An ecological impact assessment, or EcIA, is the step above a preliminary appraisal. It takes the survey results, identifies the ecological features that matter, assesses the significance of the effects the development would have on them, and sets out mitigation and compensation. It is what larger or more sensitive schemes are expected to produce.
What triggers one
Scale, sensitivity and proximity: development near a designated site, schemes affecting protected species or priority habitats, and anything requiring formal environmental impact assessment. The authority or its ecologist usually says so at pre application stage.
What it contains
The baseline from the surveys, the features assessed as important and at what geographic scale, the effects of construction and operation on each, the mitigation proposed, the residual effects after mitigation, and monitoring.
Its relationship to EIA
Where a scheme requires formal environmental impact assessment, the ecology chapter of the environmental statement is an EcIA in all but name and follows the same method. Standalone EcIAs are produced for schemes below that threshold.
Why the method matters
The value of an EcIA is that the significance of each effect is reasoned rather than asserted, so a case officer can follow the argument. Reports that list findings without assessing them are the ones that come back with questions.
Questions people ask about ecological impact assessment
What is an ecological impact assessment?
A structured assessment of a development's effects on ecological features, with mitigation and residual effects, produced for larger or more sensitive schemes.
Is an EcIA the same as an EIA?
No. EIA is the statutory environmental impact assessment process for certain projects; an EcIA is the ecological assessment, which may sit inside an EIA or stand alone.
Who decides which I need?
In practice the planning authority and its ecologist, informed by your consultant's preliminary appraisal. Ask at pre application stage rather than after submission.