Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Planning Process
The Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act, 2001 as amended by the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 sets out the process under which statutory authority for new railway projects is to be granted. This process, in short, involves an application being made to the Minister for Transport for a statutory order, called a Railway Order, for the construction, operation and maintenance of a railway.
The application for a Railway Order must be accompanied by a draft of the Order being sought, a plan of the works to be carried out under it, a list of any properties affected by the application and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Newspaper notices of the application are required to be issued and the documents submitted must be put on public display.
Following receipt of the application, the Minister is obliged to appoint an Inspector, who must hold a Public Inquiry into the application and make a report on the application to the Minister. Any person can make representations to the Minister on the application, and specifically, the environmental impact of the proposed works. Following consideration of the application, the report of the Inspector and any representations made, the Minister must make a decision to make the Order or not. The Order, if made by the Minister, is made by statutory instrument.
Environmental Impact Assessment
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the process of examining the environmental effects of a proposed development from concept through to end of life.
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a statement of the likely effects on the environment of the proposed development.
The production of an EIS for any Luas or Metro project is a significant task, working in parallel with and co-dependent on the evolving design of the project. The EIS is an essential part of compliance with the statutory procedure. RPA, using independent environmental consultants, will carry out an EIA in a number of stages.
An Environmental Desktop Study will be completed for each of the alignment options as part of the route selection stage of works. This will identify the environmental constraints and opportunities for each alignment option, and will incorporate the results of the consultation process.
An EIS Scoping report will be prepared, setting out the issues which must be addressed in the detailed EIS for the preferred route.
A comprehensive EIS will be prepared in compliance with section 39 of the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act, 2001 and based on the environmental scoping report. The EIS will include an assessment of the impacts of the Luas or Metro on human beings, flora and fauna, soil, water, air, climatic factors and the landscape and material assets, including architectural, archaeological and cultural heritage. The EIS will also estimate the expected levels of noise and vibration resulting from the construction and operation of the Luas or Metro.
During the EIA process, RPA and its consultants will liaise closely with all relevant statutory bodies including the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Dublin Airport Authority, the Office of Public Works, the National Roads Authority, the Dublin Transportation Office, An Taisce, Waterways Ireland, Department of Communications Marine & Natural Resources, and Dublin Port Company.
RPA shall establish and maintain an environmental risk register as the project evolves through design and shall develop environmental management plans for the construction and operational stages of the project to ensure compliance with the EIS commitments.
RPA GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (EIS)
The legal consent required for Railway Procurement Agency to build and operate any Metro or Luas project is known as a Railway Order. Applications for Railway Orders are made to An Bord Pleanála, the planning authority (www.pleanala.ie). This permission allows RPA to carry out the construction of the railway, acquire property needed for it, and operate and maintain the railway when it is built.
Each Railway Order Application must include an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The purpose here is to:
- Explain the purpose of an EIS and how it fits into the process for getting a Railway Order;
- Outline how RPA develops its EISs; and
- Describes how you can contribute to this process.
Q1. What is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?
An EIS is the report indicating the positive and/or negative environmental impacts that a Metro or Luas project, if carried out, would have on the environment.
Each EIS has a number of components, which include:
- A description of the proposed development (including a description of likely construction methods);
- A description of the existing environment (before Metro or Luas is built);
- A description of the impacts associated with the construction and operation of Metro or Luas;
- A description of the measures which will be implemented to mitigate any adverse impacts of Metro or Luas; and
- A non-technical summary of the EIS.
An EIS is only written following an assessment of the likely environmental impacts. That assessment process is called an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
Q2. What is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?
EIA is a process for anticipating the direct and indirect impacts of a project such as Metro and Luas on the environment. Such impacts can be classified according to their:
- Significance;
- Quality;
- Duration; and
- Type.
The primary objective of conducting an EIA is to ensure that, for projects such as Metro and Luas, environmental impacts are identified and any significant negative impacts on the environment are mitigated appropriately.
