§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that all developments at waste incineration sites are subject to full environmental impact assessments;
(2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that environmental impact assessments must be undertaken prior to developing new stacks on existing waste incineration sites;
(3) if he will make it his policy to secure that environmental impact assessments are undertaken prior to any modification of existing waste incineration plants.
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§ Sir George Young[holding answer 19 February 1993]: The Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988, which implement directive 85/337/EEC in respect of projects requiring applications for planning permission, set out the circumstances in which an environmental assessment—EA —is required. For projects of the types described in scheduled 1 to the regulations, which include new waste disposal installations for the incineration of hazardous waste, an EA is mandatory. For projects of the types described in schedule 2 to the regulations, which include new installations for the incineration of non-hazardous waste and modifications of existing hazardous and non-hazardous waste incineration installations, an EA is required if the particular development proposed would be likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location.