Nationally significant infrastructure projects: pre-application advice on environmental impact assessment

Advice Note

Document Status

Current

Supplement

Sustainability, Environment, Development & Planning

Series

Advice Note

Abstract

Provides advice on elements of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process during the pre-application stage of a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). Covers: legislation, purpose of the EIA, EIA in the NSIP process, notification of the EIA consultation bodies, EIA scoping, submission of screening and scoping requests, advance notice and Geographical Information System (GIS) shapefile, engagement and/or consultation during the pre-application stage, environmental statements and information published on the National Infrastructure Planning website.

History

Supersedes: Advice Note 7: Nationally significant infrastructure projects - advice note seven: Environmental Impact Assessment: process, preliminary environmental information and environmental statements. Version 7 (PINS, 2020) and Advice Note 9: Using the Rochdale envelope - Rochdale envelope. Version 3 (PINS, 2018). Sourced from: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nationally-significant-infrastructure-projects-pre-application-advice-on-environmental-impact-assessment and converted to pdf. Whilst we endeavour to capture all updates it is subject to receiving alerts from the publisher and there may be formatting or punctuation changes applied to the html version that do not affect the text. Document type: guidance. First published: 27 July 2026.

Subjects

Publisher History

The Planning Inspectorate processes planning and enforcement appeals and holding examinations into regional spatial strategies and local development plans.


Information

NBS

NBS has produced specification systems and information products for construction industry professionals for more than 40 years. The National Building Specification is the recognised UK national standard and is used by over 5,000 organisations. NBS is part of RIBA Enterprises Ltd.

Accuris

We connect trusted knowledge to customers' workflows – mitigating risk, increasing efficiency and accelerating innovation For more than 60 years, leading R&D and engineering-intensive organizations have relied on us to achieve on-time, on-budget delivery of complex projects and new products. We deliver an unparalleled combination of technical content and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to surface answers from the vast universe of technical knowledge, both inside and outside the organization. In a single interface, we connect the dots between information scattered across many different sources, allowing technical professionals to make better, more informed decisions faster.