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2 CHANGE IN NUMBER OF EIA APPLICATIONS 1988 TO 2004

This section assesses whether the introduction of the 1999 and 2000 Regulations has had an impact on the number and type of applications for development consent requiring EIA. In order to undertake this assessment, comparisons have been made with the number and type of applications for development consent requiring EIA under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988 (the 1988 Regulations), introduced to transpose the 1985 EIA Directive.

2.1 METHOD & PROCESS

Databases of applications for development consent where EIA was required under the following Regulations were provided by the Scottish Executive:

• the 1988 EIA Regulations,
• the 1999 EIA Regulations, and
• the 2000 EIA Electricity Works Regulations.

The level of detail of information held within these databases is variable and the analysis provided here has been limited by this variability.

Comparisons between applications made prior to, and following, the 1999/2000 Regulations have been made at three levels:

• the total number of applications requiring EIA under each set of Regulations;
• the number of applications requiring EIA under each set of Regulations, broken down into key sectors (Schedule 1, Extraction, Industrial Installations, Infrastructure, Urban, Waste, Windfarms/Renewables, Tourism, Other); and
• the number of applications requiring EIA under each set of Regulations, broken down into development types as outlined in the Regulations (Schedule and Paragraph).

As the Schedule and Paragraph designations for development types are not consistent between the 1988 and 1999 Regulations, the applications covered by the 1988 Regulations were identified according to the Schedule and Paragraph references in the 1999 Regulations for ease of comparison.

The records of planning applications requiring EIA under the 1988, 1999 and 2000 Regulations include all those sent to the Scottish Office/Executive. While there may be omissions, we are confident that there is sufficiently broad and accurate information to make a valuable assessment of the overall changes to EIA applications since 1988.

Information about the outcome of the planning process (Granted, Refused, Withdrawn) was available for applications covered by the 1988 Regulations. However, this information was not available for the full register of projects covered by the 1999/2000 Regulations held by the Scottish Executive, and was therefore excluded from further analysis. This was in part due to not all applications having been determined. It should be noted that the responsibility lies with CAs to maintain registers containing decisions.

2.2 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The list of development applications requiring EIA under the 1988, 1999 and 2000 EIA Regulations is given below in Table 2.1. The number of EIA applications under each set of Regulations submitted per year from major sector types is then provided in Table 2.2. This data is also plotted in a series of the Figures, as follows.

Table 2.1 Applications for development consent since 1988 requiring EIA under Regulations

Table 2.2 Applications for development consent per year in major sectors under 1988, 1999 and 2000 Regulations

Figure 2.1 Total number of EIA applications per year since 1988

Figure 2.2 Total Number of EIA applications from each sector under 1988 and 1999 Regulations

Figure 2.3 Number of EIA applications by development type per year since 1988

Figure 2.4 Number of Schedule 1 EIA applications per year since 1988

Figure 2.5 Number of EIA applications for extractive developments per year since 1988

Figure 2.6 Number of EIA applications for industrial installations per year since 1988

Figure 2.7 Number of EIA applications for infrastructure developments per year since 1988

Figure 2.8 Number of EIA applications in the tourism sector per year since 1988

Figure 2.9 Number of EIA applications for urban developments per year since 1988

Figure 2.10 Number of EIA applications for the waste sector per year since 1988

Figure 2.11 Number of hydro-electric scheme EIA applications per year since 1988

Figure 2.12 Number of wind farm EIA applications per year since 1988

2.2.1 Number of EIA applications considered under the 1988, 1999 and 2000 Regulations

The total number of applications made to date under the 1999/2000 Regulations is almost the same as the number of applications made under the 1988 Regulations (345 versus 361). Of the 345 EIA applications considered since 1999, 33 of these have been under the 2000 Regulations.

However, the 1988 Regulations were in place for an 11 year period, whilst the 1999 Regulations have only been in place for six years and the 2000 Regulations for five years. This indicates that the annual number of planning applications requiring EIA has almost doubled since the introduction of the new Regulations. On average the data indicates that 32.8 applications per year required EIA under the 1988 Regulations, 52 per year under the 1999 Regulations and 6.6 per year under the 2000 Regulations.

2.2.2 Number of EIA applications made under the 1988, 1999 and 2000 Regulations from major sectors

Developments in the following sectors dominate applications for development consent requiring EIA under both the 1988 and the 1999 Regulations:

• Extractive Industry (quarries, opencasts and peat extraction);
• Energy Industry (wind farms);
• Infrastructure (urban developments, industrial estates);
• Waste (waste disposal, wastewater treatment); and
• Tourism (holiday villages/complexes, golf courses).

Since the introduction of the 1999 Regulations, the proportions of EIA applications for development consent for mineral extraction, waste installations, industrial installations and Schedule 1 developments have decreased, whilst the proportions for urban developments and wind farms have increased.

2.2.3 Changes in the number of applications requiring EIA under the 1988, 1999 and 2000 Regulations for specific development types

Changes to the number of applications for specific types of development have also been observed, including the following:

Schedule 1 developments

There have been fewer applications under the 1999 Regulations for Schedule 1 installations to store radioactive wastes, produce chemicals and incinerate wastes (from 13 under the 1988 Regulations to 0 under the 1999 Regulations) and Schedule 1 landfills (10 to 0). A reduction in the number of applications for Schedule 1 roads/ railways (3 to 0) is also apparent. Applications for Schedule 1 quarries, which were not included as Schedule 1 development in the 1988 Regulations, account for the majority of Schedule 1 EIA projects under the 1999 Regulations, accounting for 5 out of 8 applications for development consent recorded.

