European Communities (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 538 of 2001).

The purpose of these Regulations is to facilitate compliance with the European Court of Justice ruling of 21 September 1999 (Case C-392/96) that the EIA thresholds adopted by Ireland in relation to initial afforestation and peat extraction exceeded the discretion available to Ireland under Directive 85/337/EEC on Environmental Impact Assessment in that they did not take account of the nature, location or cumulative effect of projects below these thresholds. The threshold for mandatory EIA in relation to these activities is reduced. In addition, these Regulations introduce amendments to the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000 and the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997 to allow for the possibility of EIA for peat extraction in NHAs and SACs, respectively, below the 10-hectare planning threshold, where a project is likely to have significant effects on the environment.