Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to identify, describe, and evaluate—with public participation and on a technical basis—the direct and indirect effects that a project has or may have on people, animals, and plants; on soil, water, and air; climate, and landscape, as well as on material and cultural assets—taking into account the interactions among these various impacts. The legal basis for this is the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG).
For certain projects, the Office of Environment must, in accordance with Articles 7 and 8 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG), assess—either at the request of the project sponsor or on its own initiative—whether a project may have significant environmental impacts. If significant impacts cannot be ruled out during this case-by-case assessment, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure must be conducted.
In order for the case-by-case assessment to be conducted, certain documents and information must be submitted in accordance with Annex 3 of the UVPG.
Information and Documents to Be Submitted
The Office of Environment assesses the project’s potential environmental impacts using a decision matrix.
An Environmental Impact Assessment is a process consisting of several procedural steps, as set forth in Articles 6 through 20 of the EIA Act, for public and private projects that, due to their nature, size, or location, among other factors, may have significant effects on the environment.
As part of this process, the direct and indirect significant effects of a public or private project are identified, described, and assessed on a case-by-case basis, drawing on expert analysis and with public participation. The following factors must be taken into account:
a) Population and human health;
b) biodiversity;
c) land, soil, water, air, and Climate;
d) material and cultural assets, as well as the landscape;
e) Interrelationships between the factors listed in subparagraphs (a) through (d).
The impacts on these factors include those that are to be expected due to the project’s vulnerability to major accidents and/or disasters and that are relevant to the project in question.
The assessment of impacts is conducted in accordance with the regulations governing the protection of nature and the environment. These include, in particular, regulations concerning Environmental Protection, nature and landscape conservation, water protection, forest conservation, Hunting, fishing, species protection, soil conservation, the handling of organisms, and climate protection.