EcoLur
The Armenian Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment and Expertise” will specifically regulate strategic ecological assessment. RA Nature Protection Ministry has developed a draft law of amendments, where there is an individual section of strategic assessment.
“All main documents and any amendment to them are subject to strategic ecological assessment, which may gave any probable impact on the specifically protected areas of nature and forest areas, as well as cultural and historical monuments,” the draft law says.
In Lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan’s opinion, Director of ‘Forests of Armenia’ NGO, the new amendments don’t solve the drawbacks existing in the current law: one of them is the procedure of holding public hearings in affected communities. According to the lawyer, if number of project affected communities is more than one, the public hearings should be held in all the communities and not just in that community in the administrative area of which the activities shall be carried out.
October 13, 2017 at 16:05