The Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999

Appeal to the Scottish Ministers without an environmental statement

34.  Where the Scottish Ministers are considering an appeal under section 130 and the matters which are alleged to constitute the breach of planning control comprise or include unauthorised EIA development, and the documents submitted to them for the purposes of the appeal do not include a statement referred to by the appellant as an environmental statement for the purposes of these Regulations, the following procedure shall apply–

(a) the Scottish Ministers shall, subject to paragraph (b), within the period of three weeks beginning with the day on which they receive the appeal, or such longer period as they may reasonably require, notify the appellant in writing of the requirements of paragraph (c) below;

(b) notice need not be given under paragraph (a) where the appellant has submitted a statement which he refers to as an environmental statement for the purposes of these Regulations to the Scottish Ministers for the purposes of an appeal under section 47 (right to appeal against planning decisions and failure to take such decisions) which–

(i) relates to the development to which the appeal under section 130 relates; and

(ii) is to be determined at the same time as that appeal under section 130;

and that statement, any further information, and the representations (if any) made in relation to it shall be treated as the environmental statement and representations for the purpose of regulation 29;

(c) the requirements of this paragraph are that the appellant shall, within the period specified in the notice or such longer period as the Scottish Ministers may allow, submit to them such number of copies of an environmental statement relating to the unauthorised EIA development in question as may be so specified;

(d) the Scottish Ministers shall send to the relevant planning authority a copy of any notice sent to the appellant under paragraph (a);

(e) if an appellant to whom notice has been given under paragraph (a) fails to comply with the requirements of paragraph (c), the deemed application and the ground (a) appeal (if any) shall lapse at the end of the period specified or allowed (as the case may be);

(f) as soon as reasonably practicable after the occurrence of the event mentioned in paragraph (e), the Scottish Ministers shall notify the appellant and the planning authority in writing that the deemed application and the ground (a) appeal (if any) have lapsed.