Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening process: EIR release

Information requested

“Clarification and relevant documentation on the decision-making process for:

1. EIA Screening for ECU00006022 – Was a separate EIA screening request submitted for ECU00006022 (Parcel B), or was the EIA screening determination for ECU00004926 (Parcel A) applied to both projects?

2. Criteria for EIA Exemption – What specific criteria were used to determine that an EIA was not required for both ECU00004926 (240MW) and ECU00006022 (102MW) under the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017?

3. Consultation Process – Please provide a list of all statutory consultees (including SEPA, NatureScot, Historic Environment Scotland, and any other relevant bodies) that were consulted as part of the EIA screening process for both ECU00004926 and ECU00006022.

4. Decision-Making Documentation – Please provide documentation or correspondence explaining the rationale for applying the EIA screening decision from ECU00004926 to ECU00006022, given that ECU00006022 was submitted over a year later as a separate application.

5. Regulatory Considerations for Splitting the Project – Please provide any internal documentation discussing the regulatory implications of splitting this project into two separate applications rather than submitting a single 342MW application.”

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

I enclose some of the information you requested and will address each of your points in turn:

1. The answer to your question is no – there was not a separate EIA screening request submitted for ECU00006022 (Parcel B). The screening request submitted in respect of ECU00004926 (Parcel A) was applicable to both ECU00004926 and ECU00006022.

2. It was deemed not to be necessary that an EIA was required for ECU00006022 (Parcel B) as this was covered by the request in respect of ECU00004926 (Parcel A) and as per Schedule 3 of the EIA regulations.

3. Details of those consulted in respect of ECU00004926 (Parcel A), together with their responses are all publicly held on the portal. The information you have requested is available from Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit. The Energy Consents Portal allows for full transparency of each application made by publishing all documents relating to an application, including the decision. Details of those consulted is also included within the screening opinion for ECU00004926 and available from the portal. For ECU00006022, the only consultee was the planning authority as per page 2 of the screening opinion and information is also publicly held on the ECU portal.

4. It was decided that screening was not deemed to be necessary for ECU00006022. For clarity, when ECU00004926 (application A) was submitted, it was screened to be non-EIA because after weighing up the criteria in Schedule 3 of The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 against the impacts of the proposed development, it was deemed that any subsequent s36 application did not need to be accompanied by an EIA report.

5. Please find enclosed a copy of some of the information requested, entitled Annex A. We do not hold any further information for this part of your request because we do not hold any further information in respect of internal documentation discussing the regulatory implications of splitting the project into two separate applications.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested in respect of points 3, 4 & 5 owing to the following exception(s) under regulation(s) of the EIRs applies to that information:

1. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information.
2. An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information.
3. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format.
4. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section
34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information requested. This exceptions is subject to the 'public interest test.' Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception.

An exception 6(1)(b) of the EIRs (information already available) is subject to the ‘public interest test’.Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception, as the information is already publicly available.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held) applies to some of the information requested. This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500454963 - Information Released - Annex A

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