The Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

Made: 25th February 2015

Coming into operation: 1st April 2015

The Department of the Environment is a designated Department for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 , in relation to the environment.

The Department of the Environment makes the following regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by that section and having taken into account the selection criteria in Annex III to Council Directive 2011/92/EU .

PART 1 — General

Citation and commencement

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Interpretation

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Directions

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Prohibition on the grant of planning permission or subsequent consent without consideration of environmental information

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Confirmation that development is EIA development

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Appeals under Section 58 or Section 60 of the 2011 Act

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PART 2 — Pre-Application Procedures

Pre-application determination as to need for environmental impact assessment and opinion as to content of environmental statement

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PART 3 — Preparation of Environmental Statements

Procedure to facilitate preparation of environmental statements

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Provision of information

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PART 4 — Procedures on Receipt of Application

Applications made to the council which appear to require determination as to need for environmental impact assessment

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Applications made to the Department which appear to require determination as to need for environmental impact assessment

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Subsequent applications made to the council where environmental information previously provided

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Subsequent applications made to the Department where environmental information previously provided

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Subsequent applications made to the council where environmental information not previously provided

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Subsequent applications made to the Department where environmental information not previously provided

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Application made to the council without an environmental statement

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Application made to the Department without an environmental statement

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Application referred to the Department without an environmental statement

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Extension of the period for council's or Department's decision on an application for planning permission or subsequent application

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PART 5 — Publicity

Publicity where an environmental statement is submitted

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Availability of copies of environmental statement

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Consultation where environmental statement submitted

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Further information and evidence relating to environmental statement

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Charges

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Duty to inform the public of decisions

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PART 6 — Development by a council

Modifications where application is by a council

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PART 7 — Development likely to Affect Other EEA states

Development in Northern Ireland likely to have significant effects on the environment in another EEA state

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Projects in another EEA state likely to have significant transboundary effects

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PART 8 — Unauthorised Development

Interpretation of Part 8

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Prohibition on the grant of planning permission for unauthorised development

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Determination as to need for environmental statement, etc.

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Time period for submission of environmental statement

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Provision of information

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Procedure where the Commission receives an environmental statement

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Further information and evidence respecting environmental statements

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Publicity for environmental statements and decisions

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Involvement of other EEA states

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PART 9 — Permission in Enterprise and Simplified Planning Zones and Permission Granted by Development Orders

Restrictions on grant of permission by old enterprise zone schemes

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Restrictions on the grant of permission by simplified planning zone schemes and enterprise zone schemes

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Development Orders

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PART 10 — Miscellaneous

Availability of information in relation to determinations, opinions, decisions, etc.

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Hearing by the Commission in relation to the council's or Department's determination

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Use of electronic communications

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Application to the Crown

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Revocation, saving and transitional provisions

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) The Regulations specified in paragraph (4) which continued to apply by virtue of Regulation 40 of the 2012 Regulations (as that regulation had effect immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations) in respect of the matters specified in paragraph 2(a) to (c) of that regulation shall continue to have effect in relation to those matters subject to the amendments specified in Schedule 5; and anything done by, to or in relation to the Department in connection with its functions under those Regulations shall be treated as if it had been done by, to or in relation to the council or, as the case may be, the Department in connection with its functions under those Regulations as amended by Schedule 5.

• (4) The Regulations referred to in paragraph (3) are

• (a) the Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 ;

• (b) the Planning (Electronic Communications) Order (Northern Ireland) 2006 ;

• (c) the Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 ; and

• (d) the Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 .

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SCHEDULE 1 — Descriptions of development for the purposes of the definition of “Schedule 1 development”

Interpretation

In this Schedule—

• “airport” means an airport which complies with the definition in the 1944 Chicago Convention setting up the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Annex 14)[^f00023];

• “express road” means a road which complies with the definition in the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries of 15 November 1975[^f00024];

• “nuclear power station” and “other nuclear reactor” do not include an installation from the site of which all nuclear fuel and other radioactive contaminated materials have been permanently removed; and development for the purpose of dismantling or decommissioning a nuclear power station or other nuclear reactor shall not be treated as development of the description mentioned in paragraph 2(b) of this Schedule.

Descriptions of development

The carrying out of development to provide any of the following—

1 Crude-oil refineries (excluding undertakings manufacturing only lubricants from crude oil) and installations for the gasification and liquefaction of 500 tonnes or more of coal or bituminous shale per day.

2 a Thermal power stations and other combustion installations with a heat output of 300 megawatts or more; and b Nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installations for the production and conversion of fissionable and fertile materials, whose maximum power does not exceed 1 kilowatt continuous thermal load).

3 a Installations for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. b Installations designed— i for the production or enrichment of nuclear fuel, ii for the processing of irradiated nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste, iii for the final disposal of irradiated nuclear fuel, iv solely for the final disposal of radioactive waste, v solely for the storage (planned for more than 10 years) of irradiated nuclear fuels or radioactive waste in a different site than the production site.

4 a Integrated works for the initial smelting of cast-iron and steel; b Installations for the production of non-ferrous crude metals from ore, concentrates or secondary raw materials by metallurgical, chemical or electrolytic processes.

