The European Court of Justice has today ruled that Ireland’s uniform thresholds for environmental impact assessment of rural projects ‘exceeds a member states’ discretion’.
The judgment says that projects for the restructuring of rural land holdings and projects for the use of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural may, regardless of size, result in the loss of field boundaries, and therefore of hedgerows, a loss which is ‘liable to have adverse effects on biodiversity in the countryside and significant effects on the natural environment’.
Where stone walls predominate these ‘may have archaeological importance’.
The Judgment said that ‘The use of uniform thresholds means that no examination at all is carried out in respect of the environmental effects of projects which are, however, likely to have significant effects.’
Ireland had argued that if the Court required an alternative strategy to implement the relevant provisions of the directive it ‘would have very significant implications for Irish agriculture’, particularly given that ‘one of the Irish Government’s objectives is to minimise the regulatory burden on all sectors of the economy, particularly the agricultural sector.’
The effect of the judgment will be to greatly strengthen the requirements for Environmental Impact Assessments to be carried out by land owners or occupiers on any developments that may impact on the environment, regardless of the scale.
The Court noted that, given that the average Irish field size of 2.4 hectares, a project combining 40 fields ‘which would entail the destruction of numerous hedgerows and other means of enclosure, could be granted consent without having been subject to an environmental impact assessment, although it is such as to have significant effects on biodiversity.’
The judgment also rejected the Irish threshold for EIAs of 20 hectares for water management projects for agriculture, including irrigation and land drainage projects, and the threshold for fish farms.
The environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment welcomed the judgment, which it said would ‘greatly increase the level of protection for the Ireland’s natural heritage.’
Verification and further information:
Tony Lowes 027 73131 / 087 2176316
