The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017
| Year | 2017 |
2017 No. 101
Electricity
The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017
Made 30th March 2017
Laid before the Scottish Parliament 31th March 2017
Coming into force 16th May 2017
The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19721, section 36C(2) of the Electricity Act 19892and all other powers enabling them to do so.
They have taken into account the selection criteria in Annex III to Directive 2011/92/EUof the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment3.
PART 1
INTRODUCTORY
Citation, commencement, application and extent
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and come into force on 16th May 2017.
(2) Subject to Part 12, these Regulations apply in the case of—
(a)
(a) an application under section 36 of the Electricity Act 19894for consent to construct, extend or operate a generating station;
(b)
(b) an application under section 37 of the Electricity Act 19895for consent to install or keep installed an electric line above ground;
(c)
(c) a direction under section 57(2) or (2ZA) (deemed planning permission for development with government authorisation) of the 1997 Act6;
(d)
(d) an application for multi-stage consent; and
(e)
(e) a variation application.
(3) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1997 Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997;
“the 2000 Regulations” means the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 20007;
“additional information” means—
(a) supplementary information required in accordance with regulation 19(2); or
(b) any other information provided by the developer which, in the opinion of the Scottish Ministers, is substantive information about a matter to be included in the EIA report in accordance with regulation 5(2);
“application for multi-stage consent” means an application for approval, consent or agreement required by a condition included in an Electricity Act consent where (in terms of the condition) that approval, consent or agreement must be obtained from the Scottish Ministers before all or part of the development permitted by the Electricity Act consent may be begun;
“application website” means a website maintained by the developer for the purpose of making publicly available information relating to applications to which these Regulations apply;
“the consultation bodies” means—
(a) the planning authority;
(b) Scottish Natural Heritage;
(c) the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; and
(d) Historic Environment Scotland;
“decision notice” has the meaning given in regulation 21;
“developer”—
(a) means, in relation to—
(i) an application for Electricity Act consent, the applicant;
(ii) a variation application, the applicant,
(iii) an application for multi-stage consent, the applicant; and
(b) for the purposes of regulations 7 to 9, 12 and 13 includes a prospective applicant
“development” means the carrying out of building, engineering or other operations in, on, over or under land or sea in pursuance of any application to which these Regulations apply and includes building, engineering and other operations ancillary to such operations;
“the Directive” means Directive 2011/92/EUof the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment8;
“EIA application” means an application for Electricity Act consent for EIA development;
“EIA development” means development which is either—
(a) Schedule 1 development; or
(b) Schedule 2 development likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location;
“EIA report” has the meaning given in regulation 5;
“Electricity Act consent” means consent under section 36 (consent required for construction etc. of generating stations) or section 37 (consent required for overhead lines) of the Electricity Act 1989;
“electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) (general interpretation) of the Electronic Communications Act 20009;
“environmental impact assessment” has the meaning given in regulation 4;
“environmental information” means—
(a) the EIA report submitted in respect of the proposed development;
(b) any additional information submitted in respect of the development;
(c) any representations made by any consultation body, or other public body, consulted in respect of the development in accordance with these Regulations; and
(d) any representations duly made by any other person about the environmental effects of the development;
“environmental statement” has the same meaning as in the 2000 Regulations as they had effect immediately prior to the date on which these Regulations came into force;
“the land” means the land on which the development would be carried out;
“multi-stage consent” means an approval, consent or agreement given pursuant to an application for multi-stage consent;
“prospective applicant” means a person who, as the case may be, is minded to—
(a) apply for an Electricity Act consent;
(b) make a variation application; or
(c) make an application for multi-stage consent;
“register” means a register kept pursuant to section 3610(registers of applications etc.) of the 1997 Act;
“relevant assessment” means, in relation to a proposed development, an assessment, or verification, of effects on the environment carried out pursuant to national legislation) which is relevant to the assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed development;
“Schedule 1 development” means development of a description set out in schedule 1;
“Schedule 2 development” means development of a description set out in schedule 2;
“scoping opinion” means an opinion adopted by the Scottish Ministers as to the scope and level of detail of information to be provided in the EIA report;
“screening opinion” means an opinion adopted by the Scottish Ministers as to whether development is, or is not, EIA development;
“supplementary information” has the meaning given in regulation 19(2);
“Union legislation” means any enactment in the national legislation giving effect to rights, powers, liabilities, obligations and restrictions from time to time created or arising by or under the EU Treaties; and
“variation application” means an application made to the Scottish Ministers under section 36C(1) of the Electricity Act 1989 (variation of section 36 consents) to vary a consent under section 36 of that Act.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), expressions used both in these Regulations and in the Electricity Act 1989 have the same meaning for the purposes of these Regulations as they have for the purposes of that Act.
(3) Expressions used both in these Regulations and in the Directive (whether or not also used in the Electricity Act 1989) have the same meaning for the purposes of these Regulations as they have for the purposes of the Directive.
(4) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
(a)
(a) references to a planning authority—
(i) in relation to development in, on, over or under land, are references to the planning authority within whose area the proposed development is situated; and
(ii) in relation to development in, on, over or under sea, are references to such planning authority or planning authorities as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate in respect of the proposed development; and
(b)
(b) in relation to an application for multi-stage consent, “development” means as the case may be, the works to construct, extend or operate a generating station or the works to install an electric line above ground, taken together with any consent previously granted in connection with such consent.
(5) References in regulations 6(2)(b) and (3), 10(1)(c), 11(1), 12(7), 14 to 18, 25(1), 26(1) and 27(2) to an EIA report include a reference to a report referred to by the developer as an EIA report.
(6) In these Regulations, where an developer submits a revised, updated or supplementary EIA report (or a report which that person refers to as such) references to an EIA report are to be treated as including a reference to that revised, updated or supplementary EIA report.
Prohibition on granting consent without an environmental impact assessment
3. The Scottish Ministers must not—
(a) grant an Electricity Act consent for EIA development; or
(b) direct that planning permission is deemed to be granted under section 57(2) or (2ZA) of the 1997 Act in respect of EIA development,
unless an environmental impact assessment has been carried out in respect of that development and in carrying out such assessment the Scottish Ministers must take the environmental information into account.
Environmental impact assessment
4.—(1) An environmental impact assessment is a process consisting of—
(a)
(a) the preparation of an EIA report by the developer;
(b)
(b) the carrying out of consultation, publication and notification as required by Parts 5 and 6 and, where relevant, Part 10;
(c)
(c) the examination by the Scottish ministers of the information presented in the EIA report and any other environmental information;
(d)
(d) the reasoned conclusion by the Scottish Ministers on the significant effects of the development on the environment, taking into account the results of the examination referred to in sub-paragraph (c) and, where appropriate, their own supplementary examination; and
(e)
(e) the integration of the Scottish Ministers’ reasoned conclusion into the decision notice in accordance with regulation 21.
(2) The environmental...
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