PART 2

PART 2

Sets out fundamental core principles and required processes. Tone will be less discursive and more focussed on methods, procedures and technical issues. Checklists, bullet points, text boxes, flow charts, diagrams etc will be included as appropriate, with photographs and illustrations where relevant.

Chapter 4 Principles and overview of process

Methodology and terminology

- Effects assessment: magnitude, sensitivity, significance. (Impact/effect) Introduced in Chapter 1

- Defining EIA and SEA significance Principles - details in Chapters 6 and 7

- Dealing with legal, policy, LCA context depending on geographic location

- Tailoring approach to appropriate level of detail required (scale)

Length and presentation of the assessment: relevant and appropriate content

Landscape (impact) Assessment) Introduced this distinction in Chapter 2

Visual (impact) Assessment ) Details of scope and procedures in Chapters 6/7

Cumulative (impact) Assessment Introduced in Chapter 3, mentioned here under nature of effects, detail in separate Chapter 8 (possibly)

Recording key steps and maintaining an audit trail

Monitoring

Visualisations, illustrations, GIS and modelling tools Better In Chapter 7 and 9??

Key steps (flow chart?)

Summary/checklist

Introduction

4.1 This Chapter introduces the processes of LVIA and sets them in the context of the wider EIA procedures. There is now a well established set of steps and procedures for EIA which is summarised in simplified form in Figure 3.1 and in the flow chart in Figure 3.2 (a modified and simplified version of current 3.2). LVIA is normally carried out as a separate theme or topic study within an EIA and appears as a separate section of the ES. There are links between the EIA process and LVIA at virtually every stage, which are summarised below. Greater detail on how the key steps in the process are carried out specifically for landscape effects and for visual effects are included in Chapter 6 and 7 respectively. A clear distinction must be drawn between the process of carrying out the assessment - the EIA or more specifically the LVIA - and the presentation of the findings of the assessment - the Environmental Statement or ES. Guidelines on handling information about landscape and visual impacts in the Environmental Statement are provided in Chapter 9.

Some key principles of good practice

4.2Good practice in LVIA will be helped by considering the following overarching principles:Comment by Jeff: Possibly by simply adopting the following overarching principles as far as possible

Techniques and methods used should be clearly described so that the procedures can be understood by non experts and can be replicated if necessary;Comment by Jeff: This could be tricky since there are some techniques etc that probably cannot be replicated by non-experts e.g. montage work, ZTV production and so on.

Approaches should be tailored to the particular circumstances of the proposal, with legal, policy and contextual information all being specific to the particular geographical location;Comment by Jeff: Why legal or are we referring to uk variations?Comment by Jeff: Context? Location is almost point specific.

Terminology must be clearly defined;

Good records should be kept of all surveys and of the steps taken in reaching judgements about significant effects so that there is an audit trail that can be followed;

Emphasis should be placed upon key issues and effects that are likely to be most relevant to decision-making, while acknowledging where lesser concerns have been considered but not included in the detailed assessment. Quality of the assessment is more important than quantity;

Consultation with others should be used to provide relevant information and to help judgements about matters of value and significance, while making clear where professional judgement has been used;

Impartiality is vital and judgements should be both as objective as possible and the reasoning process that led to them fully explained;

If there is uncertainty about possible effects the 'precautionary principle' should be adopted and the worst-case scenario considered;Comment by Mary O'Connor: This is a term commonly used and custom & practice is to base the assessment on the worst-case, However, as you say it implies bad effects and it is worth considering altering the commonly used terms.Comment by Jeff: Worst-case is pejorative and assumes an adverse response. Should we use maximum impact or maximum effect instead?

Any limitations that may have constrained the assessment should be fully stated. These might, for example, relate to unavailability of information, effects of adverse weather or visibility on field surveys, or gaps in responses to consultations.Comment by Jeff: Or assumptions that have had to be made....

Figure 3.1 Steps in the EIA Process

Step in Process

Description

Screening

Determination of whether an EIA is needed for the proposed development

Project description/specification

Provides a description of the proposed development for the purpose of the assessment, that is, identifying the main features of the proposals and establishing parameters such as maximum extents of the development or sizes of the elements. Normally includes description of any alternatives considered.

Scoping

Makes an initial judgement about the scope of the EIA and of the issues that need to be covered under the individual topics or themes. Includes establishment of the relevant study area.

Baseline studies

Establishes the existing nature of the environment in the study area, including the effects of any changes likely to occur independently of the development proposal. Includes information on the value attached to the different environmental resources.

Prediction and description of the effects

Systematic prediction of the effects that are likely to occur and description of their nature.

Mitigation

Proposals for measures designed to for avoid, reduce or compensate for any negative effects or enhance positive effects. Mitigation proposals may be incorporated into the project design through the iterative design and assessment processComment by Jeff: Cannot really be mitigation.... Do we not need to treat environmental enhancement separately as an opportunity to build these things into the proposals so that when the assessment takes place we are able to identify positive as well as adverse effects?

Evaluation of the effects after mitigation

Systematic and transparent evaluation of the evaluation of the effects that remain after mitigation has been incorporated into the scheme proposal.

Preparation of the Environmental Statement

Presentation of the findings of the EIA in written and graphic form in the Environmental Statement.

Monitoring and auditing

Monitoring and auditing of the effects of the implementation of the proposal and of the mitigation measures proposed.Comment by Jeff: Could not agree more as an aid to good future practice but it is not formally part of the process. But keep it in and we can say that perhaps this could be made a condition of any subsequent permission.

Screening

4.3This step determines the need for an EIA. The EU Directives and UK country regulations set out the types of project, known as Annex 1/Schedule 1 projects for which an EIA is mandatory. They also list Annex 2/Schedule 2 projects which may require EIA if they are likely to have significant effects on the environment. The initial assessment of whether or not an EIA is required will usually consider the nature, size and location of the development and the nature and scale of the likely environmental effects.

4.4 The proposer of a scheme may seek a screening opinion from the competent authority (usually the local authority or other regulating body) to indicate whether an EIA is required Government guidance suggests that when decisions are made by the competent authority as to the need for an EIA, the first criterion to be taken into account should be whether or not the development is in a location that falls within a defined (in the UK country regulations) range of sensitive areas. From a landscape perspective the list of such areas includes National Parks, the Broads, landscapes appearing on the World Heritage List and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and equivalent areas in Scotland. Other areas designated at a local level may also be relevant.

4.5If all or part the proposed development is in a sensitive area then consideration is given to the thresholds relating to different types of development included in Schedule 2 of the EIA Regulations and to the following criteria set out in Government Guidance[footnoteRef:1]: [1: Department for Communities and Local Government (2006) Environmental Impact Assessment: A guide to good practice and procedures. A consultation paper. Paragraph 69, Page 26.]

Characteristics of development taking into account aspects such as size, raw material usage, emissions and risk of accidents;

Location of development the environmental sensitivity of the areas likely to be affected including existing land uses and the capacity of the existing environment to absorb the new development;Comment by Jeff: Surely the potential sensitivity given that we cannot be sure of such a thing until the assessment has taken place.Comment by Jeff: We wont know this until the assessment has been carried out.

Characteristics of the potential impact in particular with regard to its extent, complexity, proba