Agriculture

There have been fewer applications in total for intensive livestock installations (9 to 3).

Energy developments

Fewer applications for industrial installations for the surface storage of fossil fuels and briquetting of coal/lignite (6 to 0) have been received under the 1999 Regulations. There has been a very significant increase for wind farm developments from a total of 29 under the 1988 Regulations to 66 under the 1999 Regulations, or 2.6 per year to 11 per year. In addition, the 2000 Electricity Act EIA Regulations required a further 23 EIA applications for wind farm developments. The number of EIA applications for hydro-electric schemes has also increased, from 1 application under the 1988 Regulations to 10 under the 2000 Regulations, although this may reflect the lowering of the generating capacity threshold for hydro-electric schemes under the 2000 Regulations. In total, then, 30 EIA applications for renewable energy developments were considered under the 1988 Regulations, corresponding to 2.7 per year, whilst 100 EIA applications have been considered under the 1999/2000 Regulations, corresponding to 17.7 applications per year.

Manufacturing

There have been fewer applications for shipyards and manufacturing operations (cement, paper products, rubber products) (10 to 0).

Infrastructure

There have been fewer applications overall (14 to 5) and per year (1.3 to 0.8) for industrial estates under the new Regulations, but a major rise in urban development projects (23 to 64 in total, or 2 to 10.6 per year). A significant increases in applications for a variety of works related to the management of water (harbours and ports, and in particular flood relief) has also been observed (2 to 14 in total, or 0.2 to 2.3 per year).

Waste installations

A reduction in overall numbers of applications for waste disposal installations (42 to 17) and waste water treatment plants (27 to 19) has also been observed. However in terms of the numbers of applications considered per year, waste water treatment plant applications have increased (2.5 to 3.2).

Tourism

The data provided suggests there has been a reduction in applications for developments related to the ski industry (6 to 0) and holiday villages/hotel complexes (15 to 6). A greater number of golf courses (2 to 11) have been the subject of EIA under the 1999 Regulations. Camping/caravan facilities were not covered by the 1988 Regulations, and under the 1999 Regulations there have been 3 applications.

2.3 FINDINGS

There has been an approximate twofold increase in the number of applications for development consent requiring EIA per year since the introduction of the 1999/2000 Regulations. This trend may have significant implications for the time, financial and personnel resources of CAs and CBs. The additional demands on resources are likely to be exacerbated as a result of the changes and additions to the EIA process and ESs following the introduction of the 1999/2000 Regulations and as a result of developments in EIA practice.

Overall, the introduction of the 1999 Regulations appears to have had only a minor impact on the types of proposals most regularly requiring EIA. Mineral extraction, waste installations, urban development, wind farms and combined tourism applications continue to be the most common types of EIA application. There have, however, been significant increases in applications for wind farms, urban developments and works relating to the management of water. Furthermore, the 1999 Regulations have captured additional types of development which were not explicitly covered by the 1988 Regulations such as Schedule 1 mineral extraction, and Schedule 2 theme parks and permanent camping/caravan sites.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, there is no evidence that the introduction of the 1999 and 2000 Regulations has been the sole or primary cause of the trends discussed above. Instead, it is apparent that the number and timing of applications triggered by the 1999/2000 Regulations have been influenced by external factors, for example the introduction of key pieces of development policy/legislation. For example, the substantial rise in applications for renewable energy operations (wind farms and hydro-electric schemes) coincided with the introduction of the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2002, as Scotland's main policy instrument for delivering more renewable electricity generating capacity. Similarly, the peak in applications for the treatment or disposal of waste coincided with the implementation of the EC Directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment (91/271/ EEC). General shifts in the economic profile of Scotland also appear to have influenced the types of project which require EIA. The long term decline in heavy industry and the emergence of a large services sector, plus urban regeneration, may account in part for the apparent corresponding increase in urban development projects. These trends are reflected in the profile of EIA applications presented in the Tables and Figures above.

2.4 KEY FINDINGS

• The average number of applications per year for development consent requiring EIA under the 1988 Regulations was 33. The average number of EIA applications per year under the 1999 and 2000 Regulations combined was 59 per year.
• The introduction of the 1999/2000 Regulations did not change the development sectors with the most EIA applications (extractive, energy, infrastructure, waste and tourism).
• There has been a six-fold increase in the number of wind farm applications requiring EIA under the 1999 and 2000 Regulations compared with the 1988 Regulations, rising from 2.6 to 17.6. There has also been an increase in the number of urban development projects requiring EIA under the new Regulations, rising from 3.3 per year to 11.5 per year.
• There has been a reduction in the overall range of specific EIA project projects (as outlined in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Regulations) applying for development consent and although the 1999/2000 Regulations added certain types of developments previously excluded from EIA, the number of EIAs conducted for such developments is low.
• There is no evidence to suggest that the introduction of the 1999/2000 Regulations has been a major factor influencing the trend of increasing numbers of EIA applications. The trend appears to be attributable to external factors such as the introduction of new pieces of policy or legislation, and general shifts in the economic profile of Scotland.

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