Electricity Act 1989 - transmission line projects and environmental impact assessment: pre-application consultation and engagement guidance

6. Other guidance and application submission

Process Guidance

The ECU has published Good Practice Guidance for Applications under Section 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989. That guidance sets out the general procedure for applications where the development concerned is an development requiring EIA.

The ECU has also set out the procedure for “priority applications”^[8] for consent to install overhead line transmission infrastructure under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989. The Guidance sets out a process to determine certain priority applications within 52 weeks of the date of application (after pre-application consultation and engagement).

Consultation following Submission of the Application

Following the submission of the section 37 application to ECU, a notice is published by the TO in the relevant online and newspaper locations and on the TO’s website.

Similar to earlier stages, a consultee list is prepared which includes the names and contact details (including up to date email addresses) of all consultees. The consultation bodies to be consulted by the Scottish Ministers at application stage under the EIA Regulations are the relevant planning authority, NatureScot, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Historic Environment Scotland, and any other relevant public bodies with specific environmental responsibilities or local and regional competencies who the Scottish Ministers consider are likely to have an interest in the proposed development.

Consultation responses to the application are published on the ECU portal as soon as reasonably practicable after they are received.

Members of the general public, local communities or groups may make representations and comment to the Scottish Ministers on the application. Detailed guidance on how to submit representations via the ECU portal is available at the following link: Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit - Help

Representations can also be emailed to representations@gov.scot or in writing to: Energy Consents Unit, Scottish Government, 5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G2 8LU.