Southwest Environmental Limited

DMRB EIA

DMRB EIA stands for Design Manual for Roads and Bridges Environmental Impact Assessment. It's a set of guidelines in the UK outlining how to assess the environmental impact of road projects.

If you would like us to provide a DMRB EIA please contact us:

Is DMRB EIA Different to "Standard" EIA?

Here's what's typically included in a DMRB EIA:

• Assessment of various environmental topics: DMRB Volume 11 lays out which environmental factors need to be considered. This can include noise, air quality, water quality, ecology, cultural heritage, and visual impact [1, 2, 3].
• Methodology for each topic: The EIA will explain how each environmental impact will be assessed. This might involve things like noise level measurements, traffic flow modelling, or surveys of wildlife habitats [2, 3].
• Identification of significant effects: The EIA will identify the potential negative effects of the road project on the environment. The goal is to minimize these wherever possible [2, 3].
• Proposed mitigation measures: The EIA will outline steps that can be taken to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the project. This could involve things like noise barriers, pollution control measures, or wildlife corridors [2, 3].
• Non-Technical Summary: A clear and concise overview of the EIA findings is included, making it accessible to the public without technical expertise [2, 4].

Overall, a DMRB EIA is a comprehensive study that helps ensure new roads are built with minimal environmental impact. But as we will see below is is slightly different to standard EIA associated with planning applications.

What Guidance Should I follow for DMRB EIA ?

The principal guide for DMRB EIA is LA104 published by Highways England, and sets out a unique scoping arrangement:

Value

An assessor must prescribe a value:

• Very High Very high importance and rarity, international scale and very limited potential for substitution.
• High High importance and rarity, national scale, and limited potential for substitution.
• Medium Medium or high importance and rarity, regional scale, limited potential for substitution.
• Low Low or medium importance and rarity, local scale.
• Negligible Very low importance and rarity, local scale.

Magnitude of Impact

An assessor must assign a magnitude of impact, using the below table.

Significance

Significance of impact is determined their assessment of value and the magnitude of impact there are a series of tables included in the guidance some of which are quite complex and an assessment must be made as to the regard of significance of impact in order to form this decision you must of course collect data on each of the various factors such as noise air quality or ecology in order to make an informed decision.

Scoping

The content of non-statutory environmental assessment shall be agreed through scoping LA 103 [Ref 1.I] Scoping projects for environmental assessment. 4.18.1 Non-statutory environmental assessment should provide a record of an appropriate and proportionate level of environmental assessment, as no significant environmental effects should be reported.