UK agency and legislative context - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 58

3.2.2 Developers
In the UK, EIA applies to projects in both the public and private sectors, although there
are notable exemptions, including Ministry of Defence developments and those of the
Crown Commission. Public sector developments are sponsored by
Figure 3.1 Principal actors in the EIA
and planning and development
processes.
central government departments (such as the Department for Transport (DfT)), by local
authorities and by statutory bodies, such as the Environment Agency and the Highways
Agency. Some were also sponsored by nationalized industries (such as the former British
Rail and the nuclear industry), but the rapid privatization programme of the 1980s and
1990s has transferred many former nationalized industries to the private sector. Some,
such as the major energy companies (Innogy, PowerGen, British Gas) and the regional
water authorities, have major and continuing programmes of projects, where it may be
possible to develop and refine EIA procedures, learning from experience. Many other
private-sector companies, often of multinational form, may also produce a stream of