· FOI/EIR · not held
Limekiln wind farm resubmission, peat slide risk assessment: EIR release
Information requested
A form of words that has been previously used by the Energy Consents Unit to state that peat landslide hazard risk assessment (PSHRA) issues must be addressed pre-consent The PSHRA document produced for Limekiln in the April 2014 Further Environmental Information (FEI) CH2M's consultation response (a letter) dated 30 September 2014 commenting on the April 2014 FEI
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
The answer to your first question is that the Scottish Government and Heads of Planning Scotland Energy and Resources Sub-Committee have agreed that peat landslide risk should be assessed as part of the EIA process to ascertain whether the environmental risk is acceptable, prior to consent being granted. Ministers require a clear understanding of whether the risks are acceptable and capable of being controlled before considering the terms of conditions attached to any consent they may grant.
A copy of the PSHRA document produced for Limekiln in the April 2014 Further Environmental Information (FEI) is enclosed with this letter.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. Therefore we are refusing your request for CH2M's consultation response (a letter) dated 30 September 2014 commenting on the April 2014 FEI under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.
Attachments
No attachments found.