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1. This Circular gives guidance on the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (Scottish Statutory Instrument 1999 No 1) (referred to in this Circular as "the Regulations"). The Regulations implement Council Directive No. 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (the EIA Directive), as amended by Council Directive No. 97/11/EC. They apply to:
a) projects which require planning permission in response to an application under Part III of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 ("the 1997 Act") (Part II of the Regulations);
b) certain trunk road projects, comprising construction and improvement which are authorised under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (Part III of the Regulations);
c) drainage works authorised under the Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1958 (Part IV of the Regulations).
2. The main part of the Circular concerns development under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Guidance on trunk road projects and land drainage projects is contained in Annexes E and F respectively.
3. Corresponding provisions for development subject to planning control, trunk road projects and drainage works have been made in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Procedures for projects which are granted consent under other legislation are the subject of separate legislation and guidance issued by the Scottish Executive, relevant UK Government departments or agencies.
4. The Circular is intended as a guide. It should be read in conjunction with the Regulations themselves. However, only the Courts can definitively interpret the Regulations.
5. Council Directive 85/337/EEC had an implementation date of 3 July 1988. Directive 97/11/EC, which amends Directive 85/337/EEC, had an implementation date of 14 March 1999. It extends the range of development to which the Directive applies and makes a number of important changes to environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures. In particular, planning authorities will be required to provide scoping opinions on the content of environmental statements (see paragraph 90), and authorities determining applications subject to EIA must publish a notice of their decision (see paragraph 128).
6. The Directive’s main aim is to ensure that the authority giving the primary consent (the ‘competent authority’) for a particular project makes its decision in the knowledge of any likely significant effects on the environment. The Directive therefore sets out a procedure that must be followed for certain types of project before they can be given 'development consent'. This procedure - known as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) - is a means of drawing together, in a systematic way, an assessment of a project's likely significant environmental effects. This helps to ensure that the importance of the predicted effects, and the scope for reducing them, are properly understood by the public and the relevant competent authority before it makes its decision.
7. Projects of the types listed in Annex I to the Directive must always be subject to EIA. Projects of the types listed in Annex II must be subject to EIA whenever they are likely to have significant effects on the environment. A determination of whether or not EIA is required must be made for all projects of a type listed in Annex II.
8. Where EIA is required, there are three broad stages to the procedures:
a) the developer must compile detailed information about the likely main environmental effects. To help the developer, public authorities must make available any relevant environmental information in their possession. The developer can also ask the 'competent authority' for their opinion on what information needs to be included. The information finally compiled by the developer is known as an 'Environmental Statement' (ES)
b) the ES (and the application to which it relates) must be publicised. Public authorities with relevant environmental responsibilities and the public must be given an opportunity to give their views about the project and ES.
c) the ES, together with any other information, comments and representations made on it, must be taken into account by the competent authority in deciding whether or not to give consent for the development. The public must be informed of the decision and the main reasons for it.
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