The process of an EIA
Steps of the EIA procedure - Environmental report
Article 5(1) of the EIA Directive sets out what the developer has to include as a minimum in the EIA Report with Annex IV (referred to in Article 5(1)(f)) expanding on these requirements. This includes the following:
Baseline scenario: a description of the current state of the environment, and the likely evolution thereof without the implementation of the project. This sets the stage for the subsequent EIA and provides a reference for the evaluation of the environmental effects of the project (Annex IV.3).
A description of the project: an introduction to the project, including a description of its geographical location(s), the characteristics of the construction, and the operational phases of the project, as well as estimates of the expected residues, emissions, and waste produced during the construction and operation phases (Article 5(1)(a) and Annex IV.1).Environmental factors affected: a description of the environmental factors/media impacted by the project, with specific emphasis being placed on climate change, biodiversity, natural resources, and accidents and disasters (Article 3, Annex IV.4 and IV.8).
Effects on the environment: this section addresses the concept of ‘significant effects’ and the importance of cumulative effects (Article 5(1)(b), Annex IV.5).
Assessment of alternatives: reasonable alternatives to the project must be described and compared, along with an indication of the main reasons for the selection of the option chosen (Article 5(1)(d) and Annex IV.2).
Mitigation or compensation measures: measures to avoid, prevent or reduce, and offset adverse effects shall be provided by the developer (Article 5(1)(c) and Annex IV.7).
Monitoring: monitoring measures should be proposed in the EIA report, where significant adverse effects have been identified. This monitoring should be carried out during the construction and operation of a project (Annex IV.7).
Non-technical summary: an easily accessible summary of the content of the EIA Report, free of technical jargon, hence understandable to anybody without a background in the project or the local environmental conditions, shall be provided (Article 5(1)(e) and Annex IV.9). This document is key for the purpose of public participation.
Article 5(3) establishes quality criteria for the preparation of the EIA report. Given the fact that according to the experience of the European Commission as well as the Member States there was a large divergence between the quality of EIA reports, these provisions were reinforced by the 2014 amendments of the EIA Directive and requirements for both the developer and the competent authority on access to specific expertise of both the preparation and the review of the EIA report were introduced.
As a last instalment of its 2017 EIA Guidance documents, the European Commission has also recently published a Guidance on the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report.