Any project which falls in a Schedule 1 category will definitely require an EIA. Since Schedule 2 projects are not straight-forward, the Local Planning Authority should decide if one is required after evaluating its size against some thresholds. A few examples of projects that will still require an EIA are listed below:
- Industrial estates
- in excess of 20ha
- more than 1000 dwellings within 200m
- smaller estates in sensitive rural areas
- Out-of-town shopping centres
- with a floor area of 20.000m2 or more
- Urban development schemes
- greater than 5 ha
- more than 700 dwellings within 200m from boundary
- more than 10.000m2 of shops, offices or other commercial development.
The table below summarises the categories found in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2:
Schedule 1 (23 categories) |
Schedule 2 (13 categories) |
---|---|
1. Crude-oil refineries | 1. Agriculture and aquaculture |
2. Thermal/Nuclear power stations | 2. Extractive industry |
3. Installations for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel | 3. Energy industry |
4. Integrated works for the initial smelting of cast-iron and steel | 4. Production and processing of metals |
5. Installations for the extraction of asbestos | 5. Mineral industry |
6. Chemical installations | 6. Chemical industry (unless included in Schedule 1) |
7. Railways and airports with a basic runway length longer than 2,100 m | 7. Food industry |
8. Inland waterways & ports | 8. Textile, leather, wood and paper industries |
9. Waste disposal installations or landfill of hazardous waste | 9. Rubber industry |
10. Waste disposal installations of non-hazardous waste with a capacity exceeding 100 tonnes per day. | 10. Infrastructure projects |
11. Transfer of water resources | 11. Other projects |
12. Waste water treatment plants | 12. Tourism and leisure |
13. Groundwater abstraction or artificial groundwater recharge schemes | 13. Changes and extensions |
14. Extraction of petroleum and natural gas for commercial purposes | – |
15. Dams and other installations designed for the holding back or permanent storage of water | – |
16. Pipelines with a diameter of more than 800mm and a length of more than 40km | – |
17. Installations for the intensive rearing of poultry or pigs | – |
18. Industrial plants for the production of pulp or paper | – |
19. Quarries and open‑cast mining | – |
20. Construction of overhead electrical power lines | – |
21. Storage sites (geological storage of carbon dioxide) | – |
22. Installations for the capture of carbon dioxide streams | – |
23. Any change to or extension of development listed in this Schedule | – |