Environmental Impact Assessment

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rammert

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rammert 1

Agenda
 Definition
 Political framework
 International developments in environmental legislation
 Developments of German environmental legislation
 German Environmental acts
 Legal basis of the German EIA Act
 Example: EIA in Immission Control Procedure
 EIA-mandatory projects

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Agenda II
 EIA procedure
 Screening
 Scoping
 Description and impact analysis
 Summary of environmental effects
 Assessment („Bewertung der Umweltverträglichkeit“)
 Case study (if there is time enough)
 EIA problems

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Definition
 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is:
 A testing instrument
 To identify, describe and assess in a structured and systematic way
 Direct and indirect effects
 Of certain public and private projects to the environment
 Following equal rules
 Focusing on an effective precautionary protection
 Take the results into account in all authority decisions, as early as possible
 With public participation

 The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) definition:

environmental impact assessment is "the process of identifying, predicting,
evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of
development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments
made."

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International development
 Late 1960íes to early 1970´ies
 Beginning of environmental awareness in USA
 Rachel Carson: Silent Spring (1962)
 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 1970
 EIA for housing and construction projects
 Start of European discussion in 1977
 First EIA directive draft in 1979
 Also a guideline for EIA of „programmes, plans and policies“
 Discussion not continued, turning to project-EIA first
 Dictions to the proposal especially from Germany
 „Politiker nur den Gewissen verpflichtet“
 (wrong translation of „policies“)
 Some EU countries have their own EIA Agency (NL) or strong and
effective EIA centres (GB)
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Development in Germany
Development was slow and hesitative
EIA directive implementation constraints only led to action
EU demand: implementation until 2.7.1988
Result in Germany: set into force at 1.8.1990
EU EIA guideline was novelled in 1993
Basis: Evaluation of the first „five-year-report“:
Serious discrepancies of implementation in Europe
Basic changes in the procedure
Changes in the list of EIA mandatory projects

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German implementation obstacles
Two basically different types of environmental legislation:
Media oriented regulations:
e.g. Immission Control Act: clean air as basic goal
Roots before the 1980´ies
Intermedial (trans-medial) regulations:
e.g. EIA Act
From the 1990´ies onwards

Problem: EIA is a dependant part of the granting procedure:

two basically different legal systems had to be used at the same
time, in part even in the same granting procedures

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German EIA Act
EIA directive requires implementation „as it suites to the
nations“
Has to follow many different „cultures of legislation“ in EU
Germany: EIA is implemented in all relevant topical acts plus
an overall framework act
Dependant part of gouvernmental decisions
EIA is carried out in the framework of the granting or plan
approval procedure
Competent authority defined by topical acts
No autonomous procedure
No autonomous results that could be sued for
No autonomous agency (avoiding bureaucracy)

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Legal framework around EIA Act
Environmental
Pro S
t e c oi l Liability Act
tio
n Ac
t
Wat
Ma n e
agem r
ent
Act
Waste Construction
Managemen Operation
t Act
Granting Faults
Act on
Act or Plan Accidents
EIA

Nature Protection Approval Closing

Dismantling
Immission
Control Act
g
P lannin Act
n
Road structio
nd C on
A

...
Integrative, precautionary
Assessment (§ 1 UVPG)
Legal Framework
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Example: EIA with Immission Control Act (ICA)
§ 4 ICA: type of procedure:
With or without public participation (and EIA)
Project types according to 4th Statutory Ordinance of ICA
Course of the procedure regulated in 9th Statutory
Ordinance:
If the construction or the operation of an installation
requires the performance of an EIA according to § 3 EIA
Act, the EIA is a dependant part of the granting
procedure.
§1, No.2
The procedure encloses the identification, description
and assessment of the granting preconditions as well as
an evaluation of the nature protection and landscape
planning aspects of an EIA mandatory installation.
§1a
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Principles of EIA
EIA can only be useful, if some basic principles are followed:
complete
 EIA must cover all natural goods affected
holistic
EIA must cover all relevant ecologic aspects as well as
interactions
systematic
EIA steps must be carried out in a comprehensible way,
must use secure procedures, including public participation
and involvement of authorities
early
Results must be produced early in the decision process so
that they can be used in the process

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Protected natural goods
Protected goods according to § 2 (1) EIA Act:
1. Man, including human health,
animals, plants and biodiversity,
2. Soil, water, air, climate, and landscape,
3. cultural assets and other economic goods
4. the interactions between the goods named above

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EIA mandatory projects and rules
Definition in § 2(2) EIA Act:
A project is:
the construction, operation, alteration or extension of an
installation, or other activities causing an impact on nature or
landscape
Annex I: EIA relevant projects – mandatory or according to
screening results
Annex II: Criteria for screening
 Annex III and IV regulate the SEA
Trans boundary participation
Result of screening and / or EIA must be published
Publication required even if grant is not given

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List of EIA projects in federal Act (excerpt)
Sp. Sp.
Nr. Project
1 2
1. Heat production, mining, energy
1.1 Installation and operation of a facility to produce electricity, steam, warm
water, process heat or heated exhausts using fuels in an incineration plant (like
power station, gas turbine, …) … with an overall heat energy capacity of
1.1.1 more than 200 MW, X
1.1.2 50 MW till 200 MW, A
1.1.3 20 MW till less than 50 MW using natural oil, methanole, ethanole, natural plant S
oils, natural gas, … , except combustion engines for drilling device or
emergency generators
1.1.4 10 MW till less than 50 MW using gaseous fuels (especially … ) except gases S
named under 1.1.3, except combustion engines for drilling device or emergency
generators

