Poland in Court over Environment Impact Assessment of drilling
Environmental Impact Assessment: Commission refers POLAND to the Court of Justice of the EU over inadequate assessment of exploratory mining drillings
The European Commission is referring Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to ensure that the environmental impacts of exploratory mining drillings are properly assessed. Under Polish law, it is possible to drill down to depths of 5 000 metres without assessing the potential impact on the environment beforehand. The high threshold introduced under Polish law does not take into account all relevant criteria and standards established by the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (Directive 2011/92/EU), which should be used when determining whether certain types of projects require an assessment. Under EU law, deep drillings need to be assessed, in particular for the waste they produce, their effects on water and soil, use of natural resources, the risk of accidents, and any cumulative effects they may have with other similar projects or activities. This was recently repeated by the Court of Justice of the EU (in the case C-531/13).
The aim of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive is to ensure that projects which are likely to have a significant effect on the environment are adequately assessed before they are approved. Hence, before any decision is taken to allow such a project to proceed, its possible impacts on the environment are identified and assessed.
Developers can then adjust projects to minimise negative impacts before they actually occur or the competent authorities can incorporate mitigation measures into the project approval. The Directive ensures public participation in decision-making and, thereby, strengthens the quality of decisions.
Latest Posts
Popular Post
- Serbia Lece gold mine in the hands of a phantom company from Dubai
- Glencore starts drilling again at Pallas Green
- How valuable is Kosovo’s mineral wealth?
- Romania Baia Mare Cyanide Spill by Esmeralda Exploration Australia
- Dundee issues Bulgaria Chelopech gold mine technical-mineral resource update report
- Dundee reports record gold production in second quarter in Bulgaria
- Armenia’s environmental crimes committed in Azerbaijani lands are said to cause $285 billion in damages
- IFIs EIB-EBRD-IFC-KfW financing HPPs in South East Europe against environment impact rules
- EBRD supports inclusive mining in Kazakhstan with ShalkiyaZinc expansion
- Ireland Conroy Gold increases drilling in Monaghan following ‘positive’ results