understanding eia ewan calcott - chartered foresters

Ewan Calcott

Regulations Team Manager

Understanding EIA

EIA, and what's changed

Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry)

(England and Wales) Regulations 1999

From EU Council Directive 97/11/EC (1997)

• Implemented in UK law in 1999

• Updated in 2014 by EU (Directive 2014/52/EU)

• Updates implemented in UK law (May 2017)

• Forestry Commission is ‘Relevant Authority’ in England

Mandatory change in 2017:

A project proposer must provide evidence of environmental checks and their assessment, and stakeholder engagement, to demonstrate a forestry project seeking an EIA determination or assessment will not have a significant effect.

2 Woodland Creation Design 2018

EIA forestry projects

Projects types:

• Afforestation – planned creation of new woodland

• Deforestation – planned removal of woodland to another habitat

• Roads and / or quarries - for forestry use

Thresholds:

Area (ha) thresholds are applied, including for Sensitive land designations that are identified in the EIA Regulations

• European sites (designated under the Habitats and Species regs)

• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• Local Nature Reserve (from local authorities)

• National Nature Reserves

• National Parks

• Ramsar sites

• Scheduled Monuments

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest

• The Broads

• World Heritage Sites & buffers

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Statutory bodies (NE, HE, EA) were advised of the changes to information requirements. Water, biodiversity and heritage are themes specifically referred to within the EIA Forestry Regulations

Woodland Creation Design 2018

4

EIA - Low Risk afforestation

Low Risk [Yellow] map layer is available on FC - LIS

‘Sensitive areas’ [shown in grey]

• European sites (under the Habitats and Species regs)

• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

• Local Nature Reserve (from local authorities)

• National Nature Reserves

• National Parks

• Ramsar sites

• Scheduled Monuments

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest

• The Broads

• World Heritage Sites

Low Risk also excludes;• RSPB Important Bird Areas (IBA)

• Acid Vulnerable Catchments

• Common land

• Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements

• Best / Most versatile agricultural land (Classes 1-3a)

• Priority habitat (from the Priority Habitat Inventory)

• Registered battlefields

• Registered parks and gardens

• Deep peat

NB: Low Risk includes land in ELS

EIA - Seeking an opinion

Common routes to an EIA opinion:

FC screens proposals for environmental risk;

• The grant application form, or

• The EIA enquiry request form

Form questions look to identify or rule out potential environmental issues, and signpost project proposers to sources of advice.

Proposers should provide evidence they have ‘sought advice’.

For 2018:

• FC will direct projects towards relevant environmental information (where required), to help proposers meet EIA Regulations information requirements.

• FC will work with project proposers to screen issues out, rather than seek an environmental statement


EIA - Determining a project

FC will review proposed projects in detail:

Evidence of ‘proposer checks’ are made against:

• Historic environment – Archaeology / HER records

• Biodiversity – Ecology records / remnant habitats and features

• Stakeholders – Neighbours, parish, interest groups

• Landscape character – Does it support woodland expansion?

• Landscape design –

• Design synthesis - Is it responsive to site features and landform

• Water – Flood risk, water quality, quantity, temperature

• Soils – use of Ecological Site Classification (ESC)

• Resilience - Appropriate species mixture(s) / Use of ESC

(This is not an exhaustive list)

Balance the project with the apparent level of risk


EIA information - 2018

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Basic Notification Full Notification EIA Opinion

Assessment Assessment Full Screening

2ha-5ha 5ha-50Ha All other projects

EIA Enquiry form / Grant application

Information about the proposer/ agent

and basic description of the project

Map / maps of the project area

LERCs and HER search

Other local environmental information ()

Land cover(s) field survey ()

Neighbours / Local stakeholders views ()

Statutory stakeholders views

Evidence of agreement / consent provided.

