List of objects for which an environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been carried out
The implementation of the state policy of the Republic of Belarus in the sphere of ensuring environmental safety is carried out, among other things, through the mechanism of state environmental assessment, which includes stage-by-stage, step-by-step control in the field of environmental protection (at the stage of placing a construction project, when issuing a conclusion of the state environmental assessment, issuing a conclusion on compliance with the requirements of environmental safety of the completed construction of the project, at the stage of post-project analysis).
State environmental assessment is a mandatory element of the planning, design and decision-making process on the socio-economic development of the republic, the implementation of economic and other activities on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
This task implements the principles of the Declaration on Environment and Development adopted by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. In particular, principle 17 – environmental impact assessment as a national instrument is carried out in relation to proposed activities that may have a significant negative impact on the environment and which are subject to approval by a decision of the competent national authority.
Institute of State Ecological Assessment
The Institute of State Environmental Assessment in the Republic of Belarus has existed since 1993 and is the exclusive competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus. At the same time, the system of state environmental expertise began its formation in the late 70s of the last century as a mechanism for the effective protection of water resources and atmospheric air.
During the existence of the institute of state environmental expertise, the norms of international legislation were implemented into the legislation on state environmental expertise, which made it possible to significantly improve the image of the Republic of Belarus at the international level.
Institute for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
For over 10 years, the Institute of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been successfully operating within the framework of the implementation of international obligations assumed by the Republic of Belarus upon ratification of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, signed in Espoo (Finland) in February 1991, the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, adopted in Aarhus (Denmark) in June 1998, and other international treaties of the Republic of Belarus.
Over the last decade, practical experience has been gained in applying the EIA procedure in a transboundary context, including by both the Party of Origin and the Affected Party. The transboundary element of the EIA procedure was strengthened in 2010.
The work carried out in the area of state environmental assessment was noted positively in the framework of the environmental performance review carried out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 2015.
As proposals for improving legislation in the field of state environmental expertise, the Republic of Belarus was invited to ratify the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.
Institute for Strategic Environmental Assessment
In the new edition of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On state environmental expertise, strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment” a new institution was introduced – strategic environmental assessment, as another step in improving legislation in order to make balanced management decisions on the economic development of the Republic of Belarus, taking into account the conservation and rational use of natural resources.
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