How to request an EIA screening opinion
A screening opinion decides whether your scheme is EIA development before you apply. Here is what the request must contain, how long the council has, and what to do with the answer.
An EIA screening opinion request asks the local planning authority to decide, before you apply, whether your scheme is EIA development. You can make the request at any point before the application goes in, the authority has three weeks to adopt an opinion unless you agree a longer period in writing, and a negative opinion is the single most useful piece of paper a major applicant can hold. It closes off the argument that the application is invalid for want of an Environmental Statement.
The procedure sits in the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. The Regulations set out what the request must contain, what the authority must consider and what happens when it does not answer.
What the opinion actually decides
A screening opinion decides one question: is the development likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location. It does not decide whether permission should be granted, it does not fix the scope of any assessment, and it is not a judgement on the merits of the scheme.
Two consequences follow from a positive opinion. First, the application cannot be validated without an Environmental Statement prepared by competent experts. Second, the determination period becomes 16 weeks rather than the 13 weeks that applies to other major development.
A negative opinion binds the authority for that scheme as described. Change the scheme materially and the screening has to be revisited, which is why the description in the request needs to be drawn generously enough to cover the design development you expect.
Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 development
Schedule 1 lists project types where assessment is mandatory. Crude oil refineries, large thermal power stations, waste disposal installations for hazardous waste and similar. If a project is in Schedule 1 there is nothing to screen.
Schedule 2 is where almost all planning work sits. A project is Schedule 2 development if it falls within a description in column 1 and either any part of it is in a sensitive area, or it meets or exceeds the applicable threshold in column 2. Urban development projects at paragraph 10(b) catch most residential and mixed-use schemes, with thresholds tied to site area and dwelling numbers.
The sensitive area route is the one people miss. Sensitive area is a defined term and includes sites of special scientific interest, National Parks, National Landscapes, World Heritage Sites, scheduled monuments and European sites. Where any part of the red line touches one of those, the thresholds fall away and the project is Schedule 2 regardless of size. Green Belt is not a sensitive area for these purposes, which surprises people every year.
What the request has to contain
The Regulations are specific. A request must include a plan sufficient to identify the land, a description of the development including its physical characteristics and, where relevant, of any demolition, a description of the location with particular regard to the environmental sensitivity of the area, and a description of the aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected. You may add your own description of the effects you expect and any other information you want considered.
That last part is the opportunity. An authority reading a bare description with no effects analysis has every reason to screen cautiously. A request that works through the relevant topics, explains the mitigation designed into the scheme and says why the residual effects do not cross that threshold gives the case officer the reasoning to adopt a negative opinion.
Keep it proportionate. Five to fifteen pages plus a location plan is normal for a residential scheme. Anything longer starts to look like a scoping report and invites the authority to treat it as one.
Thresholds and the Schedule 3 criteria
Exceeding a Schedule 2 threshold does not mean EIA is required. It means the project must be screened. The test is applied using the selection criteria in Schedule 3, grouped under three headings: the characteristics of the development, its location, and the type and characteristics of the potential impact.
In practice the criteria that do the work are cumulation with other existing and approved development, the environmental sensitivity of the area, and the magnitude and probability of the effects. Cumulation is the one that catches phased sites. Screening phase two of a scheme in isolation, when phases one and three are consented and under construction, is the error that produces a legal challenge rather than a refusal.
Set out your analysis against the Schedule 3 headings in the same order the Regulations use. Officers are checking they have covered each one, and a request that mirrors the structure is faster to agree.
How long the authority has
The authority must adopt a screening opinion within three weeks of receiving a valid request, or within any longer period agreed in writing. It must give the main reasons for its conclusion by reference to the Schedule 3 criteria, and the opinion goes on the public register, which is part of the wider duty covered in the statutory planning register and what must be on it.
Agreeing an extension is usually the right call. A rushed opinion is a cautious opinion. Where the authority asks for another fortnight because its ecologist is on leave, give it.
Where a site crosses an administrative boundary, both authorities screen, and the two can reach different conclusions. That is one of several reasons why cross-boundary schemes need managing from the start, as set out in applications to two councils.
Going to the Secretary of State
If the authority fails to adopt an opinion in time, or adopts one you consider wrong, you can ask the Secretary of State for a screening direction. A direction overrides the local opinion.
Use it sparingly. The request is made with copies of what went to the authority plus the opinion if one was issued, and the Secretary of State aims to respond within three weeks. It is a reasonable route where an authority has screened a scheme into EIA on grounds that do not engage Schedule 3 at all. It is a poor route where the disagreement is about planning judgement on a finely balanced scheme, because you spend six weeks and often end up in the same place.
Acting on a positive opinion
A positive opinion changes the programme more than the budget, though it changes the budget too. Ask immediately for a scoping opinion, because scoping is what controls the cost of the Environmental Impact Assessment. An unscoped assessment expands to fill every topic anyone mentions.
Then line up the survey seasons. Bat emergence surveys, botanical survey windows and winter bird work do not compress. A positive screening opinion in October on a site with hedgerows and an old barn can push submission to the following autumn, and no amount of resource will change that.
The Environmental Statement itself must be prepared by competent experts under the 2017 Regulations. That is a legal requirement, not a preference. A drafted structure, a topic register and the non-technical summary framework can be produced quickly, but the assessment chapters belong to the specialists who carry the competence and the liability.
Where the scheme changes during determination and new information is submitted, the authority has to consult again, which affects the timetable in the way described in re-consultation after amended plans.
Illustrative example: a 180 dwelling scheme on 6 hectares of arable land adjoining a river corridor exceeds the dwelling threshold at paragraph 10(b), so it is Schedule 2 and must be screened. The screening request sets out the drainage strategy, the ecological buffer and the absence of designated sites within the zone of influence, and concludes that the threshold is not crossed. The authority may still screen it in. The point of the request is that the reasoning is on the record either way.
Browse the 66 PlanScope report types to see what a major application pack normally contains alongside the screening work.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a local planning authority have to adopt a screening opinion?
Three weeks from receipt of a valid request, unless you agree a longer period in writing. The authority must give the main reasons for its conclusion by reference to the Schedule 3 selection criteria, and the opinion goes on the public register. Agreeing a short extension is usually better than forcing a rushed decision, because a hurried opinion tends to be a cautious one.
Is Green Belt a sensitive area for EIA screening?
No. Sensitive area is a defined term in the 2017 Regulations covering sites of special scientific interest, National Parks, National Landscapes, World Heritage Sites, scheduled monuments and European sites. Green Belt is not included. If any part of the application site sits in one of the listed areas, the Schedule 2 thresholds fall away and the project must be screened whatever its size.
Can I apply without requesting a screening opinion?
Yes, but the authority can screen the development of its own motion at validation or later, and a positive opinion at that stage stops the application until an Environmental Statement is produced. For any scheme near a Schedule 2 threshold or a sensitive area, requesting an opinion first removes that risk and costs three weeks rather than a season.
What happens if the council misses the deadline or screens the scheme in?
You can ask the Secretary of State for a screening direction, which overrides the local opinion. It is worth using where the authority has relied on grounds that do not engage the Schedule 3 criteria. It is less useful where the disagreement is a matter of planning judgement on a borderline scheme, since the process itself takes several weeks.
Does a positive screening opinion change the determination period?
Yes. EIA development is determined in 16 weeks rather than the 13 weeks that applies to other major applications. The larger programme risk is survey seasonality: emergence surveys, botanical windows and wintering bird work cannot be compressed, so a positive opinion late in the year can move submission by nearly twelve months.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.