2
- The Welsh Ministers may direct that an EIA is required at any stage prior to the granting of
consent for particular development.
If the need for an EIA only arises after the planning application has been submitted, consideration of
the application will be suspended pending submission of an ES.
What is Screening?
Determination by the local planning authority of whether a development needs an EIA is known as a
“screening opinion” and can be undertaken before or after a planning application is submitted.
Developers who are in doubt about whether an EIA would be required can request a screening
opinion from the local planning authority prior to submission of their planning application. The
request should include a plan indicating the proposed location of the development, a brief
description of the nature and purpose of the proposal and its possible environmental effects, giving a
broad indication of their likely scale.
On receipt of the request, the local planning authority will consider whether the proposed
development is likely to have significant effects on the environment taking into account factors such
as nature, size or location, and the selection criteria in Schedule 3 of the 2017 Regulations. Schedule
3 identifies three broad criteria which should be considered:
- The characteristics of the development (size, design, use of natural resources, quantities of
pollution, waste generated, risk of accidents and risk to human health);
- The environmental sensitivity of the location; and
- The types and characteristics of the potential impact (magnitude and duration).
The local planning authority must adopt its screening opinion within three weeks of receiving a
request. A copy of the relevant documents must be made available for public inspection for two years
at the place where the planning register is kept (each local planning authority holds a planning
register), or transferred to Part I of the register (Part 1: application forms, plans and supporting
information) if a planning application is subsequently made for the development.
Developers may appeal to the Welsh Ministers for a “screening direction” where they disagree with a
local planning authority’s decision to adopt a screening opinion that an EIA is required, or where an
authority fails to adopt any opinion within the given time.
What happens to planning applications without an
accompanying ES?
If the local planning authority receives a planning application for what appears to be a Schedule 1 or
Schedule 2 development without an accompanying ES, it must first check for any screening opinion it
may have adopted. If no screening opinion exists, the local planning authority must adopt “an
opinion” explaining whether or not an EIA is required:
- If an EIA is not required, a screening opinion explaining this should be adopted and placed on
Part I of the planning register with the planning application; or
- If an EIA is required, the local planning authority must notify the applicant, giving full reasons
for its view, and a copy of the notification must then be placed on Part I of the planning
register.