Proposals meet with statutory body

guidance or advice

() ()

Woodland Creation Plan

Demonstrating UKFS compliance, including

assessment of local environmental effects,

design, mitigation methodology

* ()

Information

requirements

* Pre-screening of 'Low Risk' reduces the information burden within a woodland creation plan when

compared to applications under EIA screening


EIA decision timescales

Notification:

A new Regulation for some EIA decision making on Afforestation projects

NOTE: Applications for FC grant aid:

• A grant application starts an EIA determination process

• However, application processes ‘delay’ final EIA decision until a grant offer is made

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EIA Assessment

Project Scale EIA decision period Outcome

Basic Notification

2ha – 5ha 28 days Afforestation projects only:If no EIA decision is provided within timescale, the Project can progress

without EIA decisionAssumed consent:

Full Notification

5ha- 50ha in Low Risk

only

42 days (includes 28 day Public Register

period)

Full EIA screening

All other projects

28 days(after which an

application can appeal to SoS for a EIA decision)

Project cannot progress until FC gives its EIA Opinion


FC consults

Non designated sites Response

County archaeologist Notification for any woodland creation 28 days

Local AuthorityConsultation for any woodland creation >10ha

28 days

Local Access ForumConsultation for any woodland creation on Open Access land

28 days

Designated or Protected sites Response

Natural EnglandSSSI / SAC / SPA / NNR

Consultation for any woodland creation on or potentially affecting …

28 days

Historic EnglandScheduled Monument /Reg. Park & Garden / Reg. Battlefield /World Heritage Site

Consultation for any woodland creation on or potentially affecting

28 days

AONB / National Park / Heritage Coast

Consultation for any woodland creation >5ha

28 days

Public RegisterNotification of the public of a woodland creation proposal

28 days

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Ministerial Direction (1984) and subsequent Statements

- FC notifies or consults on woodland creation projects with;


EIA guidance

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Guidance on developing EIA

compliant forestry projects is available

online


A framework for project proposers

What do they need to do?

What, where and who?

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Project

Stakeholders

ScaleSensitivity


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Challenges for forestry


Forestry projects and EIA


Identifying constraints to afforestation

Sourcing and using easily available environmental information in England

Forestry Commission expectations…

Seeing the big picture

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Information is available:

• Field survey

• Previous owners land records

• Online record searches

• Aerial images

• Maps and online mapping data

• Local record centres

• Statutory bodies

• Stakeholder engagement

• Neighbours

• Incentives targeting

Woodland Creation Planning Grant

funding is available


Online data – The map


Online data – aerial images


Online data – LIS


Online data – Magic.gov.uk


Online data – NBN Atlas


Online data – Heritage Gateway


Online data - WIYBY


Ecological Site Classification

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What trees will the site grow now, and in the future?


Online data – Data.Gov.UK


Identifying constraints to afforestation

Field investigations – Unrecorded evidence

Field survey (1)


Field survey–Crops and habitat


Field survey – Site features

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Field survey - People


Field survey - Access


Other regulations

Checks on the area around a forestry project will identify:

• areas and/or issues of environmental importance

• key stakeholders to engage with

Other consents, licences or permissions may be needed:

• Statutory bodies:

• Historic England – Scheduled monuments consent

• Natural England – SSSI consent / Priority Habitats assessment

• Planning authorities – Planning permission e.g. for infrastructure

• Water authorities:

• Environment Agency – Permitting ‘main river’ corridor / riparian zone planting / planting on / near flood defences, etc.

• Local Authority / Inland Drainage Board – Non-main river permissions and protecting drinking water supplies

• Common land – Secretary of State consent

• Open Access land – Local Access Forum approval

Early liaison with these bodies, and acting on their advice will speed up EIA and other permissions


EIA – Achieving a balance

Project proposers should;

• Identify and map constraints and features,

• Establish a Risks and Issues record and log responses,

• Produce a final concept plan.

The right tree in the right place (for the right reason)

As part of the development of a project, proposers should look to;

• Avoid locally sensitive locations where forestry will have a

negative impact, or

• Mitigate for the identified impact, and describe how that

mitigation will work, or

• Compensate for the identified impact, and describe how that

compensation will offset the loss.

If the FC is not satisfied, we will call for an Environmental Statement


understanding eia ewan calcott - chartered foresters

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