Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessments Between Spain and Portugal

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
pp. 1550022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Vicente ◽  
Teresa Fidélis ◽  
Gonzalo Méndez
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Considerable Increase ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
The Impact

Since 2000, the Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (TEIA) process in the Iberian context has undergone significant development due to new circumstances that came into play at the bilateral and European levels: (i) the adoption of a collaborative TEIA Protocol between Spain and Portugal in 2008; and (ii) the increasing number of cross-border projects supported by European Union funds. Despite these developments, the impact of this bilateral regulation on public participation, the cornerstone of any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), has not yet been fully examined. Drawing from specific literature focusing on the involvement of the public as the basis of effective improvement of the TEIA, this paper critically analyses if the lates transboundary provision has encouraged public participation in this context. Although the analysis of the TEIA enforcement revealed a considerable increase in the number of consultations between the neighbouring states compared to the previous situation, public involvement has not increased. Based on these findings, this paper presents a set of recommendations to more effectively involve the public in transboundary consultations.

scholarly journals Beyond Public Particpation: The disjuncture between South Africa's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Law and Sustainable Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
T Murombo
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Provisions

One of the key strategies for achieving sustainable development is the use of the process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of development activities. The procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA) implements the principle of integration which lies at the core of the concept of sustainable development by providing a process through which potential social, economic and environmental impacts of activities are scrutinised and planned for. Sustainable development may not be achieved without sustained and legally mandated efforts to ensure that development planning is participatory. The processes of public participation play a crucial role in ensuring the integration of the socio-economic impacts of a project into the environmental decision-making processes. Public participation is not the only process, nor does the process always ensure the achievement of sustainable development. Nevertheless, decisions that engage the public have the propensity to lead to sustainable development. The public participation provisions in South Africa’s EIA regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 show a disjuncture between the idea of public participation and the notion of sustainable development. The provisions do not create a framework for informed participation and leave a wide discretion to environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs) regarding the form which participation should assume. In order for environmental law, specifically EIA laws, to be effective as tools to promote sustainable development the laws must, among other things, provide for effective public participation. The judiciary must also aid in the process by giving content to the legal provisions on public participation in the EIA process.

Introduction to the Environmental Impact Assessment System and Public Participation in the Russian Federation

2003 ◽  
Vol 05 (03) ◽  
pp. 321-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Kovalev ◽  
Johann Koeppel
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
The State ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Independent Expert ◽  
The Russian Federation

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system in the Russian Federation has an extensive set of rules, the main ones are the Assessment of the Environmental Impact (OVOS) of a project and the State Environmental Review (SER). The SER is designed as an investigation of both a project and of its OVOS by an independent expert commission, which is appointed by the federal and regional environmental bodies. The decision of the commission is binding. In addition, a Public Environmental Review (PER) can be conducted by NGOs and recognised by the state. A mandatory component of the EIA in Russia is public participation. The process of public participation is regulated by Russian legislation (for example the Land Code, the OVOS guidelines and autonomous regional laws) and can take various forms. All these opportunities are established on paper; in reality, they are not always taken into account. There are a number of case studies used to observe the extent to which the public has an impact on environmental decision-making. Selected cases include examples in which the public was passive, in which it undertook limited activities, and in which participation was strong and projects were improved or stopped.

scholarly journals Public Participation in the Process of EIA Intentions of Wind Power Plants in the Czech Republic

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
Jiří Schneider ◽  
Petr Mudra ◽  
Alice Kozumplíková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wind Power Plants

Public participation in decision‑making process is an important function of the process called Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The respect for the public right in the participation of environmental impact assessment and the right to information are generally controlled by non‑governmental organizations (NGOs) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment. The support of public is provided in the cases in which queried entity tries not to give the requested information in the appropriate range. NGOs do not follow how the public is involved in the EIA process, and how the comments are relevant or incorporated and whether the final standpoint is influenced. This standpoint is not monitored by Czech Statistical Office. The article deals with the involvement of the general public in the EIA process of wind power plants in the Czech Republic. In selected regions (Moravskoslezský, Olomoucký, Ústecký and Jihomoravský), not only the quantity but also the relevance of the comments in relation to the outcome of the process are evaluated. The own typology groups of the public (individuals, petitions, self‑government etc.) and also applying comments (noise, nature protection, administrative mistakes etc.) were used for the evaluation. All intentions obtained concurring standpoints in the case of zero or low interest of the public.

