Application of mitigation and its resolution within environmental impact assessment: an industrial perspective

Mitigation represents any process, activity or action designed to avoid, reduce or remedy significant adverse environmental effects likely to be caused by a developmental project. In concept it is an integral regulatory procedure within all international interpretations of environmental impact assessment (EIA), and the applicant's inclusion of mitigation has become a material part of the UK planning process. This article seeks to set out the conceptual approach adopted by ScottishPower's Power Systems business, a UK electrical transmission and distribution company, to the identification of mitigation within EIA. The paper also identifies those factors perceived by the company to be critical to mitigation resolution during the EIA process.