Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2017
1330. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will produce guidelines for the assessment of the climate impact of renewable energy developments on peatlands, including degraded peatlands, as requested by Friends of the Irish Environment. [34825/17]
View answerThere are no specific planning guidelines issued by my Department in relation to the assessment of the climate impact of renewable energy developments on peatlands, including degraded peatlands, as referred to by the Deputy.
It should be noted that policy matters in relation to climate change and renewable energy generally are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a body under the aegis of that Department, provides guidance on assessment of potential climate change impacts of a development as part of its Guidelines on Information to be contained in Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and associated Advice Notes on Current Practice in the Preparation of EIS (2003). I understand that the EPA has issued updated draft Guidelines in this regard to take account of changes arising from Directive 2014/52/EU relating to environmental impact assessment of certain public and private projects.
In relation to planning matters, proposals for individual renewable energy development projects may be subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the planning process, whereby the applicant must prepare an EIS, examining the impact that the particular development will have on the receiving and surrounding environment. An EIA is then carried out by the appropriate competent planning authority on a project specific basis.
Projects requiring an EIA by a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála as appropriate, in respect of an application for planning consent are listed in Schedule 5 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001. For example, Part 2 of Schedule 5 of the Regulations includes such projects as peat extraction which would involve a new or extended area of 30 hectares or more (para 2(a)) and installations for the harnessing of wind power for energy production (wind farms) with more than 5 turbines, or having a total output greater than 5 megawatts (para 3(i)). These thresholds also apply in the case where a change or extension to a project listed in Part 2 of Schedule 5 would result in an increase in size greater than 25 per cent of the appropriate threshold.
In this regard, my Department issued Guidelines for Planning Authorities and An Bord Pleanála on carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment in March 2013, the purpose of which was to provide practical guidance on procedural issues, arising from the requirement to carry out an EIA in relevant cases. These Guidelines will be updated as soon as the transposing legislation relating to Directive 2014/52/EU is in place.
