WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3509/96 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. Environmental impact assessment of quarrying for the 'Pareton Project' (Asolani Hills - Treviso)
Date: 1996-12-09
Institutions: European Parliament, TAMINO
Subjects: Italy, ceramics, environmental impact, environmental protection, mining operation, project evaluation













EUR-Lex - 91996E3509 - EN






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91996E3509

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3509/96 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. Environmental impact assessment of quarrying for the 'Pareton Project' (Asolani Hills - Treviso)  


Official Journal C 105 , 03/04/1997 P. 0083 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-3509/96 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (9 December 1996)Subject: Environmental impact assessment of quarrying for the 'Pareton Project' (Asolani Hills - Treviso)The Asolani Hills have traditionally been used to produce bricks and consequently disfigured by a great many quarries hollowed into the hillsides, resulting in severe environmental deterioration. The hills, however, are also one of the more attractive landscapes which Treviso province has to offer and therefore an important economic resource from a tourist point of view. Veneto Regional Council ordered a halt to extraction on the hill called the Pareton in 1981.In 1991 the Seam company submitted an 'environmental rehabilitation' project for the Pareton to the local and regional authorities. Under that plan, approximately 8 000 000 m3 of clay (enough for about 400 000 lorry loads) was to be removed in 15 years, thus lowering the height of the hill by as much as 72 metres (and affecting the landscape, environment, and climate of the whole area, for instance by changing wind patterns), instead of reshaping it without altering its height at sea level.In 1992 the Castelcucco local council refused to give its approval because the land concerned did not appear on the regional list of sites on which excavation could be carried out. In August 1994 Veneto Regional Council added the commune of Castelcucco to the areas in which clay could be extracted. On 10 March 1995, however, the Treviso provincial authorities classed the area in question, with binding effect under the Provincial Spatial Plan (PTP), as parkland and reserves on which further quarrying was prohibited. Veneto Regional Council now has to deliver its final opinion on the authorization.Does not the Commission believe that a plan for quarrying on such a scale in an area intended for use as parkland is one which should be subject to environmental impact assessment within the meaning of Directive 85/337/EEC ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. ))?Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (17 January 1997)Excavation projects of the type referred to by the Honourable Member are covered by Annex II, paragraph 2 (c) of Directive 85/337/EEC. An environmental impact assessment is mandatory for these projects if by virtue of their nature, size or location they are likely to have significant effects on the environment, within the meaning of Article 2 of the Directive.In any event, for projects covered by Annex II the national authorities must carry out a preliminary assessment to determine whether or not an environmental impact assessment is required ((Judgment of the Court of Justice of 2 May 1996, C/133/94 - Commission v. Belgium. )).The case referred to by the Honourable Member has been registered as a presumed infringement and the Commission will bring the matter up with the Italian authorities.