The Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999
DEVELOPMENT BY PLANNING AUTHORITIES (regulations 22 to 26)
131. The Regulations make provision for applying the requirements of the Directive to developments proposed by planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Development by Planning Authorities) (Scotland) Regulations 1981 (SI 1981/829) ("the 1981 Regulations").
132. Before a planning authority take any action under regulation 4 of the 1981 Regulations, they must consider whether the development in question is Schedule 1 development or Schedule 2 development. If they believe the proposal falls into either of these categories then they should adopt a screening opinion on the need for EIA in the way they would for any planning application for Schedule 1 development or Schedule 2 development. A similar process should be carried out where the planning authority is considering exercising permitted development rights or carrying out development granted under a simplified planning zone scheme or enterprise zone order.
133. The Regulations allow planning authorities to request a screening direction from Scottish Ministers, however, the intention is that in the vast majority of cases planning authorities should come to their own opinion on the question of EIA.
134. A copy of any screening opinion or direction related to development by a planning authority should be made available to the public via the planning register (regulations 20(2)).
135. The environmental statement (ES) must be published no later than the notice of intention to develop which the authority is required to publish under Regulation 4(1) of the 1981 Regulations. The notification and consultation requirements of Regulation 4(2) of the 1981 Regulations apply to both the notice of intention to develop and the environmental statement. The notice of intention to develop and the ES should be placed on Part I of the register of applications. Copies of the statement should be made available to the public.
136. The planning authority is required to publish a notice in a local paper, in accordance with Regulation 4(1) of the 1981 Regulations. Regulation 24 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 require publication of the same notice in the Edinburgh Gazette. Regulation 24 also requires that the notice should include details about the ES including where a copy can be inspected and the arrangements for making written representations. The statutory period for representations on the ES is 4 weeks.
137. Scottish Ministers' power of direction applies to planning authority development proposals. Where Scottish Ministers make a direction requiring a particular development proposal to be subject to an assessment after the authority has published the notice required by Regulation 4(1) of the 1981 Regulations, the period specified in Regulation 5(1)(a) of said Regulations will be suspended until the authority publishes the ES and places it on the register of applications. The 21 day period will recommence once the statement has been published.
138. Where the authority has published an ES in accordance with these provisions they are required to notify the consultation bodies, including Scottish Ministers. Where the development in question would have constituted an EIA application, were it subject to normal planning application procedures, no planning permission will be deemed to have been granted under Regulation 5(1)of the 1981 Regulations. All development under the 1981 Regulations which is subject to environmental impact assessment must be submitted to Scottish Ministers in accordance with Regulation 6(1) of the 1981 Regulations.
139. Where Scottish Ministers do not call for a formal planning application in such cases, this decision must now be publicised in accordance with Regulation 21.