SUPPORTED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION’S OBNOVA AND PHARE PROGRAMMES

EIA TRAINING
RESOURCE MANUAL
FOR SOUTH EASTERN
EUROPE

“Screening”
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Proposal
identification

EIA required Screening No EIA

Initial
Scoping environmental
examination

Impact analysis

Mitigation
and impact
management
*Public involvement
Resubmit EIA report
*Public involvement typically
occurs at these points.
It may also occur at any
Redesign Review other stage of the EIA Process

Not approved Decision-making

Approved
Information from this process
contributes to effective EIAin the future
Implementation
and post-EIA
monitoring

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What is screening?

 The screening process determines:

• whether or not EIA is required for a
particular project
• what level of EIA is required

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Screening outcomes

 Full or comprehensive EIA required

 Limited EIA required

 No EIA required

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Screening tools

 Project lists:
• Inclusive — listed projects must undergo EIA
• Exclusive — listed projects exempted from EIA

 Case-by-case examinations:
• determine whether projects may have significant
environmental effects
• if so, project should undergo EIA

 Combination of above

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A framework for
screening
Increasing impact

Mandatory EIA
Inclusive threshold

Case-by-case
consideration
of requirement Indicative threshold
for EIA

Exclusive threshold
EIA ruled out

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Screening in accordance
with
the EC EIA Directive

 Mandatory application: Annex I to the EC EIA Directive lists

projects for which an EIA is always required.

 Discretionary application: Projects listed in Annex II require

screening by case-by-case examination or by reference to
thresholds criteria that are established by the member state.
In doing so, the following criteria listed in Annex III need to be
taken into account:

• project characteristics;
• project location; and
• characteristics of potential environmental impacts.

 Screening results of Annex II projects must be made available

to the public. (Art. 2.4)
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‘Traffic Light’ approach to

screening(an example of applying
the EC EIA Directive)

Inclusion or Mandatory EIA is required e.g.Annex I projects

Thresholds and Criteria of Directive

Indicative or Guidance e.g.Annex II, except

Need for EIAmust be excluded ones, have to be
Thresholds and considered
Criteria screened against
Annex III criteria

e.g.Annex II projects that

ExclusionThreshold are not considered having
No EIA is required
Criteria significantly env
. impacts
+ military developments
excluded from EIA

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Screening in accordance with

EC Guidance on Screening

STEP 1 EIA
Is the project Is the project likely to No
No have a significantfect
ef Not required
listed in an
Annex I or II on a Natura 2000 site Yes EIA
required

STEP 2
Is the project on a Mandatory EIA
Yes
List under Member State Legislation required

STEP 3
Yes EIA
Is the project on an Exclusion Not required
List Exempting it from EIA

STEP 4 EIA
Case-by-case Consideration: Yes
required
Is the Project likely to have significant
effects on the environment No EIA
Not required
Step 5- Recording the Screen Decision

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Screening in accordance
with World Bank
procedure
 All proposals submitted to the World Bank must undergo environmental screening.

 Environmental screening results for projects are classified into one of three EIA categories:

• Category A proposals require full EIA

• Category B proposals require partial EIA
• Category C proposals do not require EIA

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Screening in accordance
with EBRD procedure

 All proposals must undergo environmental screening to identify

potential environmental risks and liabilities.

 As with the World Bank, all proposals are classified into one of
three EIA categories (A,B, or C).

 Screening also determines if an Environmental Audit is required.

If ‘yes’, the proposal is classified as Category 1, if ‘no’, it is
classified as Category 0.

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Screening in accordance
with the Espoo Convention

 All proposed activities listed in Appendix I to the Convention have

to be screened for possibly significant, adverse transboundary impacts.
 General guidance for determining the significance adverse
transboundary impacts is provided in Appendix III to the Convention.
 In addition, concerned parties may discuss whether other activities
not listed in Appendix I to the Convention are likely to cause significant
adverse transboundary impacts and are thus subject to transboundary
EIA.

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Recommended elements for

effective screening in SEE
countries

 Mandatory application of EIA should be based on the list

established in Annex I of the EC EIA Directive.

 Discretionary application of EIA should be based on the list

established in Annex II of the EC Directive. For these projects,
case-by-case screening should be applied, based on criteria
defined in Annex III to the EC Directive. This will enable the
fulfilment of EBRD and World Bank screening requirements.

 All projects that require EIA should be immediately screened

for potential transboundary impacts, based on the criteria
established in Appendix III to the Espoo Convention.

SCREENING