Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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1612. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government under the EIA directive, the tonnage threshold above which an EIA must be carried out in an anaerobic plant; the threshold below which there is no requirement for the EIA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34828/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Section 172(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides that an environmental impact assessment must be carried out by a planning authority or An Bord Pleanala , as the case may be, in respect of an application for consent for -

(a) proposed development of a class specified in Schedule 5 to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 which exceeds a quantity, area or other limit specified in that Schedule, and

(b) proposed development of a class specified in Schedule 5 to the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 which does not exceed a quantity, area or other limit specified in that Schedule but which the planning authority or the Board determines would be likely to have significant effects on the environment.

Part 2 of Schedule 5 provides that environmental impact assessment is mandatory in respect of -

-in relation to energy industry, industrial installations for the production of electricity, steam and hot water with a heat output of 300 megawatts or more (No.3);

-in relation to other projects, installations for the disposal of waste with an annual in take greater than 25,000 tonnes (No.11).

In relation to proposed developments of this type which do not exceed the thresholds set out, article 103(1) of the Planning Regulations provides that where a planning application for sub-threshold developm ent is not accompanied by an Environmental Impact Statement, and the likelihood of significant effects on the environment cannot be excluded by the planning authority, the planning authority must make a determination as to whether the development would be likely to have significant effects on the environment. Where it determines that the development would be likely to have significant effects, it is required to carry out an environmental impact assessment before making a decision on the planning application.