Section 13 Planning Law and Environment protection CAPE2020 2021.pptx

CAPE2020 Environmental Management and Air Quality
Prof. G..E. Andrews 2019/20
Contents
1. Introduction to the Air Quality and Environmental Management part of the module.
2. Introduction to legal framework for Air Quality legislation and the changes in the draft
Environment Bill
3. Health effects of air pollutants
4. Particulate air pollution and particle size distribution and the health effects of ultra-fine particles
5. Sources of Air pollution and Trends in emissions of pollutants that contribute to poor air quality.
6. Air quality Regulations
7. Air quality monitoring
8. Air quality limit value Regulations
9. Occupational exposure to pollution – COSHH
10. The Clean Air Acts
11. Meteorology and pollutant dispersion
12. Environmental Law
13. Town and Country Act planning law for Environmental Impact
14. Environmental Management in Industry
15. Preparing an Environmental Permit - examples
16. Emissions measurement from industrial plant

• Planning
– Controls the development and use of land in the public interest including
consideration of the impacts on the local environment and amenity
– Should assume that other regimes (e.g. Environmental Permitting
Regulations) operate effectively
• Environmental permitting
– Controls the impact on the environment and human health from the
process plant
– Ensures EU directive requirements are met including use of Best
Available Techniques (BAT)
– As a consultee to the planning process, the Environment Agency
comments on aspects relevant to the issue of a permit
Planning versus Permitting

Environmental Management
Prof. Gordon E. Andrews, SCAPE, U. Leeds. 3
Town and Country Planning (Environmental, Impact Assessment -
EIA) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999
Duxbury and Morton Statutes on Environmental Law 5th Ed. p.507-545, 2004
Implements EC Directive 85/337/EEC
Part 1 (3) Prohibition on granting planning permission without consideration of
environmental information.
3.2 The relevant planning authority or the Secretary of State or an
inspector shall not grant planning permission pursuant to an EIA
application for planning permission unless they have first taken the
environmental information into consideration and they shall state in
their decision that they have done so.
An ‘EIA application’ means an application for planning permission for EIA
development, which means development which is either (a) Schedule 1
development or (b) Schedule 2 development likely to have significant
effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size
or location.

‘Environmental information’ means the environmental
statement, which means a statement –
(a) that includes such of the information referred to in Part 1 of
Schedule 4 as is reasonably required to assess the
environmental effects of the development and which the
applicant can, having regard in particular to current
knowledge and methods of assessment, reasonably be
required to compile, but
(b) that includes at least the information referred to in Part II of
Schedule 4.
Note that we will deal with the specifics of how to apply this law
and what is required in an environmental statement at the end
of the course. We are summarising the legal requirements here.

Schedule 1 development is the largest developments: airports
with runways >2,100m, crude oil refineries, >300MW thermal
power stations, nuclear power stations and nuclear reprocessing
sites (e.g. Sellafield), steel works and other metal manufacture
from ore, asbestos works, large chemical plants, construction
lines for main railways, motorway construction, inland
waterways (canals) construction, large road widening schemes,
waste disposal installations for incineration or chemical
treatment or landfill of hazardous waste, ground water
abstraction > 100 tonnes per day, waste water treatment plants,
petroleum or natural gas extraction, dams >10M m3 water
stored, massive poultry or pig farms, large paper and pulp
plants, large quarries, large petrochemical storage sites.

Schedule 2 developments are virtually all other industries that
are smaller than the size specified in Schedule 1, but still larger
than another minimum size or are not mentioned in Schedule 1.
The principles are to specify Schedule 1 or 2 on the quantity of
material or animals or power produced. Also in Schedule 2 the
area of land involved is also used in the criteria e.g. quarries <
1000 m2 new quarry area is Schedule 2 and >25 hectacres of
total quarry size is Schedule 1. Much of Schedule 2 refers to
extension of the land area of an existing facility and is usually
>1000 m2 new land area for Schedule 2. Smaller than this and no
EIA is required when planning permission is applied for.

Schedule 2 developments
1. Agriculture and aquaculture
2. Extractive Industries
3. Energy Industries
4. Production and Processing of Metals
5. Mineral Industry
6. Chemical Industry (unless in Schedule 1)
7. Food Industry
8. Textile, leather, wood and paper industries
9. Rubber industry
10. Infrastructure Project
11. Other Projects
12. Tourism and leisure

Schedule 4 – Information for inclusion in Environmental
Statements (Duxbury and Morton, Statutes in Env. Law 2004 p.544
Jack Rostron, Environmenental Law for the Built Environment, Cavendish 2001 p.61-75,
for a full discussion of the technical process of EIA.
Part 1 (Not compulsory but Part 2 is, can be asked for any or all
items in Part 1 by the Planning Officer)
1. Description of the development –
(a) physical characteristics and land-use requirements
during construction and operation.
(b) main characteristics of the production processes –
nature and quantity of materials used
(c) estimate, by type and quantity, of expected residues and
emissions (water, air and soil pollution, noise, vibration,
light, heat, radiation, etc.)
2. Outline of the main alternatives studied and an indication
of the reasons for choice, taking into account the
environmental effects.

