8.—(1) A prospective applicant may, where the proposed application requires an environmental statement, give notice of an intention to submit an application to the Scottish Ministers.
(2) A notice under paragraph (1) shall include the information necessary to identify the location and nature of the dredging, and shall indicate the main environmental consequences of the dredging which will be referred to in the prospective applicant’s environmental statement.
(3) On receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), the Scottish Ministers shall–
(a)notify the appropriate consultation bodies of the name and address of the prospective applicant and of the duty imposed on the consultation bodies by paragraph (4) to make information available to that person; and
(b)notify the prospective applicant of the names and addresses of the bodies notified under sub paragraph (a).
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), any body notified in accordance with paragraph (3)(a), or the Scottish Ministers, shall, if requested to do so by the prospective applicant, determine whether or not it has in its possession any information relevant to the preparation of the environmental statement and, if it has, the body or the Scottish Ministers shall make that information available to the prospective applicant.
(5) Paragraph (4) shall not require the disclosure of any information–
(a)to which the Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004(1) apply, where the person holding it would be entitled to withhold it in response to a request made in accordance with those Regulations; or
(b)which in any other case would be exempt information if request for disclosure were made in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002(2).
(6) A reasonable charge reflecting the cost of making the relevant information available may be made by a body (other than the Scottish Ministers who are responsible for deciding the application) when they make information available in accordance with paragraph (4).