5 Installations for the extraction of asbestos and for the processing and transformation of asbestos and products containing asbestos— a for asbestos–cement products, with an annual production of more than 20,000 tonnes of finished products; b for friction material, with an annual production of more than 50 tonnes of finished products; and c for other uses of asbestos, utilisation of more than 200 tonnes per year.

6 Integrated chemical installations, that is to say, installations for the manufacture on an industrial scale of substances using chemical conversion processes, in which several units are juxtaposed and are functionally linked to one another and which are— a for the production of base organic chemicals; b for the production of basic inorganic chemicals; c for the production of phosphorous–, nitrogen– or potassium–based fertilisers (simple or compound fertilisers); d for the production of basic plant health products and of biocides; e for the production of basic pharmaceutical products using a chemical or biological process; f for the production of explosives.

7 a Construction of lines for long–distance railway traffic and of airports with a basic runway length of 2,100 metres or more; b Construction of motorways and express roads; c Construction of a new road of four or more lanes, or realignment and/or widening of an existing road of two lanes or less so as to provide four or more lanes, where such new road, or realigned and/or widened section of road would be 10 kilometres or more in a continuous length.

8 a Inland waterways and ports for inland–waterway traffic which permit the passage of vessels of over 1,350 tonnes; b Trading ports, piers for loading and unloading connected to land and outside ports (excluding ferry piers) which can take vessels of over 1,350 tonnes.

9 Waste disposal installations for the incineration, chemical treatment (as defined in Annex I to Directive 2008/98/EC), of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste and repealing certain directives[^f00025], under heading D9) or landfill of hazardous waste (as defined in regulation 6 of the Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005)[^f00026].

10 Waste disposal installations for the incineration or chemical treatment (as defined in Annex I to Directive 2008/98/EC under heading D9) of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 100 tonnes per day.

11 Groundwater abstraction or artificial groundwater recharge schemes where the annual volume of water abstracted or recharged is equivalent to or exceeds 10 million cubic metres.

12 a Works for the transfer of water resources, other than piped drinking water, between river basins where the transfer aims at preventing possible shortages of water and where the amount of water transferred exceeds 100 million cubic metres per year; b In all other cases, works for the transfer of water resources, other than piped drinking water, between river basins where the multi-annual average flow of the basin of abstraction exceeds 2,000 million cubic metres per year and where the amount of water transferred exceeds 5% of this flow.

13 Waste water treatment plants with a capacity exceeding 150,000 population equivalent as defined in Article 2 point (6) of Directive 91/271/EEC[^f00027].

14 Extraction of petroleum and natural gas for commercial purposes where the amount extracted exceeds 500 tonnes per day in the case of petroleum and 500,000 cubic metres per day in the case of gas.

15 Dams and other installations designed for the holding back or permanent storage of water, where a new or additional amount of water held back or stored exceeds 10 million cubic metres.

16 Pipelines with a diameter of more than 800 millimetres and a length of more than 40 kilometres: for the transport of gas, oil or chemicals, or for the transport of carbon dioxide streams for the purposes of geological storage, including associated booster stations.

17 Installations for the intensive rearing of poultry or pigs with more than— a 85,000 places for broilers or 60,000 places for hens; b 3,000 places for production pigs (over 30 kg); or c 900 places for sows.

18 Industrial plants for— a the production of pulp from timber or similar fibrous materials; b the production of paper and board with a production capacity exceeding 200 tonnes per day.

19 Quarries and open–cast mining where the surface of the site exceeds 25 hectares, or peat extraction where the surface of the site exceeds 150 hectares.

20 Construction of overhead electrical power lines with a voltage of 220 kV or more and a length of more than 15 kilometres.

21 Installations for storage of petroleum, petrochemical or chemical products with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes or more.

22 Any change to or extension of development listed in this Schedule where such a change or extension itself meets the thresholds, if any, or description of development set out in this Schedule.

23 Storage sites pursuant to Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the geological storage of carbon dioxide[^f00028].

24 Installations for the capture of carbon dioxide streams for the purposes of geological storage pursuant to Directive 2009/31/EC from installations covered by this Schedule, or where the total yearly capture of carbon dioxide is 1.5 megatonnes or more.

SCHEDULE 2 — Descriptions of development and applicable thresholds and criteria for the purposes of the definition of “Schedule 2 development”

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SCHEDULE 3 — Selection criteria referred to in Article 4.3 of the Directive

1. Characteristics of development

The characteristics of development must be considered having regard, in particular, to—

• (a) the size of the development;

• (b) the cumulation with other development;

• (c) the use of natural resources;

• (d) the production of waste;

• (e) pollution and nuisances;

• (f) the risk of accidents, having regard in particular to substances or technologies used.

2. Location of development

The environmental sensitivity of geographical areas likely to be affected by development must be considered, having regard, in particular, to—

• (a) the existing land use;

• (b) the relative abundance, quality and regenerative capacity of natural resources in the area;

• (c) the absorption capacity of the natural environment, paying particular attention to the following areas—

• (i) wetlands;

• (ii) coastal zones;

• (iii) mountain and forest areas;

• (iv) nature reserves and parks;

• (v) areas classified or protected under EEA states’ legislation; areas designated by EEA states pursuant to Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds[^f00030] and Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora[^f00031];

• (vi) areas in which the environmental quality standards laid down in Community legislation have already been exceeded;

• (vii) densely populated areas;