Document Actions
Administration
Up one level
B. ADMINISTRATION
In Ukraine the issues of the need of state environmental review, development of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) section, contents of the EIA, and procedures for submission of materials for the review are regulated by the legal and normative documents.
During the first stage of the construction investment process, the legal entity, which is interested in the purchase of the land parcel for development is required prior to the completion of the design to reach agreement with land owners, land users and local authorities (councils and administrations) and in some cases with the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the siting and size of site within the parcel for the construction. In this case, proper weight is given to the conditions of complex development of the territory, population and the issues of environmental protection. The same factors are agreed to with environmental authorities, land resources authorities, sanitary-and-epidemiological inspection, town-panning and architectural authorities, and cultural heritage preservation bodies.
Based on the factors agreed to in accordance with established procedures, the executive power or local self-government bodies make the decisions in relation to the issue under review. A positive conclusion is grounds for the commencement of financing of the design-and-survey work and the development of project documentation for the construction project.
Development of project documentation, including the EIA section is carried out by the specialized planning organizations, which have the corresponding license and are entitled to be engaged in survey and design work (Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Licensing of Certain Kinds of Economic Activities”, 2000).
Preliminary environmental impact assessment is carried out at the stage of preparation of basic data for the planned construction project, study of the siting alternatives, taking into account the environmental situation and engineering servicing of the territory. The EIA is completed at the feasibility study stage and is adjusted at the project stage (working draft).
The requirement that projects of economic and other activities should include an environmental impact assessment is stated in the basic Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Environment” (Article 51) – “Environmental requirements for the location, design, construction, reconstruction, putting into operation and exploitation of enterprises, construction and other objects”.
Designing, siting, construction, putting into operation of new or reconstruction of functioning enterprises, structures and other objects, improvements in current and implementation of new technological processes and equipment, as well as, the process of exploitation of these objects is carried out taking into consideration environmental safety, efficient use of natural resources, and observance of environmental protection norms.
Environmental impact assessment is carried out taking into account the requirements of environmental legislation, environmental capacity of the territory, the state of the natural environment in the locality planned for construction, ecological forecasts, social and ecological development considerations of the regions, and the intensity and types of impact of the undertaking on the environment.
Issues related to EIA are presented in greater detail in the Law of Ukraine “On Environmental Review” (Articles 8, 15 and 36).
In accordance with the provisions of this Law (Article 8), documentation for the objects of environmental review should contain measures to ensure environmental safety of the planned or effected activities along with complex ecological and economic assessment of the current and predicted future impact on the environment, plus an assessment of environmental risk, and alternative forecasting variants for impact mitigation.
As may be required, the interested parties, which submit documentation for the objects of environmental review, must: organize and finance any additional investigations, survey work and expert appraisal; ensure openness and consider public opinion about the planned or effected activities; guarantee the reliability of the environmental screening, and; ensure publication via mass media of the Environmental Impact Statement on environmental implications of the planned or effected activity.
In accordance with Article 15 of the Law, documentation for the objects of state environmental review should include a comprehensive ecological –and economic appraisal of the impact of the planned or effected activities on the environment, and the use and enhancement of natural resources, presented as a separate volume (book, section) of documentation and the Environmental Impact Statement.
Requirements for EIA documentation are stated in Article 36 of the Law. Documentation of environmental impact assessment of the planned or effected activity is to include substantiation of practicability of EIA and the description of the process for its realization, possible alternatives, characteristics of environmental conditions in the given territory, types and intensity of impact on the environment under normal and extreme conditions, possible changes to the state of the natural environment, ecological-and-economic implications of the undertaking, measures directed to the decrease of environmental risk and assurances of environmental safety requirements.
In Ukraine the basic document, which is obligatory for government bodies, control and expertise authorities, local and regional self-government bodies, enterprises, organizations and institutions irrespective of the form of ownership, citizens involved in designing and construction is “State Construction Regulations of Ukraine - DBN À.2.2-1-95. “Contents of Materials of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Design and Construction of Enterprises, Buildings and Structures. Basic Regulations of Construction”.
The developer submits the completely developed project documentation for the state complex expertise (review): one of the components of this expertise is environmental review.
A positive decision of the state complex expertise commission is grounds for the local executive power bodies to issue the permit for the allotment of the land parcel for construction and to identify the location of the building site.
In accordance with the provisions of the “Land Code of Ukraine”, the issuance of the allotment of the land parcel for the construction should be also be agreed to by the land user, and land resources, environmental, sanitary-and-epidemiological inspection, architectural and cultural heritage protection authorities. On receiving the decision of state land surveying expertise (for the objects subject to this type of expert appraisal), the application for the allotment of the land parcel is submitted to the relevant state administration or local council, which makes the decision regarding title to the land parcel.
