You may well be considering the improvements you would like to make on your farms. This may include improvements on uncultivated land or semi-natural areas, or projects involving the restructuring of rural land holdings on any agricultural land type.
The law requires you to consult Welsh Government before you proceed under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) (Wales) Regulations 2007. It is important to note these regulations are included in Cross Compliance GAEC 6 - so are subject to inspection and penalty.
The Application to Welsh Government
If you intend to carry out an agricultural intensification project on any semi natural land, you must apply for and receive a screening decision from Welsh Government before you proceed.
Cross Compliance GAEC 6 Fact Sheet refers to ‘Semi Natural land’ as any area containing less than 25% of improved agricultural species (e.g Perennial Ryegrass and/or White Clover). An ‘Agricultural Intensification Project’ is any farming operation undertaken to increase the agricultural productivity from semi natural land that significantly changes:
- the way the land is farmed so that it is used more intensively
- the species composition of the surface vegetation over the longer term
Examples of projects include:
- Cultivations (e.g. ploughing, rotovating, harrowing, discing etc)
- Reseeding (e.g. broadcasting, direct drilling, overseeding etc)
- Clearing scrub or other vegetation in preparation for reseeding
- New drainage works (e.g. pipe drains, open ditches, mole drainage)
- Herbicide application in preparation for re-seeding
The rules state you must not:
- Begin or carry out an agricultural intensification project on semi natural land unless you have received a screening decision from the Welsh Government permitting the project to proceed.
- If you have received a screening decision that the project is likely to have significant environmental effects, begin or carry out the project unless you have applied for and received EIA Consent permitting the project to proceed.
- If you have received EIA Consent for the project, carry out any other projects not authorized in the Consent or breach any requirements or conditions of the Consent.
- Breach a Stop Notice, or any requirement of the Notice, that has been served under the Regulations
- Breach a Remediation Notice, or any other requirement of the Notice, that has been served under the Regulations
If you are considering carrying out such works on uncultivated or semi-natural land, it will be necessary to submit a screening application form to Welsh Government. It can take Welsh Government up to 35 days to assess the application and provide you with a formal written response so you need to plan ahead. There is no charge and the decisions are valid for three years.
The EIA (Agriculture) Regulations have been in place since 2002 and it is concerning that members of the public are known to tip-off Welsh Government, with the farmers concerned then subject to cross compliance penalties if they have failed to obtain a screening decision.
More information on EIA (Agriculture) Regulations can be found on the Welsh Government website.