Environmental Assessment Procedures

With the Environmental Assessment Code (EAC –> please click here for download) adopted 1 June, 2017 the old environmental impact permit system was abolished. Instead of a permit, an environmental decision will be issued based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the mandatory procedure beforehand. This procedure consists of three main steps:

1. Scoping: to determine the list of information to be obtained and studied for an ESIA which are concluded in a Scoping Report;
2. Environmental Impact Assessment of the project resulting in EIA report;
3. Review of assessment results, upon which the justified conclusion and Environmental Decision is issued

Graphic representation of the Environmental Assessment Procedures (click on image to enlarge):

Current status of the EIA process

Scoping Report compiled. At the end of November, the Scoping Report was officially submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and the official scoping procedure was launched (EIA reports can be downloaded from this page of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture).

–> Please find further details on the Scoping Report and public hearing on this page of our website

What is Scoping?

According to the Environmental Assessment Code (EAC) of Georgia, Scoping is the first of several steps that need to be done in order to receive a construction permit for the construction of a new landfill. The first step of the scoping process is, to draft a Scoping Report. In the Scoping Report, the following subjects are covered:

• Define the environmental and social legal framework and standards that the project should comply with
• Identify project alternatives to be evaluated in the EIA
• Establish environmental and social baseline conditions at the project’s site and gaps in information that needs to be fulfilled during the EIA
• Identify, early in the design process, whether there are any major environmental and social issues at the proposed site that could become obstacles to the project’s implementation
• Ensure an early identification of possible impacts and mitigation measures to be considered in the project design to avoid, reduce or compensate for negative impacts and enhance positive impacts
• Establish methodologies for impact assessment and the scope of work for the EIA

A very important scope of the Scoping Report is, to provide an early opportunity for public discussion and engagement with stakeholders and consider their opinion about the project.