Due Diligence in the Use of International Watercourses

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-146
Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
The Law

This chapter analyses the concept of due diligence in the law of international watercourses. Both conventions and the case-law give some indications on the constitutive elements of the standard of due diligence in this area. The chapter reveals that due diligence provides a legal tool to balance the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation and the principle of no harm. It also highlights that due diligence is the basis of procedural obligations in this field, such as the duty to exchange information or the duty to conduct an environmental impact assessment. The chapter however argues that the unspecified content of these norms and the lack of uniformity in their application render it impossible to draw consistent and holistic conclusions on due diligence in the field of watercourses law.

scholarly journals Legislative regulation of powers of local government bodies in the field of environmental protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 96-100
Author(s):  
M.M. Slivka ◽  
N.V. Lesko
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Legislative Regulation ◽  
The Law

The article is devoted to the study of legislative regulation of the powers of local governments in the field of environmental protection and the development of proposals for their improvement. It is noted that local governments occupy an separate and independent place in the mechanism of public administration, which indicates their special administrative and legal status. It is emphasized that local self-government bodies should be endowed with a sufficient amount of powers that would allow them to protect the interests of the administrative-territorial community in the field of environmental protection as effectively as possible. It is stated that the Constitution as the Basic Law of the state, taking into account the global importance of the issue of environmental protection should clearly and without any ambiguity in interpretation contain an article according to which local governments will be empowered to exercise primary control over environmental protection. natural environment at the local level and bringing perpetrators to justice. It is proposed to supplement Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine «On Environmental Protection», which defines the powers of local councils in the field of environmental protection, paragraph «й» of the following content: "decide to bring to administrative responsibility those guilty of violating legislation in the field of environmental protection environment of individuals and / or legal entities ". It is highlighted that based on the analysis of Part 4 of Art. 42 of the Law of Ukraine «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine», village, town, city mayor have a wide range of powers, but among these powers there are no ones that would give them the right to monitor compliance with environmental legislation in the region and bring perpetrators to justice. It is emphasized that local governments are given broad powers in terms of controling the activities of economic entities and they should be included as a subject of a lawsuit in accordance with Art. 16 of the Law of Ukraine "On Environmental Impact Assessment" in case of violations in the field of environmental impact assessment.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment as an Essential Element of Environmental Law in the National Legal Order. Considerations on the Basis of International Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Maciej Pakowski ◽  
◽  
Anna Garus-Pakowska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Information

The purpose of this paper was to prove that the standards for environmental friendliness set out by international law require the states to carry out Health Impact Assessment (HIA) before implementation of public or private investments having a potential human health impact even if national legal systems do not require it. The analysis of both soft international law and treaty law, as well as the case-law of international courts and tribunals show that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the international law ius cogens. At the same time the human right to information and protection of life and health are regarded as fundamental human rights. According to the authors it means that carrying out proper Environmental Impact Assessment without Health Impact Assessment is not possible. It would be contrary to the human right to information and the obligation of the authorities to provide citizens with active transparency mentioned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and with the principle of fair balance developed in the case-law of the similar European Court together with the objective on sustainable development adopted in Agenda 2030. According to the authors Health Impact Assessment is an immanent and integral part of environmental impact and the possible absence of provisions in the national law requiring investors to carry out HIA where EIA is necessary, does not justify the failure to assess.

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN UKRAINE:

2018 ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
V. V. Sharavara ◽  
O. A. Bondarenko ◽  
O. H. Tarasova ◽  
R. B. Gavrilyuk ◽  
D. V. Hulevets ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
The Public ◽  
Division Of Powers ◽  
The Law ◽  
European Standards

The National Ecological Center of Ukraine examined the effectiveness of the implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment” (dated May 23, 2017 No. 2059-VII) and the by-laws adopted for its implementation. Based on the study, some shortcomings of the Law were named and discussed as wee as ways for their elimination were established. It was shown that a number of articles of the Law should be clarified, and the title of the Law needs compliance with its scope, terminology, and the lists of activities subject to impact assessment. There is also a need to clarify the division of powers and to adopt regulations on organizational support for conducting an environmental impact assessment and public discussion. There is an urgent need to further refine and harmonize the regulatory and methodological framework of the Law with European environmental legislation, in particular, environmental quality standards and relevant methodologies for their definition. Since no provisions have so far been adopted on expert commissions for environmental impact assessment, and the territorial environmental protection authorities are still subject to regional administrations, there is a real threat that the latter can exert pressure to get a customized conclusion. It was noted that there is no relevant procedure for selecting experts of professional and qualitative environmental impact assessment; there is also no mechanism for adding the public to the formation of the register and selection of experts, and financial issues are not fully resolved either. It was highlighted: the main directions for improving environmental impact assessment and organizing the Law revision. Several other urgencies were indicated: to accelerate the modernization of state building norms and other regulations; to withdraw territorial environmental protection departments from the subordination of regional state administrations; to provide a transparent procedure for the appointment of members to the expert commissions, to urgently review environmental indicators, classifications, norms, limits and other restrictive requirements and harmonize them to European standards.