The EIA also facilitates competent authorities (such as An Bord Pleanála) in making planning decisions with full knowledge of the likely significant environmental effects of the project, having taken into account, among other things:
- the Railway Order application;
- the views of the public; and
- the views of other specialist bodies.
Q3. What is an environmental impact? And how can negative impacts be avoided?
An environmental impact is the degree of change in an environment resulting from a project such as Metro or Luas.
An objective of RPA is to avoid negative environmental impacts, where possible. This is achieved through the following steps:
1. Consideration of alternatives (i.e. alternative routes, designs and processes), in an effort to avoid significant environmental impacts
2. Where an impact cannot be avoided, mitigation measures must be designed, which can:
- Reduce the impact; or
- Remedy the impact (replace an adverse effect with a more acceptable effect).
Q4. What environmental topics will be assessed as part of the Metro or Luas EIA?
It is required by law that environmental impacts must be assessed on the following environmental topics:
- Human beings (including noise, vibration and electromagnetic effects);
- Fauna and flora;
- Soil;
- Water;
- Air;
- Climatic factors;
- Landscape;
- Material assets including the architectural and archaeological heritage and cultural heritage; and
- The interrelationship between the environmental topics.
Q5. How can I become involved in the EIA process?
It is RPA’s objective to carry out an EIA process that is transparent, where there is access to information and where the public participate in the assessment of options. RPA want to know your views and opinions on all Metro and Luas projects. We welcome submissions from persons who may be interested in or affected by our projects, for example property owners, business owners, community groups and public representatives.
One can become involved in the EIA process at two distinct stages:
- While the project is being designed, i.e. before RPA makes an application for a Railway Order; and
- After the Railway Order is applied for and on public display as part of the statutory approval process.
A) Before the Railway Order is applied for:
An application for a Railway Order will include an EIS. Before the Railway Order is applied for we carry out consultation with the interested parties and the public to inform and receive feedback on the project, including its potential environmental impacts. This includes open days at various locations along proposed route alignments, newsletters distributed to local communities and newspaper advertisements being published.
RPA newsletters also include freepost comment cards, to assist you in submitting your views. In addition, RPA may also attend public meetings organised by residents groups, and interested parties along particular route alignments and meet with persons particularly affected by our projects.
During this stage, engineering and architectural design work is also undertaken to minimise any negative environmental impacts of the project.
B) After the Railway Order application is made to An Bord Pleanála
When an application is made for a Railway Order, plans of any works to be done under it and the EIS are put on public display for a minimum of 6 weeks. Notices of the application are required to be placed in newspapers and RPA writes to property owners and occupiers affected by the application. All related documents are placed on display at An Bord Pleanála and RPA’s offices, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8. The EIS and Railway Order drawings are also available to view on the RPA website.
Once RPA has published newspaper notices of the Railway Order application and put the documents on public display, interested persons may make written submissions to An Bord Pleanála with any views they may have on the application.
Due to the nature and scale of Metro and Luas projects, it is likely that An Bord Pleanála will hold a public oral hearing in relation to any Railway Order application made by RPA. The Board will also publish newspaper notices of this hearing before it starts. As well as writing to An Bord Pleanála as outlined above, members of the public can come to an oral hearing and express their views to the An Bord Pleanála inspector.
As part of the oral hearing process An Bord Pleanála must consider any submissions made to it. It will also consider the EIS submitted as part of the application. If An Bord Pleanála decides to make a railway order, newspaper notices of this decision are published and copies of the order or relevant extracts from it will be sent to affected persons, including property owners and occupiers. The order made will also be available for the public to view at RPA’s offices, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8.
Q6. How can I contact RPA?
If you consider that the route of any proposed Luas or Metro line may be on, under or adjacent to your property or if you wish to be informed of open days or want to discuss any Metro or Luas project with the RPA, please Contact Us.