EIA Update | March 2012

IEMA's latest update on EIA legislation and guidance

Revisions to EIA Directive

The original EIA Directive and its amendments were consolidated into a single legal document in 2011, and will now be referred to as Directive 2011/92/EU. The European Commission’s next step in revising the Directive will be to publish proposals for a revamp, by the summer.

In order for IEMA to be able to gather member opinions and share them with the UK government and devolved administrations, the Institute is planning to develop criteria to test whether the proposals will be good for UK practice.

This feedback will be collected via a series of EIA workshops running between April and June. Further information will be made available at iema.net/events in the coming weeks.

Wales – EIA Regulations consultation

The Welsh Assembly government is to consult on revisions to its planning-related EIA Regulations. The consultation proposes changes to Sch. 2(13) – changes or extensions – and on bringing carbon capture and storage development into the Welsh EIA regime, as required by the EIA Directive (2011/92/EU).

These changes provide the opportunity to consolidate the original 1999 EIA Regulations and their amendments into a new, easier to follow piece of legislation. Government officials gave a presentation on the consultation at IEMA’s EIA event in Cardiff on 7 March. The presentation can be downloaded from IEMA's website.

Scotland – PAN58 revisions

The Scottish government is reviewing its EIA Planning Advice Note (PAN) 58. EIA stakeholders are invited to provide case studies, highlighting examples of practices they feel contribute towards more efficient and effective EIA. Contact [email protected] for more information or visit the Scottish government's website.

EIA resources

Don’t forget that IEMA members have access to the following EIA resources:

• State of EIA practice in the UK – IEMA’s ground-breaking 2011 review of UK EIA practice.
• E-briefs on Considering ecosystem services in EIA and Developing an effective NTS.
• EIA and climate change principles – considering climate change mitigation and adaptation in EIA practice.
• EIA Quality Mark articles – more than 20 articles about current issues in EIA practice can be found at environmentalistonline.com/qmark.
• EIA webinars – listen again to IEMA's EIA webinars considering topics such as ecology, significance and traffic.

Coming soon

The next three EIA webinars are:

• 29 March – Cumulative effects in EIA;
• 26 April – Screening developments for EIA;
• 31 May – The Water Framework Directive and EIA.

Tweet