Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will establish shale gas extraction exclusion zones in sensitive areas for wildlife and water resources.

Each application for shale gas exploration and extraction will be assessed on its merits and operators will require planning permission from the local minerals planning authority. The Environment Agency will object to shale gas extraction infrastructure or activity within a Source Protection Zone (SPZ) 1 (i.e. drinking water protected zone). Outside SPZ1, the Agency will also object when the activity would have an unacceptable effect on groundwater based on a site specific assessment.

In England, an environmental impact assessment is required if a particular development is located wholly or partly in a ‘sensitive area'.

Planning authorities assess each application on a case by case basis. There is a general presumption against approving a permit in such areas.