EIA Directive and Waste & Water projects Cohesion Fund Workshop February 2005, Prague European Commission DG Environment – Unit D3

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Waste projects in EIA Annex I (9) Waste disposal installations for incineration, chemical treatment or landfill of hazardous waste mandatory EIA Annex I (10) Waste disposal installations for incineration, chemical treatment or landfill of non-hazardous waste >100 tonnes/day mandatory EIA Annex II (11)(b) Installations for the disposal of waste not included in Annex I Screening

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February What is « disposal »? « the collection, sorting, transport and treatment of waste as well as its storage and tipping above or under ground; the transformation operations necessary for its re-use, recovery and recycling » Directive 75/442/EEC (prior to the amendments introduced by Directive 91/156/EEC)

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Disposal and recovery It is beyond any doubt that the legislator intended to cover, in Directive 85/337/EEC, both waste recovery and disposal The Commission considers that as regards the EIA Directive, the concept of « disposal » includes « recovery » Waste recovery projects (e.g. composting facilities) fall within the scope of EIA Annex I or II depending on capacity and type of waste treated

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Water projects - the background Several applications in 2004 for multiple « water » sub-projects (waste water treatment plants, sewerage networks, water supply networks, drinking water treatment plants) Waste water treatment plants (WWTP) explicitly included in the EIA Directive: –Annex I (13) WWTPs above p.e. mandatory EIA –Annex II (11)(c) WWTPs not included in Annex I screening Other categories?

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Water projects - lessons from ECJ case-law ECJ consistently stresses: 1.Wide scope and broad purpose of the Directive 2.Fundamental purpose of the Directive: projects having a significant environmental effect should undergo an EIA 3.Projects should not be excluded if this would undermine the purpose of the Directive

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Water projects – the problem Can sewerage networks, water supply networks, drinking water treatment plants be safely excluded from the Directive? Environmental effects in the light of the ECJ case-law Characteristics of other projects explicitly included in the Annexes

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Water projects and urban development infrastructure Annex II (10) « Infrastructure projects » (b) Urban development projects (including car parks and shopping centres) Not a closed list! Wide scope of the Directive! What is an « urban infrastructure »?

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February Water projects a safe approach Interpret urban development in a broad sense (sewerage networks, water supply…) screening Include ancillary works in the scope of the assessment Rehabilitation projects: consider if they may have significant adverse effects!

Cohesion Fund Workshop - Prague, February A final message The objective is not to add useless additional burden You may decide that EIA is not necessary justify your decision in your application on the basis of the likely environmental effects