Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Penalty Notice Charges and Policy
Brief description of proposal	•    Seek approval to harmonise all existing Penalty Notice charges within the remit of Regulatory Services. •    Adopt the use of Penalty Charges for specified animal welfare and smoke control offences. •    Adopt a Penalty Notice Policy.
Directorate	Environment
Service area	Regulatory Services
Lead officer	Tracy McLuckie
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	NA

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	No effect on emissions	No Effect on emissions	No effect on emissions
Waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste
Water use	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	No effect on pollution	Decreases pollution	Decreases pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	Increases protection of heritage and landscape	Increases protection of heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:		Continue to full CCIA:	X
Reason for decision	The use of Penalty Charges may result in a reduction in environmental crime. A reduction in environmental crime would deliver an increase in the quality of the local environment, a reduction in associated environmental pollution and contamination and associated improvements in public perception of the local environment. However, the availability of data relevant to North Yorkshire is limited and a full CCIA would be disproportionate and of limited value.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Callum McKeon
Date	01 July 2025