CONSULTATION BRIEF

Start date: 18 September 2020

Closing date: 16 October 2020

Title of the public consultation: Environmental Impact Assessment (Amendment) Regulations, 2020

Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning

Entity: Environment & Resources Authority

 

1. Background

The Environmental Impact Assessment (Amendment) Regulations are required to fully transpose the provisions arising out of Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (the EIA Directive) as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU.  These amendments relate primarily to consolidate certain aspects of the transposition of the EIA Directive into the EIA process, in particular in relation to the dissemination and publication of information relating to EIA, the taking into account of consultations and information gathered in various stages of the process, including the development consent procedure, and the post-decision and monitoring procedures.

The proposed Legal Notice seeks to amend the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (S.L. 549.46), hereinafter referred to as “the principal regulations”, with the main amendments being as follows:

• Amendment to Regulation 6(2) of the principal regulations in order to ensure that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is integrated into the development consent procedure, in accordance with Articles 8 and 8A of the EIA Directive;
• Amendments to Regulations 12(6) and 30 of the principal regulations in order to ensure that the competent authority as well as the permitting authority clearly indicate and clarify to the public, inter alia, which authorities are responsible for the EIA and the development consent decisions, and the nature of the decisions, in accordance with Article 6(2) of the EIA Directive;
• Amendments to Regulations 16(5), 16(6) and 22(3) of the principal regulations in order to establish a time limit within which the competent authority must publish certain information in relation to the EIA report, in accordance with Article 6(3) of the EIA Directive;
• Amendment to Regulation 19(2) of the principal regulations in order to ensure that the EIA report is made available to those public authorities and entities likely to be concerned by the project by reason of their specific environmental responsibilities, in line with Article 6(1) of the EIA Directive;
• Amendment to Regulation 23(1) of the principal regulations on the competent authority’s responsibility to prepare its final assessment on the concluded EIA report; the amended sub-regulation provides, inter alia, that the authority shall take its decision in public, giving the opportunity to the applicant and the public to make comments and representations;
• Amendment to Regulation 23(2) and addition of a new Regulation 32A(1) in the principal regulations in order to ensure that, in arriving at its final assessment and when making recommendations, the competent authority takes into consideration, inter alia, the feedback received from the public, in accordance with Article 8 of the EIA Directive;
• Amendments to Regulation 32 of the principal regulations in relation to monitoring requirements in accordance with Article 8A(4) of the EIA Directive;
• Addition of a new Regulation 32A(2) to the principal regulations which obliges the permitting authority to duly take into account the ERA’s position and recommendations, and incorporate them into its decision-making process, as may be relevant, in light of the requirements under Article 8A(1) of the EIA Directive.
• Other amendments found in the regulations, such as those to Schedule I, are minor or cosmetic in nature.

 

2. Consultation

In line with Article 55 of the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549) the public is invited to make submissions to ERA with their comments as to why and how these regulations could be amended.

 

3. Documents and Recordings

Environmental Impact Assessment (Amendment) Regulations, 2020

Regolamenti tal-2020 li jemendaw ir-Regolamenti dwar il-Valutazzjoni tal-Impatti Ambjentali

EIA Consultation Meeting Presentations

Public Submissions and Responses

 

4. Submission of feedback

Comments will be received by email on [email protected].

 

5. Further notes

Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.