3. A description of the aspects of the environment likely to be
significantly affected by the development, including population,
fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climate factors, material assets,
architectural and archaeological heritage, landscape and their
inter-relationships.
4. A description of the likely significant effects of the development
on the environment, which should cover the direct effects and
any indirect, secondary, cumulative, short, medium and long-
term, permanent and temporary, positive and negative effects
of the development, resulting from:
(a) The existence of the development
(b) The use of natural resources
(c) The emissions of pollutants, the creation of nuisances and the
elimination of waste
And the description of the forecasting methods used.

5. Description of the measures envisaged to prevent, reduce and
where possible offset any significant adverse effects on the
environment.
6. A non-technical summary of the information provided
7. An indication of any difficulties (technical deficiencies or lack
of know-how) encountered in compiling the required
information.
The ECs objective in adopting EIA was to prevent pollution at source by
requiring environmental information to be considered as part of the project
authorisation procedures and in the UK this has been done by incorporation
into the existing planning procedures. EIAs require the environmental effects
of a development to be considered by the developer and the information
provided to the planners to be used in their decision making process.
Hughes et al. Env. Law 4th Ed. 2002 p.207.

Part II (These are the minimum requirements for EIA)
1. A description of the development comprising information
on the site, design and size of the development.
2. A description of the measures envisaged in order to avoid,
reduce and, if possible, remedy significant adverse effects.
3. The data required to identify and assess the main effects
which the development is likely to have on the
environment.
4. An outline of the main alternative studied and an indication
of the main reasons for the choice, taking into account the
5. A non-technical summary of the information.

Part V Publicity and procedures on submission of a EIA
13. Procedure where an EIA is submitted with the planning
application.
A key feature here is that the EIA is not made available for
public scrutiny.
14. Procedure where an EIA is submitted after the planning
application.
In this case the application has to be published in the local paper
stating that the EAI may be inspected by members of the
public and to give an address where this can be done,
which must be in the locality of the planning application.

Part VI Notification of Decisions
20. Availability of opinions for inspection
All the documents relating to the decision have to be kept for two years. A copy of
the opinion, request or direction and any accompanying statement of reasons
must be available for public inspection.
This does not include public access to the EIA.
21 Duties to inform the public and the Sec. State of the final decision.
(c) Make available for public inspection a statement:
(i) the content and conditions of the decision
(ii) the main reasons on which the decision was based
(iii) a description of the main measures to avoid, reduce and if possible offset
the major adverse effects of the development.
This still does not give the public access to the EIA. But this is the firsts time that the
public have access to the reasons that planning consent was given. There is
still no mechanism for the public (or any third party) to appeal against a
planning consent decision. Only the developer has the right of appeal if there
is a refusal of planning consent. The public can only make representation
before the plans are approved and the system of notification of a planning
application is deeply flawed. The whole system is weighted in favour of the
developer and against the public.
Jack Rostron Env. Law for the Built Environment, Cavendish, 2001, p.54.

Sustainable Planning Decision Making
Jack Rostron, Env. Law and the Built Environment, Cavendish, 2001, p.56-61.
Planning is not just about land use – there is also the issue of policy planning. This is
being driven at present in the EC by the ideal of sustainability, which grew out
of the no growth debate. The most commonly accepted definition of
sustainable development is that of the Brundtland Commission in 1987:
‘Sustainable development is development that meet the needs to the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs’
There are 3 core parts to sustainable development:
(a) Inclusion of environmental considerations in policy
(b) Commitment to a fair distribution of resources
(c) Development that acknowledges health, education and the
environment considerations.
The government has had a Sustainable development panel since 1994

Gateshead Metropolitan BC v. Secretary of State for the Environment
and Northumbrian Water Group plc. 1993
Wolf and Stanley on Environmental Law 2003 p.333
Wolf and White Environmental Law 1995 p. 338-342, Cavendish.
GMBC refused outline planning permission for a clinical waste
incinerator to be built in Gateshead by NWG. The refusal was based
on the grounds that NWG had failed to supply sufficient information
to demonstrate that the plant would operate without causing a
nuisance to the surrounding locality, including the possible release of
noxious substances. The NWG appealed to the Secretary of State
and a local public enquiry was held. This recommended that the
appeal was dismissed on the grounds that ‘the impact on air quality
and agriculture in the semi-rural location is insufficiently defined and
that public disquiet over dioxin pollution cannot be allayed and so
make the application acceptable’.

