Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (EIA regulations) identifies that certain types, and scale of development, have the potential to have ‘significant effects’ on the environment. The regulations also enable local planning authorities to take account of the environmental implications of development in their decision-making.

The EIA regulations (which may in the future be re-named Environmental Outcome Reports) set out proposals that should be subject to an EIA. It establishes that EIAs are mandatory for developments of the types listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations, but for developments in Schedule 2, will be determined by the local planning authority on a case-by-case basis, via a process called a screening opinion.

Stages of the EIA Process

Screening to decide if an EIA is required

This is when a Local Planning Authority decides whether a development, of the types listed in Schedule 2 of the Regulations, needs an EIA. It gives this view in a ‘Screening Opinion’

These requests can be submitted before an application for planning permission is made. In these instances, the opinion will be made available for public inspection on the Council website (Public Access) and will have its own unique reference number, with an EOR suffix.

If a planning application is submitted, and no earlier screening opinion has been given, it may be necessary for the local planning authority to screen the proposal at the application stage. In these instances, the opinion will be made available for public inspection on the Council website (Public Access) and will be indexed under the relevant planning application reference number.

Please note that opinions are only valid for two years after issue. Opinions older than two years are for historical information only.

Scoping to decide what to include in an Environmental Statement (ES)

If a scheme is classified as 'EIA development', the developer may request guidance from the local planning authority on what information needs to be included, and the extent of the issues to be considered as part of the EIA and reported in the subsequent Environmental Statement (ES). The local planning authority provide this view in a ‘scoping opinion’.  If this view is requested and provided independently from the submission of a planning application, the resultant opinion will be listed separately on public access and will have its own unique reference number with an EoR suffix.

Searching Public Access to view screening/scoping opinions and Environmental Impact Assessments

The Council has screening and scoping opinions in both paper and electronic format and is in the process of transferring these to public access. Should you wish to view any requests during this transitional time please contact the Development Management team.  Here are the contact details.  

Most historical screening and scoping opinions, even if they were submitted prior to the application, have now been added to the subsequent planning application record. To find historic opinions use Public Access and the simple search facility in the normal manner.  

If you want to search for standalone screening and scoping opinions, which are not associated with a planning application, there are two ways.

1. Via Public Access
2. Scroll down to the boxes below Planning – Simple Search and select the Advanced tab.
3. Under Application Details go to Application type and from the drop down to the side select Environmental Outcome Report – EIA or Environmental Scoping
4. Scroll down and select Search to view the relevant details.

Some of our records are also mapped spatially so you can also view these this way:

1. Select the Map tab
2. Navigate to the area of interest and using the filter button (with the slider set to the relevant period) and view relevant records. Standalone opinions will have the EOR suffix.

Please remember, if the proposal has been screened at the planning application stage, the opinion will be included in the documents associated with that application and will be on the website under the relevant planning application reference. This is accessed via the Simple Search on Public Access.

Please note screening and scoping opinions are not formal planning applications, they are a technical view on the information submitted. It is not possible for third parties to comment upon these opinions, and we have made this clear by adding information to the description of the development.

Further information can be found here: Town and County Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 and here: National Planning Practice Guidance section on EIA