This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Draft Environmental Assessment Bill
13/09/2004
A draft Bill expected to be introduced into Parliament
in January next year is designed to open the
decision-making process on major plans to public comment, a
conference was told today.
Environment Minister Ross Finnie said the comprehensive
plans for environmental protection would put Scotland at
the forefront of European policy.
The proposals went beyond European legislation and
ensure
ALL public sector plans, strategies and
programmes are scrutinised for environmental impact.
Describing the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill,
Mr Finnie said:
"These proposals put Scotland ahead of Europe in the
protection we afford to the environment.
"Environmental Assessment will bring greater public
involvement in the decision making process on all major
public plans, and give powers to communities and others to
challenge those plans on environmental grounds.
"We are placing the environment at the heart of public
policy - forcing public bodies to consider any
environmental impact at the 'concept' stage.
"With greater public scrutiny we can better avoid the
mistakes of the past that have to blighted communities and
ensure that the environmental costs of decisions made today
are not borne by future generations."
The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill will, for
example:
- expose the impact on the environment of the
plantation of mass monoculture forests
- save millions of pounds on restoring contaminated
land by making it less likely to become contaminated in
the first place
- improve the living environment by identifying
positive and negative environmental effects of
development plans
The
Environmental Assessment of Plans and programmes (Scotland)
Regulations 2004 came into force in July to transpose
EC Directive 2001/42.EC.
These regulations only apply to certain public sector
plans - such as forestry, water, energy, town & country
planning - likely to have significant effect on the
environment.
The draft Bill will be available online later this
week.