All at EIA. 11 th June, Joanna Wright Head of EIA, LUC

Transcription

1 All at EIA 11 th June, 2015 Joanna Wright Head of EIA, LUC

2 Content A brief reminder of what EIA is and what it does (well and less well) Role of local planning authorities - screening - scoping - (challenges of) ES review Changes to EIA requirements (recent and around the corner)

3 What is EIA? Process: to ensure that a local planning authority when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a project, which is likely to have significant effects on the environment, does so in the full knowledge of the likely significant effects, and takes this into account in the decision making process. (National Planning Policy Framework Planning Practice Guidance, updated April 2015)

4 Strengths Iterative tool that can genuinely be used to avoid, reduce or mitigate effects of a development on the environment Well structured and well understood process that can be replicated easily Proportionate with a focus on significant effects ( what matters and why ) Has an intended emphasis on clear and succinct presentation of findings

5 Weaknesses/Pitfalls Information hungry which can lead to complex assumptions and a lack of clarity If poorly managed, documents can be overly long and internally inconsistent Who is qualified to review adequacy and accuracy of required information? Lots of case law! - When is an ES required? - What should an ES contain? - EIA requirements for outline applications?

6 DEVELOPER PLANNING AUTHORITY Site Selection Initial Enquiries / Screening Feasibility / Initial Design Scoping Scoping Baseline Environmental Surveys Design Iterations / Consultation Assessment Pre-Application Environmental Statement Consultation Application Post Application Post Application Addendum/SEI/PLI Determination

7 ES Review Timescales Volume of documents including high spec visuals Required expertise Terminology (e.g. townscape/built heritage/cultural heritage/archaeology) Quality of cumulative assessments Outline application v reserved matters Equalisation Statements

8 Regulation 22 Requests Clarifications - informal method which does not involve re-advertising - e.g. clarify or correct apparent errors in tables (where substantive) - e.g. seek evidence for a particular choice of methodology Further information (under Regulation 22) - formal process with new information re-advertised - e.g. missing information on the baseline environment and/or the proposed scheme - e.g. missing assessment of impacts for topics scoped in

9 Recent Changes to EIA Requirements Change in EIA screening thresholds for urban, industrial and housing developments in England (March 2015) Urban development increased from 0.5 hectare (ha) such that a project will need to be screened if: - the development includes more than 1 ha of development which is not dwelling house development; or - the development includes more than 150 dwelling houses; or - the area of the development exceeds 5 ha. Industrial estate development threshold raised from 0.5 ha to 5 ha Intended to simplify and streamline arrangements for making and determining planning applications

10 What s Around the Corner? Amendments to the EIA Directive (2011/92/EU) formalised May 2014, transposed into UK legislation by May 2017 Key changes: -screening -scoping - environmental topic areas -monitoring -competent experts..referendum on UK membership of the EU???