EIA Law and Policy

ENVS304

1
Nature and Scope of Environmental Impacts

 Need for legal and policy frameworks that support

environmental sustainability.
 Requires enforcing agents

 Significant developments have taken place in

international environmental law and policy which are
relevant to or applicable by the EIA systems of all
countries.

2
EIA systems and law
 EIA systems vary greatly. Some are in the form
of:
 Mandatory regulations,
 Acts or
 Statutes;

 Generally enforced by the authorities’ requiring

the preparation of an adequate EIS before
permission is given for a project to proceed.

3
EIA systems and law
 In other cases, EIA guidelines have been
established.
 Not enforceable but generally impose obligations on
the administering agency.

 In some cases legislation allows government

officials to require EIAs to be prepared at their
discretion.

4
EIA systems and law
 Elsewhere, EIAs are prepared in an ad hoc
manner,
 often because they are required by funding bodies
(e.g. the World Bank, USAID) as part of a funding
approval process.

 However, these classifications are not necessarily

indicative of how thoroughly EIA is carried out.

5
 EIA implications of environmental law
and policy
 International environmental laws and policies
have implications for the EIA systems of
countries that sign or endorse them.

 Relevant instruments fall in two main categories:

6
EIA implications of environmental law and policy

1. Non-binding instruments s.a.

• the Rio Declaration which establishes important principles and
aspects for sustainable development that may need to be
reflected in the EIA approaches (e.g. application of the
precautionary principle)
2. Legal Conventions and treaties related to
environmental protection at global or regional level.
• These carry various obligations for signatory countries that may
be implemented through EIA arrangements
3. Legal conventions and protocols that apply
specifically to EIA arrangements e.g the Espoo Convention

7
Rio Declaration and EIA
 Several principles in the RIO Declaration are
relevant to or can be reflected in EIA
procedures, these include:

 EIA, as a national instrument shall be

undertaken for proposed activities that have
significant adverse impacts on the environment
(Principle 17)

8
Rio Declaration and EIA
 Each individual shall have the opportunity to participate
in decision-making processes, facilitated by widespread
availability of information (Principle 10)

 The precautionary approach shall be widely applied by

the States according to their capabilities. Where there
are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full
scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for
postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation (Principle 15)

9
EIA and International Agreements
EIA can be used as a means to implement substantive provisions of
legally binding international environmental agreements. These include:
 Agreements related to conservation of nature
and natural resources and to prevention of
pollution and control e.g.
 Conventions on Climate change and Biological
Change are very important agreements due to:
 Global scope, importance of issues addressed and
their ratification by a large number of countries

10
 International environmental agreements
relevant to EIA
 Agreements related to the conservation of nature
and natural resources include:

 Convention on Biological Diversity (1992; enforced 1993)

 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora (1973, enforced 1975)

 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially

in Water fowl Habitat(1971, enforced 1973)

11
 International environmental agreements
relevant to EIA
Agreements related to the prevention and control of
pollution:
 Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992; enforced
1994)

 Convention for the Protection of the Ozone layer (1985, enforced

1988) including the Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone layer (Montreal 1995)

 Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989, enforced 1992)

12
 International environmental agreements
relevant to EIA

Agreements that apply only or particularly to

specific regions include:
 Convention to Combat Desertification in those
Countries Experiencing Drought and/or Desertification
Particularly in Africa (1994)

 ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature

and Natural Resources (1985)

13
EIA and International Agreements

 EIA should ensure that proposed actions of

signatory countries are in compliance with
international environmental agreements e.g.

A requirement for projects financed by World Bank,

through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
 Ratification of relevant convention by applying country is
prerequisite for GEF-supported projects.

14
 EIA Requirements of International
Organisations
 The World Bank and the regional development banks,
(e.g. African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank etc.)
have well-established EIA procedures which
 apply to their lending activities and projects undertaken by borrowing countries.

 Although operational policies and requirements vary in

certain respects,
 a relatively standard procedure is followed for the preparation and approval of an
EIA report.

 Borrowing countries are responsible for the preparation

of the EIA,
 This has influenced the introduction and development of EIA in many developing
countries.

15