EIA - Simplified procedure

The costs depend on the respective Ordinances of the Federal Provinces on levies and fees. Please ask the competent body in advance.

See "General information".

EIA procedure (→ BMK)^{German text}

By means of a simplified procedure decisions for certain projects which are enumerated in annex 1 to the Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungsgesetz (Environmental Impact Assessment Act – UVP-G 2000) concerning the approvability of the respective project are taken via decree (e.g. waste treatment plants, infrastructural projects, intensive livestock installations, industrial plants). Compared to the EIA procedure, this type of procedure means a more flexible organisation of the procedure (e.g. preparation of a summary assessment instead of an opinion on environmental soundness). However, the same ecological standards apply also in the simplified procedure.

The procedural deadline for the simplified procedure amounts to six months.

For certain railway or road construction projects separate provisions shall apply.

Sections 3 paragraph 1, 4 paragraph 3, 5, 6, annex 1 columns 2 und 3 of the Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfungsgesetz (UVP-G)

The implementation of the approval procedure is applied for by the project applicant with the competent authority.

Have party status in an EIA approval procedure:

• Neighbours, if they are endangered or inconvenienced by the construction, operation or existence of the project
• Owners of establishments in which persons regularly stay temporarily (with regard to their protection)
• Parties provided for under the applicable administrative regulations
• Environmental lawyers
• Water management planning bodies
• Site municipalities and directly neighbouring affected Austrian municipalities
• Citizens' initiatives
• Recognised environmental organisations
• Site lawyers

At several stages of the simplified procedure there is public participation:

• Making the project documents open for inspection by the public
• Right to comment on the application documents open for inspection and on the Environmental Impact Statement of the project applicant for every person
• Right to access to the summary assessment of the environmental impacts
• Right of participation within the framework of a possible public discussion
• Right of participation of the parties in the oral negotiation
• Information on the decision taken

Concerning the technical assessment of the possible impact of a project, experts from the various technical fields are commissioned by the competent authority. They prepare in a simplified procedure together a summary assessment of the environmental impacts.

After the preparation of the summary assessment it is made available for public inspection and forwarded to all stakeholders. After a public discussion (optional) and an oral procedure the competent authority decides on the approvability of the project.

• the documents required according to administrative provisions (presentation of the plan, approval of the owner of the land)
• Environmental Impact Statement

The Environmental Impact Statement shall contain the following elements:

• Description of the project according to location, type and extent, in particular
  • Description of the physical features of the total project including, where relevant, Requisite demolition works as well as the demand for land use during the construction and the operation
  • Description of the most important features of the production (such as processing procedures), in particular with respect to type and quantity of the materials used and natural resources
  • Type and quantity of the residues and emissions to be expected (e.g. water, air and soil and subsoil pollution, noise, vibrations, light, heat, radiation) resulting from the realisation and Operation Phase
  • Climate and energy concept (energy concept, broken down according to plants, machines and tools as well as according to fuels, available energetic ratios, presentation of energy flows, measures on energy efficiency, presentation of the climate-relevant greenhouse gases caused by the project, and measures aiming at their reduction for the purpose of climate protection, confirmation of an authorised civil engineer or a technical office that the measures contained in the climate and energy concept comply with the state-of-the-art)
  • Description of the vulnerability of the project concerning risks of major accidents or natural and to climate change (in particular due to the project location) as far as this is relevant to the project concerned
  • Soil protection concept:
    Land requirements during the construction and operational phases in the form of land use balances (comparison of land use with and without the project, specification of built-over, non-built-over and temporarily used areas), specification of sealing, characterisation of soils on the basis of a soil function evaluation, measures to reduce the use of land and soil as well as measures to keep sealing to a minimum, each broken down by soil function and the respective degree of functional fulfilment, measures to restore, compensate for or improve soil functions, justification of the selected project design from the perspective of soil protection
• Description of the most important other realistic solutions examined by the project applicant (e.g. in terms of project design, technology, loocation, size and scale), the baseline scenario and an indication of the main reasons for selecting the chosen option including a comparison of the environmental impacts, the location or route variants examined by the project applicant in the case of section 1 paragraph 1 (4) of the UVP-G
• Description of the aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected by the project including in particular humans being, biodiversity including fauna, flora an and their habitats, land taken, soil, water, air, climate, landscape and material assets including the cultural heritage and the inter-relationship between the above factors
• Description of the likely significant effects of the proposed project on the environment resulting from
  • construction and existence of the project
  • use of natural resources
  • emission of pollutants, noise, vibration, light, heat and radiation, the creation of nuisances, and the disposal and recovery of waste
  • risks to human health, cultural heritage or the environment (for example due to accidents or disasers)
  • cumulation of effects with other existing and/or approved projects
  • risks of major accidents or natural disasters and the climate change as far as this is relevant to the project concerned
  • description of the methods used to forecast the effects on the environment
• Description of measures envisaged to prevent, reduce or, where possible, offset any significant adverse effects of the project on the environment and of relevant measures to prevent or reduce the effects deriving from the risks to major accidents or natural disasters as well as follow-up measures and any measures to secure evidence and ensure concomitant control
• Non-technical summary of the information mentioned in numbers 1 to 5
• Short indication of any difficulties (in particular technical deficiencies or lack of data) of the project applicant in the compilation of the required information
• Reference to "Strategic Environmental Assessments" carried out for the purposes of Directive No 2001/42/EC on the examination of the environmental impacts of certain plans and programmes with respect to the project

The approval documents have to be submitted – electronically, if possible.

See "General information".