Recommendations on the scope of planning environmental impact assessmentat the new development stage

To meet current management requirements, the contents and environmental impact characteristics of spatial planning, regional planning and special planning were reviewed systematically based on clarifying the composition, types and interrelations of China's current planning system. Combined with the practice of planning environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the recent 20 years, some revising recommendations on the enforcement scope of planning EIA were proposed. For spatial planning, it was recommended that the national planning should not be included in the planning EIA system, the planning EIA at the provincial level should be carried out in the form of a chapter or explanation, and the planning EIA at the municipal level and below should be carried out in the form of reports. For regional planning, it was advised that the EIA of the directive large-scale regional planning should be in the form of chapters or explanations, and the that of the non-directive large-scale regional planning as well as the new district planning and the industrial park planning should be in the form of reports. For special planning, it was advised to include the planning of natural resources development, energy, transportation, water conservancy, agriculture (including animal husbandry and fishery) and industry into the planning EIA system, in which the EIA of the directive planning should be in the form of chapters or explanations, and that of the non-directive planning should be in the form of reports.