EPS & EIA Environmental Performance Statement / Environmental Impact Assessment

An Environmental Performance Statement (EPS) is a written statement that accompanies a planning application. It provides detailed information on a range of environmental conditions and indicates how these will be affected by the proposed development. Applicants of proposed developments over a certain size will be expected to also fill out the sustainable buildings sections of the EPS to ensure that their proposals incorporate sustainable design measures as far as possible.

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1. The term 'environmental impact assessment' (EIA) describes a procedure that must be followed for certain types of project before they can be given 'development consent'. The procedure is a means of drawing together, in a systematic way, an assessment of a project's likely significant environmental effects. This helps to ensure that the importance of the predicted effects, and the scope for reducing them, are properly understood by the public and the relevant competent authority before it makes its decision.

2. Environmental impact assessment enables environmental factors to be given due weight, along with economic or social factors, when planning applications are being considered. It helps to promote a sustainable pattern of physical development and land and property use in cities, towns and the countryside. If properly carried out, it benefits all those involved in the planning process.

3. From the developer's point of view, the preparation of an environmental statement in parallel with project design provides a useful framework within which environmental considerations and design development can interact. Environmental analysis may indicate ways in which the project can be modified to avoid possible adverse effects, for example through considering more environmentally friendly alternatives. Taking these steps is likely to make the formal planning approval stages run more smoothly.

4. For the planning authority and other public bodies with environmental responsibilities, environmental impact assessment provides a basis for better decision making. More thorough analysis of the implications of a new project before a planning application is made, and the provision of more comprehensive information with the application, should enable authorities to make swifter decisions. While the responsibility for compiling the environmental statement rests with the developer, it is expected that the developer will consult those with relevant information, and the Regulations specifically require that public authorities which have information in their possession which is relevant to the preparation of the environmental statement should make it available to the developer.

5. The general public's interest in a major project is often expressed as concern about the possibility of unknown or unforeseen effects. By providing a full analysis of a project's effects, an environmental statement can help to allay fears created by lack of information. At the same time, early engagement with the public when plans are still fluid can enable developers to make adjustments which will help to secure a smoother passage for the proposed development and result in a better environmental outcome. The environmental statement can also help to inform the public on the substantive issues which the local planning authority will have to consider in reaching a decision. It is a requirement of the Regulations that the environmental statement must include a description of the project and its likely effects together with a summary in non-technical language. One of the aims of a good environmental statement should be to enable readers to understand for themselves how its conclusions have been reached, and to form their own judgments on the significance of the environmental issues raised by the project.

6. Environmental impact assessment can therefore be helpful to all those concerned with major projects. The following paragraphs describe the procedures for deciding whether EIA is necessary in a particular case and, where it is, for carrying out the assessment. The procedure is intended to make the most of the potential benefits of EIA, while keeping the process as simple and flexible as possible, and avoiding any duplication of existing planning procedures.

Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

From 1st April 2010, medium to large energy users will be required to measure and report their energy usage including electricity, gas and fuel oil). From 1st April 2011, any users must also purchase emissions allowanaces from the RC scheme - effectively, permits to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.

You may already have been contacted by the Environmental Agency about your new obligations but do you know exactly how CRC will affect you? CRC forms part of the UK Government's drive towards a low-carbon economy and is intended to encourage energy efficiency. The scheme provides financial incentives to reduce energy use by putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions. There is also a corporate reputational incentive in that all the organisations which used (in 2008) more than 6,000MWh of electricity, through half hourly meters, will be named in a public performance league table, against which a bonus or penalty payment will be calculated. Organisations that consumed less than 6,000MWh of electricity in 2008, but are metered on a half hourly basis, will be required to make their information disclousure online or through an agent like Energy Assessors London.