Episode 154 - Environmental Impact Assessments

Hi and welcome to the part 3 with me podcast. The show that helps part 3 students jumpstart into their careers as qualified architects and also to provide refresher episodes for practicing architects. I am your host, Maria Skudari. And this week we will be talking about environmental impact assessments. Today's episode meets PC3 of the part 3 criteria. Now what is an environmental impact assessment and what is its purpose? An environmental impact assessment is a process to be undertaken when it is considered that a development proposal may have a significant environmental impact. It aims to protect the environment by ensuring 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. Now the regulations set out a procedure for identifying those projects which should be subject to an environmental impact assessment and for assessing, consulting and coming to a decision on those projects which are likely to have significant environmental effects. The aim of the environmental impact assessment is also to ensure that the public are given early and effective opportunities to participate in the decision making process. So the environmental impact assessments should not be viewed as a barrier to growth and only applies to a small portion of projects considered within the town and country planning regime although in the last few years environmental impact assessments do seem to be more commonly requested. So local planning authorities have a general responsibility to consider the environmental implications of developments which are subject to planning control. So the 2017 regulations integrate environmental impact assessment procedures into this framework and should only apply to those projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment. Local planning authorities and developers should therefore carefully consider if a project should be subject to an environmental impact assessment. If required they should limit the scope of the assessment to those aspects of the environment that are likely to be significantly affected. Pre-application engagement therefore can typically identify when a proposal would be subject to an environmental impact assessment and should therefore be a route to consider early on. Now in terms of how the environmental impact assessment fits with the planning legislation the process of the environmental impact assessment in the context of town and country planning in England is governed by the town and country planning environmental impact assessment regulations 2017. So the regulations only apply to certain types of development and they can even apply to permitted development as well. The key benefits of having an environmental impact assessment is that they ensure environmental factors are given due weight in planning decisions. They also allow for the identification and mitigation of potential negative environmental impacts. They also provide opportunities for public participation in the decision making process and they help in selecting the most environmentally favourable or acceptable option for development. Now what is the process involved in putting together and submitting an environmental impact assessment? There are five key stages to the environmental impact assessment process. The first one is screening, the second is scoping, the third is preparing an environmental statement. The fourth step is making a planning application and consultation and the last step is the decision making. Now under the first step screening the proposal is assessed and determined whether it falls within the remit of the regulations and whether it's likely to have a significant effect on the environment and therefore requiring the assessment. It should normally take place at an early stage in the design of the project however it can also occur after a planning application has been made or even after an appeal has been made. So developments tend to fall under either two schedules in determining whether they will be requiring an environmental impact assessment. These are known as schedule one or two developments. Schedule one developments require an environmental impact assessment in every single case and such developments consist of crude oil refineries, thermal power stations and other combustion installations, nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors, installations of the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel, integrated works for the initial smelting of cast iron and steel, installations for the extraction of asbestos and for the processing and transformation of asbestos and products containing asbestos. It also consists of integrated chemical installations, construction of lines for long distance railway traffic and of airports, inland waterways and ports for inland waterway traffic. It also includes waste disposal installations for incineration and chemical treatment. It also includes groundwater abstraction or artificial groundwater recharge schemes, works for the transfer of water resources, also waste water treatment plans. It also includes extraction of petroleum and natural gas for commercial purposes and also dams and other installations designed for the holding back or permanent storage of water. It also includes pipelines with a diameter of more than 800 mm and a length of more than 40 km for the transport of gas, oil or chemicals or carbon dioxide streams for the purposes of geological storage including associated booster stations. It also includes for installations for the intensive rearing of poultry or pigs, including industrial plants, quarries and open-cast mining, construction of overhead electrical power lines, installations of storage of petroleum, petrochemical or chemical products, storage sites of carbon dioxide, installations for the capture of carbon dioxide streams for the purposes of geological storage and lastly any change to or extension of development listed in Schedule 1. So those are the Schedule 1 developments that must have an environmental impact assessment. Now in terms of Schedule 2 developments, the local planning authority should consider whether it is likely to have significant effects on the environment and then they would determine if it needs an environmental impact assessment. Such developments include agricultural and aquaculture projects, extractive industry projects, energy industry projects, production and processing of metals, mineral industry projects, chemical industry projects, food industry projects, textile, leather, wood and paper industry projects, rubber projects, infrastructure projects, tourism and leisure projects and changes and extensions. So I would suggest referring to the links in the episode notes for a better overview of the Schedule 1 and 2 project types. Now if a proposed project is listed in the first column in Schedule 2 of the 2017 regulations and exceeds the relevant thresholds or criteria set out in the second column, the proposal will need to be screened by the local planning authority in order to determine whether significant effects on the environment are likely and if an environmental impact assessment is required. So projects listed in Schedule 2, which are located in or partly in a sensitive area, also need to be screened even if they are below the thresholds or don't meet the criteria. So projects which are described in the first column of Schedule 2 but which don't exceed the relevant thresholds or meet the criteria in the second column of the schedule or are not at least partly in a sensitive area are not scheduled to development. Now circling back to the five stages to the environmental impact assessment process, moving on to Stage 2 which looks at scoping, under this stage the extent of issues to be considered in the assessment is determined and reported in the environmental statement. So this stage should be carried out at a stage when alternatives are still being considered and mitigation measures can be incorporated into the project's design. At this stage the objective should be to ensure that no realistic alternative has been overlooked and that the chosen site and project option is environmentally defensible. So this process enables the project to be designed to avoid or minimize