The main body of environmental law has been outlined in the previous tutorials. The focus will now shift onto assessing the impact of a future development known as Environmental Assessment (EA)- which is part of planning law within the UK. This may not have a direct impact on the majority of organisations, although makes interesting background material and knowledge when studying environmental law in general.

Environmental assessment (EA) is a process that studies the environmental effects of a proposed development. The relevant legislation covering EA is laid down in the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988.

The process itself involves consultation between developers and their advisors, the statutory bodies for example, English Nature, the statutory decision makers, the Environment Agency (in England and Wales) and the Scottish Environmental protection Agency (SEPA). An EA is also designed to incorporate public opinion prior to planning consent being given to a certain development. Environmental Statements (ES) are the subsequent reports resulting from EA.

The contents of an Environmental Statement (ES) as required by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Regulations to draw up the assessment. The following pages give the statutory provisions concerning the contents of ES's as given in Schedule 3 to the TCP (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988.


Further Reading:
Composition of an Environmental Statement.