Publicity and decisions

Notice of Determination

Once the need for an EIA has been established, this determination must be made available to the public. Where an EIA is required the Notice of Determination (NoD) will be published in the Edinburgh Gazette and at least one local newspaper.

Where the determination is that an EIA is not required, the NoD shall be published in the Edinburgh Gazette and at least one newspaper local to the area of the project. This should occur in conjunction with the notice of the draft order or scheme, where relevant. The NoD preparation process is described below. The NoD templates are available from the Transport Scotland Environmental Advisor.

  1. RoD prepared by Operating Company (OC) or Consultant and submitted to TS Environmental Advisor.
  2. RoD reviewed and RoD signed by TS Environmental Advisor. NoD prepared.
  3. NoD submitted to Administration Team for publishing when RoD has been approved by the TS Director.
  4. For negative determinations, TS Administration Team notifies OC when the NoD has been published.

Where a project or scheme does not fall under Annex I or Annex II and is not a relevant project, and there is a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) required, a RoD must still be prepared and a NoD published. The NoD must be published before the details of the project are published. In practice the NoD and draft orders are published at the same time. Templates for a non-relevant RoD and associated NoD are available from the Transport Scotland Environmental Advisor.

Publicity of EIAR

The EIAR must be published not later than the date when details of the project are published. Publication of an EIAR will be provided through publication of a notice in the Edinburgh Gazette and in at least one newspaper local to the area of the project.

Where the EIAR accompanies a draft order or scheme, the notices shall be conjoined.

The notice should include details of where to inspect and how to obtain a copy of the EIAR, as follows:

  • The EIAR shall be made available for inspection by any person, free of charge, at all reasonable hours in the local area.
  • Copies of the EIAR shall be available to be obtained by any person, at a reasonable charge.
  • A website shall be used for the purpose of giving information to the public about projects of a category into which the project falls.
  • A copy of the EIAR shall be available for inspection at a specified website address.

The notice should also state that:

  • Persons who want to make representations about the project and the EIA report may do so in writing to the Scottish Ministers at a specified address within a specified period.
  • The Scottish Ministers will take into consideration any representations so made before deciding whether or not to proceed with the project with or without modifications.

The period for representations set out in the notice is to be at least 42 days from the date of publication of the notice.

A reasonable charge may be made for the supply of an EIAR to a person other than a consultation body, or to a consultation body to which one copy has already been supplied free of charge.

Publicity of other environmental assessment reports

Where non-statutory environmental assessment reports are prepared, there is no formal requirement for notification and consultation. However, it may be beneficial to publish non-statutory environmental assessment reports for certain projects to enable consultation with affected communities and stakeholders. If considered appropriate, this approach should be agreed with the relevant Environmental Advisor.

Public Local Inquiry

Upon publication of the EIAR and draft Road Orders, if objections are received from any statutory consultee (e.g. local authorities, navigation authorities, Scottish Water, SEPA, NatureScot, HES) or landowners affected by the scheme and the objections cannot be resolved, a public local inquiry may be held. This is an official process to review the scheme, the objection(s) to it and to review evidence in order to come to a decision as to whether the scheme can progress or whether it must be amended to satisfy the objection(s) received.

Decision making and publicity of decision (Notice of Decision)

When considering the project, Transport Scotland must take account of the EIAR and the opinions received during the 6-week consultation period from the public and the consultation bodies. The consideration should also include additional environmental commitments made during the course of a Public Local Inquiry (should one be held).

Where Transport Scotland decide to proceed with the project, a decision notice (called a Notice of Decision) must be published. This should confirm that they have taken the above information into account and also sets out information about the decision, any conditions, the reasons for the decision (taking account of public opinions) and measures which will be taken to mitigate adverse effects of the project. It should also include information on how the decision can be challenged.

The formal requirements of the notice are included in Appendix F to this Guidance Note. Templates are available from the Transport Scotland Environmental Advisor.

The notice must be published in the Edinburgh Gazette and at least one local newspaper in the area of the project. In addition, the notice must be published on a website used by the Scottish Government for the purpose of giving information to the public about projects of a category into which the project falls.

This notice is published by the Scottish Government.

The consultation bodies are also notified of the decision.

 

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