- From Legal Complexity to Practical Environmental Decisions - Case Law

Whether you are a planner, ecologist or project manager this course will give you practical skills and legal confidence to navigate the complexities of Appropriate Assessment and the Habitats directive.

From screening, NIS preparation and cumulative impact assessments, to understanding IROPI, mitigation and Natura 2000 obligations, you will leave with the knowledge to make defensible, legally robust decisions, avoiding common pitfalls and deliver projects that meet the highest environmental standards.

Course Content

• The AA Process - Common Pitfalls – How much detail is required
• Screening thresholds for likely significant effects (LSE) - How to deal with uncertainty in data, precautionary principle, and how this affects screening in/out decisions
• New Planning & Development Act 2024 and its impact on AA & the Habitats Directive
• RED III Directive, transposition into Irish Law
• EU Case law and the Habitats/Birds Directives
• Adverse effects on the integrity of a Natura 2000 site
• Methodologies recommended for assessing cumulative impacts on Natura 2000 sites?
• Certainty vs Doubt
• Impact Statements
• How are Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest (IROPI) justified in practice, and what factors are typically considered sufficient to meet this threshold
• IROPI in the context of the AA process – case studies
• SACs and SPAs
• Alternatives in AA
• New AA / Habitats cases (EU and Irish)
• Strict protection – bats, birds, otters, and others
• Mitigation vs Compensation (Species and Habitats)
• Bat roosts - how a multidisciplinary team work around or compromise between conservation or structures and retaining bat roosts?
• NPWS 2014 noise guidance
• NPWS new Qualifying Interests. What is the process that NPWS must follow to add new QIs or indeed to introduce a new SAC/SPA.
• How AA/EIA can be implemented if projects have an element for retention planning
• How to know for certain if you should screen in/out a particular QI of an SAC
• Source pathway receptor model
• Current BNG/NNL measures and requirements
• Moving from AA to Natura impact statements
• Air quality, Noise and ecology - not just impact but the legal setting in Ireland and EU
• Linking the Nature Restorations laws to a carbon footprint calculator in terms of showing impact.
• Breakout sessions

Who Should Attend?

This course has been designed for people who have experience with the preparation of plans and projects involving Appropriate Assessment and would be relevant to Local Authority planning and environmental staff, heritage officers, developers and consulting & civil engineers.

Certification

On completion of this one-day training course, you will receive your Certificate of Attendance. Please note certificates are issued at the close of the training course to participants on completion of the course.

This course may qualify for CPD points. Please check directly with your association or awarding body to see how many points they will award.

Cost

An ‘Early Bird’ discounted rate of €545 is currently available. This training course normal rate is €645. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come first served basis. PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY BIRD RATE CLOSES 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO COURSE DATE. The course cost includes all course documentation and Certificate of Attendance.