14 February 2007

Environment

Environmental Impact Statements

Ciarán Cuffe asked  the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views as to whether it might be more appropriate for environmental impact statements submitted by those seeking planning permission for development to be prepared by an independent third party body; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Roche):
The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EIA Directive), 85/337/EEC as amended, requires that consent for projects should be granted only after prior assessment of the likely significant environmental effects have been assessed and that this assessment must be conducted on the basis of the appropriate information supplied by the developer.

The transposition of the Directive is consolidated in Part X of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2006 and Part 10 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 to 2006. The Regulations specify the information that must be contained in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). In addition, the Regulations provide that a developer may request, from the consent authority, an opinion as to the information to be contained in the EIS. On receiving such a request, the consent authority informs the relevant prescribed bodies who are then given an opportunity to comment on the information to be contained in the EIS.

The EIS is then independently assessed by the consent authority. It is a matter for the relevant consent authority to satisfy itself as to the adequacy of the EIS. The consent authority has the discretion to grant or refuse consent for the development or grant it subject to conditions.