Does the Current State of Environmental Impact Assessment in Armenia Pose a Challenge for the Future?

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950004
Author(s):  
Sophya Geghamyan ◽  
Katarina Pavlickova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Current State

Many post-Soviet countries are still improving their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems, and Armenia is no exception. In recent years, approximation to and harmonisation with the laws of the European Union has seen Armenia increasingly adopt and apply EU regulations and directives, and this process was supported by adoption of the new law on EIA and Expertise in 2014. The main objectives of this study are to review and analyse the current state of the Armenian EIA system and to assess its legal framework. We applied a method divided into two parts: review and analysis of the legislative aspects of the EIA system in Armenia and the circulation of a survey-questionnaire to EIA experts to establish current practices. The findings of this research provided positive and negative factors which can both be used to improve the assessment system in Armenia. While the most significant EIA strength combines the existence of a systematic law and public involvement in this process, the law has weaknesses in its monitoring, informative and quality control provisions. Moreover, public participation has many weaknesses in practice, including the definition of stakeholders and the lack of guidelines and manuals which challenges expert action. Finally, this paper has explored the major positives and negatives of the Armenian EIA system in practice, and we consider that this should help other Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries define and combat the challenges of their EIA systems.

Mitigation and Adaptation through Environmental Impact Assessment Litigation: Rethinking the Prospect of Climate Change Litigation in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Xiangbai He
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Regulatory Effects ◽  
The Government ◽  
Legal Barriers

Abstract There are two general pathways towards climate change litigation in China: tort-based litigation to hold carbon emitters accountable in civil law, and administrative litigation against the government to demand better climate regulation. While the first pathway is gaining momentum among Chinese scholars, this article argues that legal barriers to applying tort-based rules to climate change should be fairly acknowledged. The article argues that China's legal framework for environmental impact assessment (EIA) provides more openness and flexibility for the resolution of climate change disputes. Therefore, EIA-based climate lawsuits, which challenge environmental authorities for not adequately taking climate change factors into account in decision-making processes, encounter relatively fewer legal barriers, require less radical legal or institutional reform, and have greater potential to maintain existing legal orders. The regulatory effects produced by EIA-based litigation suggest that the scholarship on climate change litigation in China should take such litigation seriously because it could influence both governments and emitters in undertaking more proactive efforts. This China-based study, with a special focus on judicial practice in the largest developing country, will shine a light on China's contribution to transnational climate litigation.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact Assessment in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex G. Oude Elferink
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Present Report ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Debate ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
And Control

Abstract Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has become widely accepted as an indispensable instrument to manage and control negative impacts of human activities on the environment. The present report analyzes the general legal framework for EIA in maritime areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and also considers the regime for assessments in respect of specific activities in ABNJ. The report concludes that these existing frameworks will have to be taken into account if it were to be decided to develop a global instrument on EIA for all activities in ABNJ. The report provides a number of suggestions to move the current international debate on EIA in ABNJ forward.

EIA SCREENING FOR CHANGES AND EXTENSIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS: APPLYING AN EU PERSPECTIVE

2004 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOE WESTON
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Wide Scope ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
The Uk

Directive 97/11/EC, amending the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC), introduced a number of key changes to the procedures of EIA in the European Union (EU). One significant amendment was the introduction of a requirement for EIAs to be completed for "changes or extensions to Annex I or II projects that have already been authorised executed or are in the process of being executed and which are likely to have significant adverse effects on the environment (CEC, 1997). That requirement imposes a duty on competent authorities to screen all changes and extensions of Annex I and Annex II projects for the need for EIA. Applying legal and policy principles established in the European Union, the scope of what constitute relevant changes and extensions is very wide. Given this wide scope, it would be reasonable to assume that screening changes or extensions would have been a major growth area of EIA activity in the UK. However, evidence presented here indicates just the opposite and suggests that many local planning authorities are not fully aware of the full implications of this clause in the EIA Directive. Furthermore, for the full implications of the "changes and extensions" clause to be implemented in the UK may require further amendments to the EIA legislation.

EIA Processes in the Radioactive Waste Management in Slovakia: Eight Years of Experience

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Salzer ◽  
Eva Sencˇa´kova´
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Legal Provisions

Environmental Impact Assessment Act has been in force in the Slovak Republic since 1994. Evaluation of potential environmental impact of nuclear facilities/activities was enforced in the cases of newly sited constructions containing nuclear facilities much earlier: the civil construction legislation required the preparation of initial safety report with the same purposes. The cardinal change constituted by the EIA Act was the legal requirement of the public involvement in the assessment process, such as participation of municipalities, civil initiatives or public hearings. Another aspect was the most complex evaluation of impact, i.e. not only inside the nuclear safety framework but including, for instance, also non-nuclear, social, and economical aspects. All nuclear activities judged by the environmental impact assessment processes in the last eight years have been related to radioactive waste and spent fuel management facilities or activities and to the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. The particular cases are briefly described and the positive and negative implications from particular environmental impact assessment processes are discussed and generalized. Special attention is given to the use of EIA approaches in the strategy decision-making processes on various levels. There are the main difficulties and drawbacks in application of the EIA legal provisions in Slovakia at the present time.

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