- Shortening the period for public discussion
The draft law proposes to shorten the period for public discussion of the notification of planned activities from 20 to 12 working days. It is difficult to agree with such a proposal. If the state has already introduced public participation at the stage of determining the scope of the study of the EIA report, the period for such participation should be adequate for meaningful public participation. The generally recognized international standard is at least 1 calendar month.It is also proposed to reduce the upper limit of public discussion of planned activities after submitting the EIA report. Now it will last exactly 25 working days, and even if necessary, the business entity or the authorized body will not be able to extend it, because the law will not allow it. In essence, this is a weakening of “Aarhus” rights, which is also not welcomed by the Aarhus Convention. The correct practice is when democratic rights develop towards expanding access and opportunities for the public.Changing the methods of informing the public in the EIA procedure
The requirement to publish a notice and announcement in the print media is being abolished. Instead, it is planned to impose on the business entity the obligation to inform by placing such documents in at least three public places (in particular, on the bulletin boards of local government bodies, socio-cultural facilities, post offices, at permanently equipped stops of route vehicles, in places designated and equipped by state authorities or local government bodies, and other places of mass population) in the territory where the planned activity is planned to be carried out and in all settlements that may be affected by the planned activity.
Whether changing the methods of informing the public about the EIA procedure will lead to better informing the public will be shown by time and practice. It seems that in some cases, publishing information in the print media can also be effective. It is not for nothing that this method of informing the public is provided for in the recently adopted Law of Ukraine “On Administrative Procedure”, which will come into force in December of this year. In our opinion, publication in print media as a method of informing should be left in the law at least in the form of an option for a business entity.
Changing the methods of providing access to EIA reports
As before, in addition to the Register, it is envisaged to ensure access to physical copies of EIA reports (as well as other information submitted by the business entity) by placing them throughout the period of public discussion in places accessible to the public, in the premises of the authorized body, in the premises of local self-government bodies of territorial communities that may be affected by the planned activity, as well as in the premises of the business entity.
At the same time, the norm, which previously simply imposed on the business entity the costs of producing paper copies of the report, is proposed to be supplemented with a condition – upon public request.
“9. The making of copies of the environmental impact assessment report and other documentation provided by the business entity necessary for the environmental impact assessment, for their physical placement for the purpose of familiarization with the public in accordance with parts five and six of this article, shall be provided by the business entity upon request from the public.”
Such a proposal is extremely unsuccessful. First, it is not clear what kind of request is involved, a person comes and asks – let him familiarize himself with the environmental impact assessment report – and he is immediately given a copy to read, or is it a request to make a copy for further familiarization? To whom should such a request be addressed (to the relevant public authority or business entity), how quickly will such a request be considered? – all these issues will in practice result in its ambiguous interpretation, different application of law and, as a result, a violation of the rights of the public.
Moreover, such a norm is not consistent with the provisions of Part 6 of Article 7 of the Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment”, according to which the public discussion of the planned activity after the submission of the EIA report begins from the day of the official publication of the announcement and the provision of public access to the EIA report for review. That is, according to the law, the public discussion begins only when the paper EIA report is available in the premises of the authorized body, relevant local government bodies and the business entity. How the request fits into this picture is not clear. After all, it turns out that until someone makes a request for a copy, the public discussion does not begin, and the entire EIA procedure is suspended. Considering that one of the tasks of draft law 8410 is to shorten the EIA procedure, this proposal looks extremely inappropriate.
It seems that such a change was caused by the desire of the Ministry of Environment to completely digitize and exclude any paper documents from the EIA procedure. At the same time, even in the digital age, we should not forget that not all Ukrainians use digital technologies, and the opportunities for learning are limited.
МБО «Екологія-Право-Людина»
ГО “Українська природоохоронна група”
ГО «Дунайсько-Карпатська Програма»
ГО “Екопарк Осокорки”
ГО “Чорноморський Жіночий Клуб”
ГО “Вольтерра”
Олена Пелих, адвокат
ГО “Мережа захисту національних інтересів “АНТС”
Олексій Бурковський, Донецька регіональна організація Всеукраїнської екологічної ліги
ГО “Zero Waste Society”
ІГ “Mariupol Zero Waste”
ГО «Нуль відходів Луцьк»
Національний екологічний центр України
ГС «Всесвітній фонд природи Україна», WWF-Україна
Громадська організація “Екологічно-гуманітарне об’єднання Зелений Світ”
ГО “Інститут еконології”
Чорноморське відділення Української Екологічної Академії наук
Бігун Наталія, Ініціатива Чиста планета
Железко Ольга, Ініціатива Чиста планета
Громадська організація “МАРТ”
Сергій Федоринчик, керівник інфоцентру УЕА “Зелений світ” (Статут 1992 р)
Михалко М. Ю., ГО “Спілка Порятунку Голосієва”
ГО SaveDnipro
ГО “ВЕА “Зелений світ”
ГО “Екологічна група “Печеніги”
ХОГО “Регіональна рада підприємців”
ГО “Зелений рух Миколаївщини”
Регіональна газета “Будьмо!”
МБО ІЦ “Зелене досьє”
ГО “Товариство охорони природи м. Кременчука”
ХМГО “Енергія миру”
ГО “БАХМАТ”
Ільєсс Ель Кортбі, Український спікер у міжнародному русі “Fridays For Future”
Міла Сіриченко, активістка міжнародного руху “Fridays For Future”
ГО “Екологічний клуб “Край”
ГО “Екологічний клуб “Еремурус”
ГО “Громадська ініціатива “Місто Сонця”
ГО “Громадський центр “Еталон”
ГО “Центр міжнародного співробітництва і впровадження проектів”
ГО «Лісові ініціативи і суспільство»
Тетяна Годовська, науковець, активістка
Тальнівська районна екологічна громадська організація “Зелений Світ”
Молодіжна громадська екологічна організація “Наш дім Манява”
Харківська міська громадська екологічна організація “Енергія миру” (молодіжна)
ГО “Горизонт-17”
ГО “Центр екологічних ініціатив “Екодія”
ГО “Правозахисна Група “СІЧ”
