What environmental assessment is required before planning permission for a wind farm is granted and whether such assessment includes a floo…

Wind farms of over 50 mega watts capacity require consent from the Scottish ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. In granting consent under this procedure planning permission is deemed to be granted. Wind farms of smaller capacity require planning permission from the relevant planning authority under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. The electricity consent procedures and the planning permission procedures have associated formal environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements contained in the Electricity Works (Assessment of Environmental Effects) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 and the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 respectively.The information required to be included in the environmental statement associated with an EIA will depend on the particular circumstances of each case. Prior to seeking consent or planning permission, a developer may approach the competent authority (either the Scottish ministers or the planning authority) to seek an opinion on the scope of the environmental statement.Where an application for planning permission is involved, aside from the formal EIA procedures, planning authorities also have powers to require the submission of further information necessary to determine the application. This can include information on, for example, environmental issues, flood risk or traffic impact.