Environmental Assessments and Authorizations: SEA - EIA - IPPC Permit

On February 17^th 2012 shall enter into force the new Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 28^th of February 2012, regarding the assessment of the environmental impact of certain public and private projects.

The objective of the Directive is to reunify into a single consolidated legislative text all the changes made over the years to Directive 85/337/EEC, which is consequently repealed. There is no fixed time limit for implementation by Member States since the new Directive replaces 85/337/EEC as amended by Directives 97/11/EC, 2003/35/EC and 2009/31/EC, without prejudice to the time limits for the implementation of the individual directives already implemented into national law (as amended Legislative Decree 152/2006-Part Two; Legislative Decree 162/2011 implementation of Directive 2009/31/EC on geological storage of carbon dioxide).

The provision (Article 6) laid special emphasis on public participation in decision-making processes through specific modalities of information, including through electronic means of communication, at an early stage of the procedure by providing access to the documentation provided by the developer and access to environmental information relevant for the decision.

The public must be guaranteed with early and effective opportunities to participate in decision-making procedures and the right to express comments and opinions (in writing or by means of a public inquiry) before the adoption of the final decision by the competent authority. To this end, deadlines should be set allowing sufficient time for informing the public and for its effective participation in the decision-making process.

All information contained in the new directive on information and public participation in the EIA process are basically already set out in Part II of Legislative Decree 152/2006 and subsequent amendments. Both for the EIA screening procedure (art.20) and for the EIA procedure (Articles 21-29) the law identifies, defining how and when, the specific obligations of the competent authority and/or developer to ensure: the publicity of the procedure and access to related technical and administrative information during the whole procedure, from the presentation of the application to the environmental monitoring of the work; access to environmental information required for the preparation of environmental impact studies, and the possibility for anyone interested, to participate actively in the decision-making process by submitting comments and providing new or additional relevant information and evaluation.