Guidelines on the Information to be Contained in Environmental Impact Statements

This document contains guidelines on the information to be contained in the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements. The 1992 Environmental Protection Agency Act (Section 72) provides for the preparation by the Environmental Protection Agency of guidelines on the information to be contained in an Environmental Impact Statement. The Act further provides that those preparing and evaluating Environmental Impact Statements shall have regard to such guidelines. The Guidelines have been prepared following wide consultation with the benefit of a number of years in circulation as 'Draft Guidelines'. Experience has shown that the quality (sufficiency and relevance) of the information in EISs is closely related to the methods and procedures employed by the participants. For this reason additional guidance has been provided to address the process that gives rise to the information contained in an EIS. At all times the Agency has attempted to stress that EIA is a practical and dynamic process of environmental protection. The specialist studies and professional evaluations used for EIA should principally aim to anticipate and avoid impacts. The greatest value occurs when the site/route is being selected and while the project is still being designed; it is first and foremost a process. Ideally the resultant EIS is a document that records this process - showing how environmental consideration helped the project to achieve the most sustainable and least disruptive integration with the local environment. The Guidelines have been drafted with the primary objective of improving the quality of Environmental Impact Statements in Ireland. Quality improvements will result from better scoping and a closer integration of EIA into both the design and development control processes. The Guidelines will help to provide developers, competent authorities and the public at large with a basis for determining the adequacy of Environmental Impact Statements, within the context of established development consent procedures. They will also provide a focus for scoping between the parties concerned. A consensus should provide all parties with the confidence to rely on concise Statements which are focused on the likely significant impacts. This will reduce the time, effort and expense required to prepare and evaluate Environmental Impact Statements and should facilitate public participation in the EIA process. The Guidelines address a wide range of project types and potential environmental issues. It must be stressed that all of these issues are unlikely to apply to every project. Each Environmental Impact Statement is a unique result of specific site issues interacting with the effects of the proposed development. From time to time the Agency intends to publish Advice Notes on Current Practice in the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements. These contain greater detail on many of the topics covered by the Guidelines as well as information on the likely range of impacts from certain classes of projects.