk) The legislation.gov.uk amendment text now redraws that arrangement by replacing several of those Secretary of State references with the Department and removing older wording that no longer fits the revised split of responsibilities.
The legislation.gov.uk text also omits regulation 8B(5), regulation 9A(5) and regulation 36A(4) from the 1995 code. Set beside the wider substitutions, the drafting points in one direction: Secretary of State references are being narrowed and kept where the amended text now expressly requires agreement or consent. That matters because the 1995 Regulations have been amended repeatedly over time, including significant rounds of amendment in 2007 and 2012. A cleaner allocation of functions reduces the risk of older cross-references obscuring who now acts at each stage. (legislation.gov.uk)
The explanatory note on legislation.gov.uk says the purpose is to amend the role of the Secretary of State in designating or classifying European marine sites and to align the approach with the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013. That comparison is important. Under section 13 of the 2013 Act, the Department may designate a marine conservation zone only with the agreement of the Secretary of State. (legislation.gov.uk) Read as a whole, the 2026 instrument brings the habitats regime closer to that marine model. Secretary of State involvement is retained at the formal designation stage, while more of the surrounding operational language is placed in the Department’s hands.
For regulators, harbour authorities and other public bodies, the effect is mainly administrative. Northern Ireland guidance already treats DAERA as the department responsible for the 1995 Regulations, and the latest amendment continues that direction by making the Department’s role more explicit across parts of the marine-site regime. (infrastructure-ni.gov.uk) For external stakeholders, this reads as a procedural adjustment rather than a new protected-site policy. The legislation.gov.uk text changes who agrees, consents to, directs or authorises particular steps; it does not present a new category of site or a new set of conservation offences.
The explanatory note also states that no impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. For practitioners, the immediate task is limited but specific. Internal guidance, template letters and decision records should be updated before 8 July 2026 so that they distinguish between matters now exercised by DAERA and the two points where Secretary of State agreement or consent still remains in the text.