Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a procedure that must be followed for certain types of project development before regulatory and/or government consent. The requirements for an EIA come from many different governmental regulatory groups, but are technically very similar in scope. The procedure usually requires the developer or operator to compile an Environmental Statement (ES) describing the likely significant effects of the project on the environment and the proposed mitigation measures. The ES must be circulated to statutory consultation bodies and made available to the public for comment. Its contents, together with any comments, must be taken into account by the competent authority (such as the local planning authority) before that authority may grant consent.