The purpose of these Regulations is, firstly, to remove initial afforestation from the planning control system, to coincide with the introduction of a separate statutory consent system by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources under the European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 538 of 2001), and, secondly, to reduce the planning threshold for peat extraction from 50 hectares to 10 hectares.