negative environmental impacts and provides the opportunity to incorporate positive environmental enhancements into the project. So it's important that the environmental impact assessment is undertaken by people with appropriate skills which are usually environmental consultants in order to carry out this work on behalf of developers. Now when considering the aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected by a development it's recommended that a risk assessment approach be adopted. For an impact to occur it must affect the source such as the location of a material being harmed, the pathway which is the route to the recipient and the recipient. Once possible impacts have been identified then care should be taken to decide which of these might be significant enough to warrant further study during the environmental impact assessment. So the applicant can then ask the local planning authority for its opinion on what information needs to be included in the environmental statement and early consultation with all interested parties including the environment agency is an essential part of the scoping process. So that's stage two then under the third stage to the environmental impact assessment process which covers preparing an environmental statement. At this stage it would have been determined that an assessment is indeed required and the applicant must prepare and submit an environmental statement. So the environmental statement must include at least the information reasonably required to assess the likely significant environmental effects of the development listed in regulation 18.3 and comply with regulation 18.4. This typically includes a description of the proposed development and its use, an estimate of likely residues and emissions, an assessment of compliance with planning policy, an evaluation of environmental opportunities and constraints, an analysis of alternatives and an assessment of likely environmental impacts. So to help the applicant, public authorities must make available any relevant environmental information in their possession. And to ensure the completeness and quality of the environmental statement, the developer must ensure that it is prepared by competent experts. Also the environmental statement must be accompanied by a statement from the developer outlining the relevant expertise or qualifications of such experts. Then at the fourth stage to the environmental impact process, the planning application is made and the consultation process commences. At this stage the environmental statement and the application for development to which it relates must be publicised electronically and by public notice. The statutory consultation bodies which also includes the environment agency and the public must be given an opportunity to give their views about the proposed development. Therefore a copy of the environmental statement should be readily and freely available for the various parties to review. The environmental statement accompanies the documents typically submitted with a planning application. And in addition, the applicant must also submit one further copy of the environmental statement for onward transmission by the local planning authority to the Secretary of State. Also send a note of the name of everybody to whom the applicant has already sent or intends to send a copy of the environmental statement and the date on which the environmental statement was so served where relevant. And also provide sufficient further copies of the environmental statement as are needed to allow the local planning authority to send one to each of the consultation bodies who have not received the copy directly from the applicant. And lastly at the fifth stage to the environmental impact assessment process is the decision. So at this final stage the environmental statement together with any other information which is relevant to the decision and any comments and representations made to it must be taken into account by the local planning authority and/or the Secretary of State in deciding whether or not to grant consent for the development. The local planning authority should check that the submitted environmental statement contains all the information required and if they consider that further information is required they must ask the applicant in writing to provide this. So all information must be provided and publicized and also consulted on. The public must then be informed of the decision and the main reasons for it both made available electronically and by public notice. Now there are specific arrangements for considering and determining planning applications that have been subject to an environmental impact assessment. These arrangements include considering the adequacy of the information provided, consultation, also reaching a reasoned conclusion on the significant environmental effects of the proposed development, publicity and informing the consultation bodies and public of both the decision and the main reasons for it. The local planning authority must therefore take into account the information in the environmental statement, the responses to the consultation and any other relevant information when determining a planning application. The 16 week time limit for determination of an environmental impact assessment application continues to run while any correspondence about the adequacy of the information in an environmental statement is taking place. Now where an environmental statement has not been submitted with a planning application but the applicant indicates that they propose to provide one, the consideration of the application should be suspended until the environmental statement has been received. So that briefly covers what an environmental impact assessment is, what the process is when considering it and what the effects it has on the development if it does apply. So make sure to review all the steps and all the necessary information if you believe your project is due for an environmental impact assessment and make sure to review the links in the episode notes to get a better understanding of what the process is and what you would need to undertake. So to quickly sum up what I discussed today, the purpose of the environmental impact assessment is to ensure that potential environmental effects of a development project are assessed before granting planning permission, allowing decision makers to consider environmental impacts and involve public participation in the project. The environmental impact assessment process in England is governed by the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2017 and it applies to specific types of development categorised under Schedule 1 which always require an environmental impact assessment and Schedule 2 whereby such developments require screening to determine if an environmental impact assessment is indeed necessary. The environmental impact assessment process is governed by five key stages, screening which determines if a project requires an environmental impact assessment, scoping which identifies the key environmental issues for assessment, the third is preparing an environmental statement which documents potential environmental effects, the fourth is making the planning application and going through the consultation whereby the public and statutory bodies review the findings and the final step of the process is the decision whereby authorities evaluate the environmental impact assessment findings before granting approval. And lastly the key benefits of the environmental impact assessment is that it ensures environmental factors are considered in planning decisions and identifies and mitigates potential negative environmental impacts providing opportunities for public participation and helping in selecting environmentally favourable development options. So that covers what I wanted to discuss today and that concludes today's episode. If you would like to get in contact with me please feel free to email me on the address provided in the show notes. Thank you for listening, this is an educational show aimed at supporting the future generation of architects. The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. Please join me next week for some more part 3 with me time. [BLANK_AUDIO]