Environment State Bureau

 
History of the EIA State Bureau

The Environmental Impact Assessment State Bureau is a public authority supervised by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. It was established in January 1999 with a purpose of carrying out environmental impact assessment of the proposed public and private projects pursuant to the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment (14.10.1998).

On 15 June 1999, the Cabinet of Ministers had adopted Regulations No 213 Procedure for environmental impact assessment, where a detailed mechanism for the implementation of the requirements of the abovementioned Law on Environmental Impact Assessment was provided for. Thereby Latvia complied with the relevant EU requirements. Firstly, our legislation was harmonised with the Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. This Latvian legislation determined:

• Activities subject to the environmental impact assessment;
• Aspects to be covered during the environmental impact assessment procedure;
• The principal stages of the environmental impact assessment and procedure for their implementation.

Secondly, the competent authority (the Environmental Impact Assessment State Bureau) has been established to implement state policy in the respective field.

At the end of 2000, new responsibilities were delegated to the Bureau. As a result a new unit was established to deal with the issues related to integrated pollution prevention and control, pursuant to the Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control and Law on Pollution.

Further structural optimisation has taken place in early 2002, when a new Industrial Accidents Risk Assessment Unit was established pursuant to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No 521 The statutes of the Environmental Impact Assessment State Bureau and Regulations No 259 Procedures for industrial accident risk assessment and risk reduction measures. The unit is responsible for ensuring unified supervision of industrial establishments, which may cause significant effects on the environment.

Last update: 09.02.2005
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