The full chain of environmental impact assessment — from screening to the control of the conditions of the environmental decision — is established by the Environmental Assessment Code. This page describes the whole path: how the subjection of a project is determined, what scoping and the report are, what the decision contains, and what happens when its conditions are breached.
Subjection and Screening
Assessment covers the activity of Annex I of the Code and that activity of Annex II which, on the basis of a screening decision, becomes subject to assessment. Screening for an Annex II activity is carried out before the assessment: the person carrying out the activity is obliged, at an early stage, to submit a screening application and to receive from the Agency a decision on whether the planned activity is subject to assessment. The application contains a brief description of the activity, its characteristics and the place of its implementation with geospatial coordinates.
The main stages of the assessment are the scoping procedure, the preparation of the report, the participation of society, the evaluation of the information, the expertise and, where necessary, the transboundary procedure; after the completion of these stages, an environmental decision is issued. Such an activity may be carried out only after the adoption of the decision.
Scoping and the Report
An application for a scoping conclusion and a scoping report are submitted to the Agency at an early stage of planning. Within 5 days of the registration of the application, the Agency publishes it, with the attached documents, on the information board of the municipality and on the environmental portal; in an accelerated proceeding — within 1 day. The formal verification of the documentation takes place within 5 days, and by the accelerated procedure — within 3 days.
After the approval of the scoping conclusion, the report is prepared by the person carrying out the activity or a consultant at its own expense; the report is signed by the preparers and is public. Then an application for an environmental decision is submitted to the Agency, accompanied by the report, the draft calculations of emission and discharge norms, where necessary a request for the classification of information, and a document confirming payment of the fee.
The Decision and Refusal
The content of the screening application is likewise defined by law, and the completeness of the report determines whether the project avoids the stages of return and refinement. The connection with licences is also significant: where an activity requires a licence or permit dependent on the environmental decision, it enters into force only after the adoption of the decision, and a licence cannot establish conditions incompatible with it. Knowledge of the grounds for refusal likewise helps the client at the report-preparation stage: since a refusal rests on the unacceptability of the impact established by the report and the expertise, a thorough substantiation of the mitigation measures is precisely the work that reduces the risk of a refusal. The content of the environmental decision is determined, together with the relevant requirements of the General Administrative Code, in the manner established by the Code. The Agency refuses to permit an activity where its implementation contradicts the requirements established by legislation or a decision of a court or arbitration that has entered into legal force, or where the report or the expertise conclusion establishes the unacceptability of the nature and volume of the impact, the impossibility of preventing the risk or of carrying out mitigation measures. A decision on refusal may be appealed to a superior administrative organ or to the court.
Control Over the Performance of Conditions
The performance of the conditions determined by the environmental decision is controlled, in the manner established by the legislation, by the state sub-departmental institution implementing state control within the system of the ministry. This means that the adoption of the decision is not the end of the process: the performance of the conditions continues at the operation stage as well, and their breach is a matter for the reaction of state control.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is screening?
A stage defined for Annex II activities, by which it is decided whether the project is subject to a full assessment.
What happens after scoping?
The report is prepared, the participation of society and the expertise are conducted, and then the decision is issued.
When does the Agency refuse an activity?
On contradiction with the law or a decision in force, or on unacceptability of the impact according to the report or the expertise.
Who controls the conditions?
The state control institution of the ministry's system.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The lawyers of Legal.ge accompany the full cycle of the assessment — from the screening and scoping applications to the adoption of the decision and the control of its conditions. Contact us for a consultation — we will analyse your project and structure the procedure without the risk of breaches.