Caption
Nr. number of project

description of the project including size thresholds for different

Project types of granting procedure and thresholds for screening decisions
X in Sp. 1 project is EIA mandatory
A in Sp. 2 general screening of the project according to § 3c (1)
S in Sp. 2 general screening of the project location according to § 3c (2)

source: http://bundesrecht.juris.de/uvpg/
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List of EIA projects in state Act

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Steps of an EIA
Diagnosis whether an EIA is required = Screening (§§ 3a-f)
Discussion about the scope of the EIA = Scoping (§ 5)
Analysis and description of environmental effects (§ 6)
Participation of other authorities, other states / nations and of
the public (§§ 7-9a)
Summary of the environmental effects of the project (§ 11)
Assessment of environmental effects (§ 12 first sentence)
Take the results into account when deciding about the project
(§ 12 second sentence).

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Steps and participants
EIA Act §§ 3a-f §5 §6 § 11 § 12 § 12
step Screening Scoping Analysis, summary assessment Take into
description account

Carried out Competent Competent applicant Competent Competent Competent

by authority authority (ext.experts) authority authority authority
(ext.experts) (ext.experts) (ext.experts)

Participation facultative applicant, Provision of Competent Granting Depends on

of agencies nature existing and authority authority legal
protection available and nature (competent framework
authority information protection authority)
obligatory, authority
others obligatory,
facultative others
facultative

Public information facultative yes Make Make Information

participation (display and available available of people
discussion) after after affected and
finalisation finalisation / or involved
Quelle: http://www.laum.uni-hannover.de/ilr/lehre/Ptm/Ptm_Uvp.htm
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Screening
Screening = Umwelterheblichkeitsprüfung
First step of an EIA
Define the need of an EIA for the particular case
Define the carrier procedure
e.g.: grant according to Immission Control Act...
Carried out via
Check of the project against threshold values
Check of the project using a Checkliste (Annex III EIA Act)

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Criteria of Annex II, Federal EIA Act
Project characteristics
Size of the project, cumulative effects,
Consumption of ressorces, production of residues, risk of
accidents and malfunctions
Project location
Ecological sensitivity, ability to regenerate, capacity of certain
biotope types, protection status
Areas designated according to FFH or IBA
Areas where quality criteria are at their limit and no further
impacts can be accepted (critical loads, critical levels)
Potential impact characteristics of the points above:
Extension, severity, complexity of the impacts
Probability and duration of the impacts

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Screening: Checklist of State Act I

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Screening: Checklist of State Act II

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Scoping: contents
Definition of the range of investigation
Definition of the papers that have to be submitted by the
applicant
Discussion about the methods of investigation and
assessment
Discussion about the degree of detail needed for the different
protected goods
 Alternatives

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Scoping: participants
Applicant
Competent authority (authority giving the grant)
Other authorities affected by the project
NGO´s, public agencies, „Träger öffentlicher Belange“
External experts ...

Mostly in a common discussion forum

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Scoping: example wind park


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Scoping: example wind park - overview

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Scoping: example wind park - nature

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Scoping: example wind park – other install.

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Contents of the Impact Study (1)
 Framework: Definitions from Scoping process

 Documents according to §6, Abs.3, S.1, EIA Act

 Description of the location, the construction site
 Type and extension of the project
 Demands in soil and area

 Documents according to §6, Abs.3, S.3, EIA Act

 Description of the expected relevant negative impacts of the project

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Contents of the Impact Study (2)
 Documents according to §6, Abs.3, S.5, EIA Act
 Alternatives tested:

Overview over the most relevant alternatives or alternative solutions

tested by the applicant, with reasons for the relevant aspects of
selection taking into account the environmental effects

 Documents according to §6, Abs.4, S.1, EIA Act:

 Descripton of the most relevant technical aspects of the project

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Contents of the Impact Study – example noise

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Summary
Results must be summarised according to § 11 EIA Act:
Evaluation of the applicant´s documents
Comments of the other agencies
Results from the discussion meetings
Evaluation of the written objections
Own information from the competent authority
Produced by the competent authority or an external expert
Information only, no assessment!

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Assessment of environmental effects
Assessment according to § 12 Ziff. 1 EIA Act
Assessment criteria according to carrier legislation
Results are taken into account according to § 12 Ziff. 2 EIA Act
Basis for the decision process in the framework of the whole
granting procedure
The way of „taking into account“ is regulated in the carrier
legislation
e.g. balanced decision in plan approval accordung to Water
Management Act
e.g. particular „bound approval“ according to ICA

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EIA problems
The environment is too complex to be assessed completely
and / or as a whole
A systematic assessment according to special legislation is
nearly impossible
EIA procedures are quite different in different legal frameworks
Steps and contents of EIA are not regulated in a uniform way
all over Germany
EIA in Germany only has a low legal impact, as it is not a stand
alone procedure / result
EIA is sometimes misused to discuss problems which are not
relevant

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Thanks for your patience...

Prof. Dr. Uwe Rammert 34