Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1988/1199 |
| Year | 1988 |
1988 No. 1199
TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988
Made 12th July 1988
Coming into force 15th July 1988
The Secretary of State for the Environment as respects England and the Secretary of State for Wales as respects Wales, being designated1Ministers for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to measures relating to the requirement for an assessment of the impact on the environment of projects likely to have significant effects on the environment, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by the said section 2 hereby make the following Regulations, a draft of which has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:—
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988.
(2) These Regulations shall come into force on the third day after the day on which they are made.
(3) These Regulations apply throughout England and Wales: but in the Isles of Scilly regulations 12, 13 and 17(7) apply subject to the modifications set out in regulation 26.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—
“the Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 19713, references to sections are references to sections of that Act and expressions used in that Act and these Regulations have the meaning they have in the Act save that, in relation to an appeal, references to the Secretary of State shall not be construed as references to an inspector;
“aerodrome” means a defined area on land or water (including any buildings and other installations) intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of aircraft;
“controlled waste” has the meaning assigned to it by section 30(1) of the Control of Pollution Act 19744;
“documents” include photographs, drawings, maps and plans;
“environmental information” means the environmental statement prepared by the applicant or appellant or in a case falling within regulation 17 by the author-ity, any representations made by any body required by these Regulations to be invited to make representations or to be consulted and any representations duly made by any other person about the likely environmental effects of the proposed development;
“environmental statement” means such a statement as is described in Schedule 3;
“exempt development” means particular proposed development which is the subject of a direction by the Secretary of State that these Regulations do not apply in relation to it;
“the General Development Order” means the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 19775;
“the General Regulations” means the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 19766;
“inspector” means a person appointed by the Secretary of State pursuant to Schedule 9 to the Act to determine an appeal;
“the land” means the land on which proposed development would be carried out;
“local planning authority” means the body to whom it falls or would but for a direction under section 35 fall, to determine an application for planning permission, or to whom it would fall (but for any such direction) to determine a proposed application;
“principal council” has the meaning assigned to that term by section 270(1) of the Local Government Act 19727;
“register” means a register kept pursuant to section 34 and “appropriate register” means the register on which particulars of an application for planning permission for the relevant development would fall to be placed when such an application is made;
“Schedule” means a Schedule to these Regulations;
“Schedule 1 application” means an application for planning permission (other than an application made pursuant to section 31A8or section 32) for the carrying out of development of any description mentioned in Schedule 1, which is not exempt development;
“Schedule 2 application” means, subject to paragraph (2), an application for planning permission (other than an application made pursuant to section 31A or section 32) for the carrying out of development of any description mentioned in Schedule 2, which is not exempt development and which would be likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location;
“special road” means a special road authorised by a scheme made by a local highway authority under section 16 of the Highways Act 19809for the use of traffic within Classes I and II of Schedule 4 to that Act; and
“special waste” means waste to which that term is applied by regulation 2 of the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 198010.
(2) Where the Secretary of State gives a direction which includes a statement that in his opinion proposed development would be likely, or would not be likely, to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location, or includes such a statement in a notification under regulation 10(1), that statement shall determine whether an application for planning permission for that development is, or is not, a Schedule 2 application by reason of the effects the development would be likely to have; and references in these Regulations to a Schedule 2 application shall be interpreted accordingly.
Extension of the power to provide in a development order for the giving of directions as respects the manner in which planning applications are dealt with
3. The provisions enabling the Secretary of State to give directions which may be included in a development order by virtue of section 31 shall include provisions enabling him to direct—
(a) that particular proposed development of a description set out in Schedule 1 or 2 is exempt development to which these Regulations do not apply;
(b) that particular proposed development is not development in respect of which the consideration of environmental information is required before planning permission can be granted;
(c) that particular proposed development or development of any class is development in respect of which such consideration is required.
Prohibition on the grant of planning permission without consideration of environmental information
4.—(1) This regulation applies to any Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 application received by the authority with whom it is lodged on or after 15th July 1988 and any such application lodged with the Secretary of State by an authority pursuant to regulation 7 of the General Regulations on or after that date.
For the purposes of this paragraph, the date of receipt of an application by an authority shall be determined in accordance with article 7(6A) of the General Development Order11.
(2) The local planning authority or the Secretary of State or an inspector shall not grant planning permission pursuant to an application to which this regulation applies unless they have first taken the environmental information into consideration.
(3) Subject to any direction of the Secretary of State, the occurrence of an event mentioned in paragraph (4) shall determine in the case of an application for planning permission for development, other than exempt development, that, for the purposes of this regulation, the application is a Schedule 1 or 2 application.
(4) The events referred to in paragraph (3) are—
(i)
(i) the submission by the applicant of an environmental statement expressed to be for the purposes of these Regulations;
(ii)
(ii) a failure by the applicant to apply to the Secretary of State for a direction where the local planning authority have given such an opinion as is mentioned in regulation 5(6)(a); and
(iii)
(iii) the making to that authority by the applicant of a written statement agreeing or conceding that the submission of an environmental statement is required.
Opinion as to whether an application will be a Schedule 1 or 2 application
5.—(1) A person who is minded to apply for planning permission may ask the local planning authority to state in writing whether in their opinion the proposed development would be within a description mentioned in Schedule 1 or 2 and, if so,—
(a)
(a) within which such description; and
(b)
(b) if it falls within a description in Schedule 2, whether its likely effects would be such that regulation 4 would apply.
(2) A request made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by—
(a)
(a) a plan sufficient to identify the land;
(b)
(b) a brief description of the nature and purpose of the proposed development and of its possible effects on the environment;
(c)
(c) such other information or representations as the person making the request may wish to provide or make.
(3) An authority receiving a request under paragraph (1) shall, if they consider that they have not been provided with sufficient information to give an opinion on the questions raised, notify the person making the request of the particular points on which they require further information.
(4) An authority shall respond to a request under paragraph (1) within 3 weeks beginning with the date of the request or such longer period as may be agreed in writing with the person making the request; and if they express an opinion to the effect that the consideration of environmental information would be required before planning permission could be granted for the proposed development, they shall provide with the opinion a written statement giving clearly and precisely their full reasons for their conclusion.
(5) An authority...
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