EIA procedure in Estonia

In Estonia, the EIA procedure is not an in-dependent procedure; it is always linked to another permit process. The EIA pro-cedure is required, among other things, for receiving a common water area uti-lisation permit (hoonestusluba), allowing its bearer to build in common water ar-eas. The construction permit (ehituslu-ba) is applied for and granted separately following the acquisition of the utilisation permit, and it is preceded by the appli-cation for and granting of the technical design specifications.

According to Estonian legislation, the granting of the technical design spec-ifications, the construction permit and all environmental permits may require a separate EIA procedure. However, the basic legal principle is that the EIA pro-cedure is performed at the earliest possi-ble permit stage of the planned activities, in this case, while applying for a water area utilisation permit.

In order to initiate the process for ac-quiring a water utilisation permit and, thereby, the EIA procedure in Estonia, the planning party (arendaja) shall submit the permit application to the technical supervision agency (Tehnilise Järelvalve Amet, TJA) under the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communica-tions. TJA conducts the duties of a com-petent authority (pädev asutus) in the permit procedure. TJA will announce the receipt of the application and investigate

whether competing applications exist for the same area, request statements from relevant authorities (asjaomased asu-tused) and decide on starting the permit procedure. As a competent authority, TJA will also decide on the starting of the EIA procedure when deciding on starting the permit procedure.

According to Estonian legislation, the EIA procedure is always mandatory in cases that are listed in the Estonian vironmental Impact Assessment and En-vironmental Management System Act (keskkonnamõju hindamise and keskkon-najuhtimissüsteemi seadus). The act also lists other cases in which the EIA proce-dure is discretionary. In those cases, a preliminary environmental impact assess-ment (keskkonnamõju eelhinnang) takes place, based on which the EIA procedure can either be started or not started. In this case, an EIA is mandatory because the project involves building a new railroad and adding solid material to the seafloor.

After an EIA procedure is started, the application procedure for a water uti-lisation permit is suspended until the authorities have deemed the EIA report to be compliant with the requirements (KMH aruande nõuetele vastavaks tun-nistamine). Estonian legislation allows EIA procedures for several permits to be combined provided they relate to the same planned activity and are sought from the same competent decision-mak-er. According to Estonian legislation, the same EIA report can also be used in a

procedure for other permits that are is-sued by different competent parties and as the basis for issuing such permits, if the EIA report in question includes suffi-cient information for issuing these other permits.

If the EIA procedure takes place within the application procedure for a common water area utilisation permit, the compe-tent authority and decision-maker (ot-sustaja) shall be TJA. TJA shall commu-nicate the start of the EIA procedure, be responsible for notifying the relevant au-thorities and interest groups, coordinate the process and ensure that the relevant authorities and interest groups are in-volved in the process. Furthermore, TJA shall decide on whether an EIA report is sufficient for issuing a permit.

If it is deemed that the planned activ-ities have transboundary environmen-tal impacts, the Estonian Ministry of the Environment (KeM) shall be one party to the EIA procedure as a relevant authority.

KeM acts as a communicator between various countries’ authorities in EIA pro-cedures that deal with transboundary environmental impacts. A competent authority must notify the Ministry of the Environment of starting the permit pro-cedure and issuing a permit for activities that are expected to have transbounda-ry environmental impacts. The Ministtransbounda-ry of the Environment, in turn, shall notify the countries whose borders the trans-boundary environmental impacts are likely to cross.

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The Estonian Environmental Board (Keskkonnaamet, KeA) acts in the per-mit procedures either as a competent authority and decision-maker (permits issued by KeA, i.e. nature conservation permits) or as a relevant authority (other permits).

The planned activities also enable the preparation of a national special spatial plan (riigi eriplaneering), which also in-cludes a strategic environmental assess-ment (SEA) report. According to Estonian legislation², the preparation of a special plan is subject to a decision by the state government, which is sought by the party organising the preparation of a national special spatial plan. The party organising the preparation of a special plan is the Estonian State Treasury (RaM). Further-more, the government may decide that, in matters concerning national security and defence, the organising party shall be a government agency for the region in question.

A national special spatial plan can be prepared if the plan affects a construc-tion project whose locaconstruc-tion or operaconstruc-tion has significant regional effects or a great national or international significance. A national special spatial plan may be pre-pared primarily for the purpose of plan-ning for construction in national defence and security, energy production, natural gas transportation, waste management and mining projects, projects that cross regional boundaries and projects that

otherwise affect common water areas and the exclusive economic zone.

