EIA Regulations meaning

In this issue: Planning applications and decisions Planning judicial and statutory review Planning policy Heritage and natural environment LexTalk® Planning: a LexisNexis® community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Planning applications and decisions MHCLG publishes new planning consultation direction for England The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) Direction 2026, made under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, SI 2015/595. Under this Direction, local planning authorities (LPAs) must approach the Secretary of State before turning down planning consent for schemes of 150 or more dwellings or flats, where the application remains undetermined before 11 May 2026. See: LNB News 31/03/2026 29. MHCLG publishes planning committee reform response alongside consultation on draft regulations MHCLG has released its reply to the 2025 technical consultation on planning committee reform, together with the launch of a consultation on draft...

Pearce v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2021] EWHC 326 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? While the facts are specific to this matter, multiple offshore schemes along England’s east coast are moving through consent, and each must robustly account for cumulative effects. The case also underlines mounting pushback from local communities against sizeable onshore infrastructure in the area, coinciding with BEIS’s programme reviewing offshore transmission and different approaches to linking offshore wind schemes and landing renewable power. The court further made clear that, even where a proposal aligns with government policy and helps deliver low‑carbon, renewable generation consistent with legal duties towards ‘net zero’ and tackling climate change, that alignment does not displace the requirement for any application to evaluate every impact properly and in accordance with the law. All such proposals therefore need to demonstrate, through the application process, that cumulative and project‑specific effects have been considered with sufficient rigour, rather than assuming policy support or climate objectives will...

In this issue: Key developments Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental assessment Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat protection Marine Waste Waste producer responsibility Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments European Affairs Committee launches inquiry into UK-EU dynamic alignment The House of Lords European Affairs Committee has opened a call for evidence for a fresh inquiry into dynamic alignment, as part of the parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s UK-EU reset. As the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote nears, the inquiry will assess the implications of prospective UK-EU arrangements under which the UK would align with specified areas of EU law, engage in EU law decision-shaping processes, and make financial contributions to relevant...

National policy 25-Year Environment Plan —the 25-Year Environment Plan outlines the government’s commitments to enhance the environment within a generation. The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (EIP 2023) for England was the first statutory update to the 25-Year Environment Plan under the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021). On 1 December 2025, it was replaced by the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 (EIP 2025), now the current environmental improvement plan for EA 2021 purposes. EIP 2025 renews the long-term framework for achieving environmental outcomes, revises the interim targets in EIP 2023 and adds two new interim targets. EIP 2025 is pertinent to waste planning as part of the broader policy to improve resource efficiency and drive the move to a more circular economy, complementing the Resources and Waste Strategy and the Waste Management Plan for England (see below). Resources and Waste Strategy The Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how the government intends to conserve material resources by cutting waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy in...

Key legislation Environmental impact assessment (EIA) safeguards the environment by obliging the planning decision‑maker, including a local planning authority (LPA), when determining whether to grant planning permission for a project likely to have significant environmental effects, to take those likely significant effects into account in the decision‑making process within town and country planning matters as part of that decision‑making process. In the context of town and country planning, EIA is regulated by: the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (English EIA Regulations), SI 2017/571 in England; and the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (Welsh EIA Regulations), SI 2017/567 in Wales together, the ‘EIA Regulations’. The EIA Regulations implement into English and Welsh law the changes introduced by Archived Directive 2014/52/EU to Archived Directive 2011/92/EU on assessing the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (as they had effect immediately before IP completion day—11 pm on 31 December 2020), insofar as they...

This Tracker helps planning practitioners keep up to date with Brexit legislation that affects their areas of practice. A series of Brexit SIs have been made, exercising powers under the European Communities Act 1972 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018), to fix failures of assimilated law (previously referred to as retained EU law) to function effectively after exit, and other deficiencies arising from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Items of particular relevance to planning lawyers are included in the table below. The table also outlines bills/Acts of Parliament arising from Brexit which may interest planning practitioners. For further guidance see Practice Note: Brexit—the implications for English and Welsh planning law and practice. For a full list of Brexit legislation, see Practice Note: Brexit legislation tracker... Brexit SIs Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/579 — made on 15 March 2019; in force from IP completion day...