Application for an Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) Screening Decision
For projects that physically restructure rural land holdings
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Unit
Natural England
First Floor, Temple Quay House
2 The Square
BRISTOL BS1 6EB
EIA Helpline: 0800 028 2140
For Office Use:
EIA Reference:
EIA Email:
eia.england@naturalengland.org.uk
EIA Website:
www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/regulation/eia
Do I need to complete this form?
You should complete this form if you are planning work on a rural land holding (i) to remove or add 4 km or
more of any field boundaries including, walls, fences, banks, ditches or watercourses; and/or (ii) to move
10,000 m3 of earth or rock; and/or (iii) to restructure an area of 100 ha or more.
Where any part of the project takes place in a sensitive area (ie a National Park, the Norfolk Broads, Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty or a Scheduled Ancient Monument) the work is subject to lower thresholds of
2km, 5,000m3 and 50ha respectively. Please note that the thresholds apply to the total area of land where the
work is to take place even if it is undertaken bit-by-bit over one or several seasons, or if it involves different
types of work.
Please refer to the Guidance on the EIA (Agriculture) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 before completing
this form (available online). If you are uncertain, please contact the Natural England Helpline for informal
advice (contact details above).
All sections of the form must be completed in full. Please use BLOCK letters and black ink.
Section 1 – Applicant’s Details
Title
Forename
Surname
Main CPH (Holding) number
Correspondence address (if an agent deals with your correspondence, enter the agent’s address
beginning c/o your agent’s name)
Address:
County:
Postcode:
Daytime telephone number
Mobile number
Fax number
Email address
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Section 2 – Site Details and Proposed Operations
2a.
Site details
Address:
(if different from correspondence address)
Name of farm:
County:
Postcode:
Town:
Site description. (Please describe the main features of the land
For example:
The site covers 12 fields of hummocky rough pasture,
with some hedgebanks but mostly drystone walls.
Please complete the table below.
Ordnance
Survey map
sheet ref
National Grid
field number
(e.g. TL 1234)
(e.g. 1234)
Name of field
(if any)
Area of field to
2 decimal
places (ha) *
Area (ha) or
length (m) of
feature
Your assessment of
landscape/ habitat type
Description of the proposed work
(e.g. 1.23 ha)
* Please note that 1 hectare = 2.471 acres; and 1 acre = 0.405 hectares
If necessary, please tick this box and continue on a separate sheet
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2b.
Map. Please provide a location map at a scale of 1:10,000 (or 1:2,500) for your project, indicating:

the boundaries of the field(s) concerned (please label 1 , 2 , etc. if there is more than one field, and indicate the type of boundary, e.g. hedge, stonewall, fencing,
etc.); and

the boundary lines of the project within the field(s), plus an estimate of the area (in hectares) involved.
st
nd
If this scale is not possible, a copy of the Rural Land Register map would be suitable.
2c.
Access. Do you have access rights or can you arrange access to all the land concerned?
YES XX
NO XX
Natural England may need to visit the land in order to make a screening decision. If this is not possible and/or there is insufficient information about the land, your
application may be delayed or returned as incomplete.
2d.
Timing. Please state roughly when the project is proposed to begin and any other information you feel may be relevant.
If your application is regarding a land acquisition or sale, you may wish to give important dates e.g. date of auction.
2e.
If your project is not impending, please indicate whether you would be prepared to delay the start of it. This is so that Natural England can prioritise the applications it
receives. If YES, please indicate when you would need a decision.
(There is no obligation on you to delay, as Natural England must respond to your application within a maximum of 35 calendar days, unless you agree to a longer
period. We will do all we can to respond as quickly as possible within this period but it does include consultation with third parties which sometimes causes delay).
YES XX
NO XX
Date by when I need a decision (dd/mm/yyyy)
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EIA 1A (Rev. 04/2014)
Section 3 – Description of Project
Please provide a full description of the work(s) in the box below.
If necessary, please tick this box and continue on a separate sheet
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Section 4 – Other Considerations
4a.
Will the proposed works affect any archaeological or
historic features (including ancient ridge and furrow)?
YES XX
NO XX
4b.
Are there any variations within the field/area that could be
relevant to this application (e.g. steeply sloping, wet,
unproductive or similar atypical areas)?
YES XX
NO XX
4c.
Is there any other information relevant to this
application (e.g. public rights of way, designated areas, etc.)?
YES XX
NO XX
4d.
If you have answered YES to any of the above questions, please provide further details below:
If necessary, please tick this box and continue on a separate sheet XX
4e.
Is the land subject to any form of agri-environment management
agreement (eg ELS/ HLS/ ESA/ WES/ Habitat Scheme)?
YES XX
NO XX
If you have answered YES to Question 4e, please answer the remainder of Section 4, if you have answered NO,
please go to Section 5.
4f.
Please enter your agreement reference number
4g.
Are there any agreement options within the proposed fields?
4h.
If you have answered YES to Question 4g, please check that the proposed project is not in conflict with any
prescriptions in your agreement. You may need to speak to your Natural England adviser to arrange a derogation
or amendment, or find an alternative solution before the work can go ahead.
YES XX
NO XX
Please provide details in the box below.
If necessary, please tick this box and continue on a separate sheet
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Section 5 – Using and sharing your information
The data controller is Natural England, Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Riverside Exchange, Sheffield, S3 8NH
Your information will be stored and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. This Act gives
you, as an individual, the right to know what data we hold on you, how we use it, with whom we share it and for it
to be accurate.
Your information will be used for administering and analysing the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture)
(England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006. It will be circulated and discussed in confidence with those persons or
organisations helping Natural England to administer and monitor the Regulations. Some information will be
shared with other bodies and Government Departments to enable them to assist Natural England in implementing
the Regulations. To do this we may disclose your application (and other information relating to it) to third parties.
In addition, after making a screening decision, Natural England must enter it in a register, to which the public must
have access at all reasonable times. The information to be entered into the register is, but is not limited to:
reference number, date application received, project location(s), OS Grid reference(s), landscape type, details of
proposed work, area within field(s) affected, screening decision and date applicant advised.
Natural England, or its appointed agents, may use the name, address and other details on your application to
contact you in connection with occasional customer research aimed at improving the services that Natural
England provides to you.
We will respect personal privacy, whilst complying with access to information requests to the extent necessary to
enable Natural England to comply with its statutory obligations under the Environmental Information Regulations
2004, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Section 6 – Declaration
Applicants should note that it is an offence to provide false information (knowingly or recklessly) in order
to obtain a screening decision.



I understand that I will be legally obliged to comply with any decision granted in respect of this application and
conditions attached to it.
I have read the guidance on the EIA (Agriculture) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006.
I declare that the information given in my application is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I
apply for a screening decision in accordance with these particulars.
APPLICANT
Signed
Date
Name
(BLOCK letters)
IMPORTANT – please make sure you have:
 Answered all the questions;
and
 If necessary, attached any separate sheet(s) requested at Question 2a; and
 Attached the location map requested at Question 2b; and
 If necessary, attached any separate sheet(s) requested at Question 3; and
 If necessary, attached any separate sheet(s) requested at Question 4d; and
 If necessary, attached any separate sheet(s) requested at Question 4h.
Incomplete forms cannot be processed and may be returned. If Natural England considers that it does
not have sufficient information to make a screening decision, it may ask the applicant to supply any
additional information it requires. The statutory 35 day response time will not begin until Natural
England has sufficient information to be able to process the application.
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