The activities planned in the tunnel project comprise a nationally significant project that affects common water ar-eas and the exclusive economic zone.

Therefore, the government has the right to start preparing a national special spa-tial plan and the related SEA procedure concerning the project.

According to the Estonian EIA Act, the environmental impact assessment shall be prepared by an expert (keskkonnamõ-ju hindamise (keskkonnamõ-juhtekspert) with an EIA li-cence issued by the Estonian Ministry of the Environment (keskkonnamõju hin-damise litsents), a working group led by this person or through such an expert by their employer. This act is also followed in preparing a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) based on similar re-quirements by an equivalent expert (ke-skkonnamõju strateegilise hindamise ju-htekspert), a working group led by this person or through such an expert by their employer.

The party in charge (arendaja) of the planned activities (kavandatav tegevus) shall submit an EIA programme prepared by such experts or under their guidance (KMH programm) or (in case a nation-al specination-al spatination-al plan and SEA proce-dure is started) a proposal for preparing a national special spatial plan and SEA (riigi eriplaneeringu lähteseisukohtade and KSH väljatöötamise kavatsus) to the

competent authority and decision-maker (otsustaja), which is in charge of making the programme or proposal available for public viewing. Prior to the public view-ing, statements are requested from rele-vant authorities, and the EIA programme or proposal for preparing a special plan shall be amended based on their feed-back. The decision on the public viewing shall be made by the decision-maker af-ter the statements from relevant authori-ties have been received and considered.

The decision-maker shall communi-cate on the publication of the EIA pro-gramme (or proposal for preparing a spe-cial plan), including the time and places of public viewing and the time and place of a public event, and make the programme or proposal available for public viewing.

Such communication shall also include the contact details of the decision-maker (otsustaja) and party planning the activi-ties (arendaja). A public event concerning the project (avalik arutelu) shall be organ-ised at the expense of the party planning the activities.

During the availability for public view-ing, everyone is entitled to make sug-gestions, provide statements and ask questions regarding the EIA programme or proposal for preparing a special plan.

The EIA programme shall be amended based on the received feedback, as nec-essary. The EIA or SEA working group will amend the programme or proposal under the guidance of the expert

respon-49 sible for the procedure in question. The

reviewed and amended programme shall be submitted from the party planning the activities to the decision-maker (tech-nical supervision authority TJA or State Treasury RaM, depending on the choice of procedure).

In case of transboundary environmen-tal impacts, the decision-maker shall notify the Estonian Ministry of the En-vironment (KeM) already when issuing a decision on starting the permit pro-cedure. KeM shall communicate this to the relevant authorities in other countries and deliver to them a permit application and a report on transboundary environ-mental impacts, the EIA procedure and its content no later than in connection with the announcement of starting an EIA procedure in Estonia. If another coun-try is interested in participating in the process, KeM shall see to it that the EIA programme/proposal for a national spe-cial spatial plan and the EIA/SEA report are delivered to the relevant authorities in this country. Furthermore, KeM will or-ganise the relevant negotiations in order to determine any measures that reduce the environmental impacts. KeM shall coordinate the participation of the oth-er country’s expoth-erts in the EIA/SEA pro-cess.

The EIA report shall be prepared and published similarly to the EIA programme or application for a special plan. The par-ty planning the activities shall submit the

EIA or SEA report to the competent au-thority and decision-maker (TJA or RaM) after it has been amended based on the statements, opinions and questions by the relevant authorities and interest groups. The decision-maker shall decide whether the report meets the statuto-ry requirements (tunnistatakse nõuetele vastavaks) and publish its decision.

In case of transboundary environmen-tal impacts, the decision-maker shall notify the Ministry of the Environment as well as the other relevant authorities; the Ministry of the Environment shall, in turn, notify the countries affected by these en-vironmental impacts.

A two-stage EIA procedure (Figure 34) follows the launching of the EIA.

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Figure 3-4. EIA procedure in Estonia.

51 The actual permit procedure will

con-tinue after the approval of the EIA report.

The permitting authority must take into account the results of the EIA and the environmental requirements determined by the EIA supervisor.

In Estonia, the project’s route alter-natives run either via the Uusmadal, Tal-linnanmadal or Nygrundi N shoals and, in each alternative, the terminal station for passenger traffic is in Ülemiste. The freight terminal will be approx. 5 to 8 kilometres south from Ülemiste. In Es-tonia, the EIA procedure will examine 1 to 5 kilometres wide study corridors, de-pending on the route alternative. Geolog-ical studies will take place in these areas for the purpose of planning the routes in more detail.