A Commentary on Environmental Impact Assessment for Large Projects Affecting Lakes and Streams

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1121-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Trade Offs

In this essay I look at environmental impact assessment as it concerns major projects influencing aquatic environments in Canada. Environmental impact assessment is a process aimed at guarding the public interest in the proper use of resources in the aggregate. Compromises are usually worked out on a local basis for each project. More widely conceived trade-offs are favored by all but practised by few. All projects go through various stages, all begin as vague schemes; some crystallize as firm proposals and then go through the assessment process to construction and a subsequent period of operation. Environmental impact assessment as a process should reflect this pattern of activity rather than being just the preparation of statements about projects that are imminent. I have given particular emphasis to the need for follow up on whether what occurred was what was predicted. Also I have stressed the importance of anticipating that some impacts will not be foreseen and, therefore, the necessity for making appropriate financial provision. Environmental impact assessment, as presently practised, does not make the contribution it might to environmental science. Impact assessment should not be seen as a substitute for research that would lead to new understandings of ecological systems and to new appreciations of what to look for in making environmental impact assessments.

Public Participation in Environmental Governance in India and Indonesia

2018 ◽  
pp. 448-476
Author(s):  
Nupur Chowdhury ◽  
Arie Afriansyah
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Judicial Intervention

This chapter examines public participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in India and Indonesia. It argues that despite the top-down approach of adoption of EIA, it has undergone a process of intense indigenization in most jurisdictions, influenced significantly by public mobilization and judicial intervention in those jurisdictions. Again, India and Indonesia being densely populated developing countries remarkable similarities are found in them with respect to the manner in which the EIA process has emerged in these legal regimes. It puts forth the claim that the contestation and mediation in regard to fundamental ideas about the nature and process of economic development and public involvement in environmental governance in the two jurisdictions have stark resemblance.

Enforcing Non-Discrimination in Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment: Advantages for EU Citizens from the Transposition of the Espoo and Aarhus Conventions?

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-460
Author(s):  
Simon Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between international and European law with respect to transboundary environmental impact assessment (TEIA), which under the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo) applies requirements for EIA to the relationship between states known as 'Parties of origin' and 'affected Parties'. Information is shared and participation in the Party of origin procedure by the public in affected as well as origin states is required (non-discrimination); these provisions are enhanced under the related Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus), which also contains provisions enabling enforcement. The purpose is to analyse whether EU citizens have greater opportunities to enforce these rights than citizens of state Parties to the two treaties that are not members of the EU. Procedure and practice under the transposing directives on EIA and public participation is examined, and conclusions are drawn that although to a large extent EU membership is advantageous to EU citizens involved with TEIA, certain constraints concerning public participation and access to justice remain.

DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES FOR PROJECTS REQUIRING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: CASE STUDIES IN SIX EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

1999 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 105-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMON DRESNER ◽  
NIGEL GILBERT
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Interviews with participants in the decision-making processes for major installations in six western European countries reveal criticism of the procedures from all sides. In particular, environmental impact assessments were criticised for their lack of independence from the proposer, failure to assess alternatives to the proposal adequately, incomprehensibility to lay-people and failure to consider social factors. There was also criticism of general lack of public involvement in the decision-making process. Consideration of these criticisms lends support to calls for revision of the European directives on environmental impact assessment and their implementation in national laws.

scholarly journals Wpływ protestu społeczności lokalnej na rozstrzygnięcie decyzji o środowiskowych uwarunkowaniach

2020 ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Justyna Goździewicz-Biechońska
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Planning Model ◽  
Rational Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Rational Planning ◽  
The Impact

The paper aims to determine the significance and legal effects of a local community protest expressed as part of public participation in an individual environmental impact assessment. More specifically, it is to determine the impact of such a protest on the decision on environmental conditions, and in particular whether the protest may constitute a basis for refusing to issue such a decision. In the conclusions, the author indicates that the protest expressed as part of the public participation in the proceedings concerning the issuance of a decision on environmental conditions cannot constitute a sufficient basis for a negative decision. Based on the rational planning model, it is also argued that the concept of public participation in environmental proceedings as defined by law is still deeply rooted in the rational model of environmental impact assessments. As a consequence, it determines the actual limits of public participation in these matters.

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