New EcIA Checklist published

CIEEM and the Association of Local Government Ecologists (ALGE) have published a new Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) Checklist.

The EcIA Checklist provides criteria to be considered when reviewing an Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) report. It has been developed by CIEEM and ALGE. CIEEM recommends that ecological consultants incorporate the EcIA Checklist into their Quality Assurance procedures when checking/reviewing an EcIA report.

The completion and submission of the Checklist to accompany an EcIA report may become a requirement in some Local Planning Authority areas. Its use will be trialled in some areas in 2020 for a period of up to six months, after which its effectiveness and practicality will be reviewed. This may lead to it becoming a permanent requirement, and may encourage its use in other regions.

In the trial areas, the Checklist would need to be completed initially by the ecologist acting on behalf of the applicant – it would be their responsibility to confirm that the criteria have been met, and to ‘signpost’ the LPA to the relevant section(s) of their report for each of the criteria. The LPA can then use the submitted Checklist to identify any specific areas of concern within the report.

In the trial areas the Checklist will be accompanied by a Declaration. The Declaration (not published here as its content is still under review) effectively requires the ecologist to take responsibility for the content of the report and the completion of the Checklist. It would also be signed by the applicant, or their agent, to confirm that they have read the EcIA report and understand the commitments made in relation to impact avoidance, mitigation, compensation and enhancement.

The CIEEM Professional Standards Committee (PSC) would value feedback from CIEEM members on the content of the Checklist and the general approach proposed. Please send feedback to enquiries@cieem.net.

Any updates following the trial will be published on the CIEEM website.