However, the Secretary of State for the Environment chose to act
against the public inquiry’s inspector’s recommendation and granted
planning permission. The Secretary of State accepted that the
pollution arising from the incinerator and its impact on neighbouring
land uses could constitute material considerations. However, he also
stated that:
‘While the planning system must determine the location of facilities
of this kind, taking into account of the provisions of the
development plan and other material considerations, the Secretary
of State considers that it is not the role of the planning system to
duplicate controls under the Environmental Protection Act 1990’
He went on to assert that the controls under the EPA were adequate
and control of emissions from the incinerator should be regulated by
HMIP (now EA).This would apply today to the IED being deemed
adequate control.

GMBC appealed against the Secretary of States decision, but their
appeal was rejected by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The High Court held that the existence of a stringent pollution control regime
under the EPA or IED was a material consideration in a planning decision. Lord
Justice Glidewell, in the Court of Appeal, accepted that the two systems of control
overlapped. However, the Court of Appeal unheld the decision of the High Court
and stated that the potential for environmental pollution would be a material
consideration when determining planning applications but so would the existence
of a system of environmental control administered by pollution control authorities.
The impact of this judgement was that it could not be argued in a planning
application that the plant would not conform to statutory air and water pollution
emission requirements, as this was for the EA to enforce. The planning permission
system could be used to ensure that the correct equipment was fitted to control the
pollution, but it could not be assumed that the equipment would not work or would
not be used – this was for the EA to police.

Town and Country Planning (Environmental, Impact Assessment -
EIA) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999
Duxbury and Morton Statutes on Environmental Law 5th Ed. p.507-545, 2004
Implements EC Directive 85/337/EEC
Part 1 (3) Prohibition on granting planning permission without consideration of
environmental information.
3.2 The relevant planning authority or the Secretary of State or an
inspector shall not grant planning permission pursuant to an EIA
application for planning permission unless they have first taken the
environmental information into consideration and they shall state in
their decision that they have done so.
An ‘EIA application’ means an application for planning permission for EIA
development, which means development which is either (a) Schedule 1
development or (b) Schedule 2 development likely to have significant
effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size
or location.

‘Environmental information’ means the environmental
statement, which means a statement –
(a) that includes such of the information referred to in Part 1 of
Schedule 4 as is reasonably required to assess the
environmental effects of the development and which the
applicant can, having regard in particular to current
knowledge and methods of assessment, reasonably be
required to compile, but
(b) that includes at least the information referred to in Part II of
Schedule 4.
Note that we will deal with the specifics of how to apply this law
and what is required in an environmental statement at the end
of the course. We are summarising the legal requirements here.

Schedule 1 development is the largest developments: airports
with runways >2,100m, crude oil refineries, >300MW thermal
power stations, nuclear power stations and nuclear reprocessing
sites (e.g. Sellafield), steel works and other metal manufacture
from ore, asbestos works, large chemical plants, construction
lines for main railways, motorway construction, inland
waterways (canals) construction, large road widening schemes,
waste disposal installations for incineration or chemical
treatment or landfill of hazardous waste, ground water
abstraction > 100 tonnes per day, waste water treatment plants,
petroleum or natural gas extraction, dams >10M m3 water
stored, massive poultry or pig farms, large paper and pulp
plants, large quarries, large petrochemical storage sites.

Schedule 2 developments are virtually all other industries that
are smaller than the size specified in Schedule 1, but still larger
than another minimum size or are not mentioned in Schedule 1.
The principles are to specify Schedule 1 or 2 on the quantity of
material or animals or power produced. Also in Schedule 2 the
area of land involved is also used in the criteria e.g. quarries <
1000 m2 new quarry area is Schedule 2 and >25 hectacres of
total quarry size is Schedule 1. Much of Schedule 2 refers to
extension of the land area of an existing facility and is usually
>1000 m2 new land area for Schedule 2. Smaller than this and no
EIA is required when planning permission is applied for.

Schedule 2 developments
1. Agriculture and aquaculture
2. Extractive Industries
3. Energy Industries
4. Production and Processing of Metals
5. Mineral Industry
6. Chemical Industry (unless in Schedule 1)
7. Food Industry
8. Textile, leather, wood and paper industries
9. Rubber industry
10. Infrastructure Project
11. Other Projects
12. Tourism and leisure

Schedule 4 – Information for inclusion in Environmental
Statements (Duxbury and Morton, Statutes in Env. Law 2004 p.544
Jack Rostron, Environmenental Law for the Built Environment, Cavendish 2001 p.61-75,
for a full discussion of the technical process of EIA.
Part 1 (Not compulsory but Part 2 is, can be asked for any or all
items in Part 1 by the Planning Officer)
1. Description of the development –
(a) physical characteristics and land-use requirements
during construction and operation.
(b) main characteristics of the production processes –
nature and quantity of materials used
(c) estimate, by type and quantity, of expected residues and
emissions (water, air and soil pollution, noise, vibration,
light, heat, radiation, etc.)
2. Outline of the main alternatives studied and an indication
of the reasons for choice, taking into account the