Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
amendments were made to the 1988 T&CP Regulations to plug loopholes and extend the
remit of the regulations, for instance:
• to expand and clarify the original list of projects for which EIA is required (e.g. to
include motorway service areas and wind farms);
• to require EIA for projects that would otherwise be permitted (e.g. land reclamation,
waste water treatment works, projects in Simplified Planning Zones);
• to require EIA for projects resulting from a successful appeal against a planning
enforcement notice;
• to allow the then Secretary of State (SoS) for the Environment to direct that a particular
development should be subject to EIA even if it is not listed in the regulations.
Other types of projects listed in the EC Directive require separate legislation, since they
are not governed by the planning system. Of the various transport projects, local highway
developments and airports are dealt with under the T&CP Regulations by the local
planning (highways) authority, but motorways and trunk roads proposed and regulated by
the Department for Transport (DfT) fall under the Highways (AEE) Regulations 1999.
Applications for harbours are regulated by the DfT under the various Harbour Works
(EIA) Regulations. New railways and tramways require EIA under the Transport and
Works (Applications and Objections) Procedure 2000.
Energy projects producing less than 50 MW are regulated by the local authority under
the T&CP Regulations. Those of 50 MW or over, most electricity power lines, and
pipelines (in Scotland as well as in England and Wales) are controlled by the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) under the various Electricity and Pipeline Works (EIA)
Regulations 2000.
New land drainage works, including flood defence and coastal defence works, require
planning permission and are thus covered by the T&CP Regulations. Improvements to
drainage works carried out by the Environment Agency and other drainage bodies require
EIA through the EIA (Land Drainage Improvement Works) Regulations, which are
regulated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Forestry projects require EIA under the EIA (Forestry) Regulations 1999.
Marine fish farming within 2 km of the coast of England, Wales or Scotland requires a
lease from the Crown Estates Commission, but not planning permission. For these
developments, EIA is required under the EA (Fish Farming in Marine Waters)
Regulations 1999.
Most other developments in Scotland are covered by the EIA (Scotland) Regulations
1999, including developments related to town and country planning, electricity, roads and
bridges, development by planning authorities and land drainage. The British regulations
apply to harbours, pipelines and forestry projects. Northern Ireland has separate
legislation in parallel with that of England and Wales.
As will be discussed in Chapter 8, about 70 per cent of all the EIAs prepared in the
UK fall under the T&CP Regulations, about 10 per cent fall under each of the EIA
(Scotland) Regulations 1999 and the Highways (EIA) Regulations; almost all the rest
involve land drainage, electricity and pipeline works, forestry projects in England and
Wales and planning-related developments in Northern Ireland.
The enactment of this wide range of EIA regulations has made many of the early
concerns regarding procedural loopholes (e.g. CPRE 1991, Fortlage 1990) obsolete.
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