To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to his answer of 13 January, Official Report, column 503, on the environmental assessment of road schemes, how he proposes to judge whether the environmental impact of a road scheme is significant to the extent that it is within the terms of the EC directive.

An environmental impact assessment is required for all projects listed in annex I of directive 85/337/EEC. The environmental appraisal, which is standard departmental practice for all schemes in the national roads programme, reveals the extent to which the impact of annex II projects is significant within the requirements of the directive.