Obligation to Conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (eia) in International Adjudication: Interaction between Law and Time

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-121
Author(s):  
Yoshifumi Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Precautionary Approach ◽  
International Adjudication ◽  
Valuable Role

Abstract An environmental impact assessment (eia) can have a valuable role in effectuating substantive rules of international law of the environment, such as the obligation of due diligence and the precautionary approach. Thus this article seeks to examine the interlink between an obligation to perform an eia, the obligation of due diligence, and the precautionary approach, focusing on temporal elements of international law of the environment. First, this article examines the interlink between an obligation to conduct an eia and the obligation of due diligence. Second, this article addresses the interlink between an obligation to conduct an eia and the precautionary approach. Third, the timing of triggering the obligation to conduct an eia must be considered. Finally, this article examines the issues of breach of the obligation to conduct an eia, before offering conclusions.

20. Environmental Assessment

2019 ◽  
pp. 693-742
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Fisher ◽  
Bettina Lange ◽  
Eloise Scotford
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
The World

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and other related forms of assessment require decision-makers to take into account the environmental implications of an activity before making a decision about those acitvities. EIA is a feature of most environmental law systems of the world. This chapter is an overview of the Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) legal regimes in the EU and how they have been implemented into English law. It provides an overview of the distinctive legal nature of both EIA and SEA, the main legal features of each directive, and how they have been implemented into national law. A significant feature of this chapter is that it provides an overview of the case law of the CJEU and UK courts concerninig these regimes.

Public participation: how can we make it work for the environmental impact assessment system in Thailand?

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanida Phromlah
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Approval Process ◽  
The Law ◽  
Share Information

Currently, in Thailand, proposed development projects require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as part of the approval process. Effective public participation in the process of developing an EIA helps to ensure fairness and equity for the EIA system. It enables stakeholders to share information and exchange views concerning the complex issues and likely impacts of the proposed development project. Thailand has substantial legislation and regulations that aim to enable public participation for EIA processes. However, implementation of public participation provisions is failing at least to some degree. This article explores how the law concerning public participation might be improved to enable better implementation of the EIA system in Thailand. Some methods for employing effective public participation to support the implementation of EIAs are proposed.

scholarly journals Legal Regulation of Environmental Impact Assessment in Ukraine: Current State

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazar Shparyk
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Assessment Procedure ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Law

The article analyzes the main provisions of the new Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. The terminology, procedure and mechanisms for environmental impact assessment are described. The possible problems that the parties will face in practice undergoing an environmental impact assessment procedure are reflected. The advantages and disadvantages of the new Law are highlighted and possible problems in the implementation of the norms of the Law are analyzed.

scholarly journals Perspectives of the legislation on the Red Book of Ukraine development

2020 ◽  
Vol 87-88 ◽  
pp. 115-118
Author(s):  
Olexiy Vasyliuk
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
The Other ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Individual Protection ◽  
The Law

The principal legislative document regulating the protection of the plants and animal species in Ukraine is the Law of Ukraine “On the Red Book of Ukraine”. However, Ukrainian legislation related to the Red Book of Ukraine (RBU) is not agile. It does not react to the modern challenges and does not operate by new opportunities provided, for example, through the Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. Environmental impact assessments (EIA) are required for many management activities, including woodcutting, mining, and melioration, and should protect the environment. On the other side, unfortunately, the section “Impact on flora and fauna” in EIA reports often prepared superficially and formally. This section usually does not contain real research results and does not offer real measures for the protection of endangered species. Since today, there are no known cases when the EIA report was issued considering the real conservation needs of the species listed in the RBU.This letter proposes introducing several amendments to the legislation on the RBU, which are required for its integration into the EIA. First, it is proposed to introduce individual protection requirements for each species included in the RBU, which will allow the implementation of appropriate environmental conditions in the EIA conclusions. Secondly, it is proposed to introduce the responsibility for conserving species for users and owners of sites where coenopopulations, individuals (for plants), or permanent habitats (for animals) of the RBU species are located. Third, it is proposed to introduce a mechanism for documenting the location of the RBU species. These changes would make it possible to identify specific legal entities and individuals for whom species protection obligations and the penalties for disturbance will be imposed.

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