CELEX: 21992A0424(04)
Language: en
Date: 1991-02-25 00:00:00
Title: Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context

24 . 4 . 92                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 104 / 7
                                                              CONVENTION
                                   on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context
                THE PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION ,
                AWARE of the interrelationship between economic activities and their environmental consequences ,
                AFFIRMING the need to ensure environmentally sound and sustainable development,
                 DETERMINED to enhance international cooperation in assessing environmental impact in particular in a
                 transboundary context,
                 MINDFUL of the need and importance to develop anticipatory policies and of preventing, mitigating and
                 monitoring significant adverse environmental impact in general and more specifically in a transboundary
                 context ,
                 RECALLING the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration of the
                 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and
                 Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the Concluding Documents of the Madrid and Vienna Meetings of
                 Representatives of the Participating States of the CSCE,
                 COMMENDING the ongoing activities of States to ensure that, through their national legal and adminis­
                 trative provisions and their national policies , environmental impact assessment is carried out,
                 CONSCIOUS of the need to give explicit consideration to environmental factors at an early stage in the
                 decision-making process by applying environmental impact assessment, at all appropriate administrative
                 levels, as a necessary tool to improve the quality of information presented to decision makers so that
                 environmentally sound decisions can be made paying careful attention to minimizing significant adverse
                 impact, particularly in a transboundary context,
                 MINDFUL of the efforts of international organizations to promote the use of environmental impact
                 assessment both at the national and international levels, and taking into account work on environmental
                 impact assessment carried out under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe,
                 in particular results achieved by the Seminar on Environmental Impact Assessment (September 1987 ,
                 Warsaw, Poland) as well as noting the Goals and Principles on environmental impact assessment adopted
                 by the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Ministerial Declaration
                 on Sustainable Development (May 1990, Bergen, Norway),
                 HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS :
                               Article 1                                     4 . 'Concerned Parties' means the Party of origin and
                                                                                 the affected Party of an environmental impact
                              Definitions                                        assessment pursuant to this Convention ;
                                                                             5 . 'Proposed activity' means any activity or any major
For the purpose of this Convention,                                              change to an activity subject to a decision of a
                                                                                 competent authority in accordance             with   an
                                                                                 applicable national procedure ;
  1 . ' Parties' means , unless the text otherwise indicates,                6 . 'Environmental impact assessment' means a national
      the Contracting Parties to this Convention ;                               procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a
                                                                                 proposed activity on the environment ;
 2. 'Party of origin' means the Contracting Party or                         7 . 'Impact' means any effect caused by a proposed
      Parties to this Convention under whose jurisdiction a                      activity on the environment including human health
      proposed activity is envisaged to take place ;                             and safety, flora, fauna, soil , air, water, climate,
                                                                                 landscape and historical monuments or other
                                                                                 physical structures or the interaction among these
 3 . 'Affected Party' means the Contracting Party or                             factors ; it also includes effects on cultural heritage
      Parties to this Convention likely to be affected by                        or socio-economic conditions resulting from alter­
      the transboundary impact of a proposed activity ;                          ations to those factors ;
 ---pagebreak---  No C 104 / 8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  24 . 4 . 92
    8 . 'Transboundary impact' means any impact, not                Appendix I that is likely to cause a significant adverse
        exclusively of a global nature , within an area under       transboundary impact.
        the jurisdiction of a Party caused by a proposed
        activity the physical origin of which is situated
        wholly or in part within the area under the juris­          5.    Concerned Parties shall, at the initiative of any
        diction of another Party ;                                  such Party, enter into discussions on whether one or
                                                                    more proposed activities not listed in Appendix I is or
                                                                    are likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary
                                                                    impact and thus should be treated as if it or they were so
                                                                    listed. Where those Parties so agree, the activity or acti­
   9 . ' Competent authority' means the national authority          vities shall be thus treated. General guidance for iden­
        or authorities designated by a Party as responsible         tifying criteria to determine significant adverse impact is
        for performing the tasks covered by this Convention         set forth in Appendix III.
        and /or the authority or authorities entrusted by a
        Party with decision-making powers regarding a
        proposed activity ;                                         6.    The Party of origin shall provide, in accordance
                                                                    with the provisions of this Convention, an opportunity to
                                                                    the public in the areas likely to be affected to participate
                                                                    in relevant environmental impact assessment procedures
 10 . 'The Public' means one or more natural or legal               regarding proposed activities and shall ensure that the
        persons .                                                   opportunity provided to the public of the affected Party
                                                                    is equivalent to that provided to the public of the Party
                                                                    of origin.
                            Article 2                               7 . Environmental impact assessments as required by
                                                                   this Convention shall, as a minimum requirement, be
                        General provisions                         undertaken at the project level of the proposed activity.
                                                                   To the extent appropriate, the Parties shall endeavour to
                                                                   apply the principles of environmental impact assessment
                                                                   to policies, plans and programmes.
 1 . The Parties shall , either individually or jointly, take
 all appropriate and effective measures to prevent, reduce         8.     The provisions of this Convention shall not affect
and control significant adverse transboundary environ­             the right of Parties to implement national laws, regu­
mental impact from proposed activities .                           lations, administrative provisions or accepted legal
                                                                   practices protecting information the supply of which
                                                                   would be prejudicial to industrial and commercial
                                                                   secrecy or national security.
2 . Each Party shall take the necessary legal, adminis­
trative or other measures to implement the provisions of           9.     The provisions of this Convention shall not affect
this Convention, including, with respect to proposed               the right of particular Parties to implement, by bilateral
activities listed in Appendix I that are likely to cause           or multilateral agreement where appropriate, more
significant adverse transboundary impact, the estab­               stringent measures than those of this Convention .
lishment of an environmental impact assessment
procedure that permits public participation and prepa­
ration of the environmental impact assessment documen­             10 . The provisions of this Convention shall not
tation described in Appendix II.                                   prejudice any obligations of the Parties under interna­
                                                                   tional law with regard to activities having or likely to
                                                                   have a transboundary impact.
3 . The Party of origin shall ensure that in accordance                                      Article 3
with the provisions of this Convention an environmental
impact assessment is undertaken prior to a decision to                                      Notification
authorize or undertake a proposed activity listed in
Appendix I that is likely to cause a significant adverse
transboundary impact.                                              1.     For a proposed activity listed in Appendix I that is
                                                                   likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary
                                                                   impact, the Party of origin shall, for the purposes of
                                                                   ensuring adequate and effective consultations pursuant to
                                                                   Article 5 , notify any Party which it considers may be an
4 . The Party of origin shall , consistent with the                affected Party as early as possible and no later than
provisions of this Convention , ensure that affected               when informing its own public about that proposed
Parties are notified of a proposed activity listed in              activity.
 ---pagebreak---  24 . 4 . 92                              Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 104 / 9
 2.      This notification shall contain , inter alia :              likely to be a significant adverse transboundary impact. If
                                                                     those Parties agree that there is likely to be a significant
 (a) information on the proposed activity, including any             adverse transboundary impact, the provisions of this
      available information on its possible transboundary            Convention shall apply accordingly. If those Parties
      impact ;                                                       cannot agree whether there is likely to be a significant
                                                                     adverse transboundary impact, any such Party may
 (b) the nature of the possible decision ; and                       submit that question to an inquiry commission in
                                                                     accordance with the provisions of Appendix IV to advise
 (c) an indication of a reasonable time within which a               on the likelihood of significant adverse transboundary
      response under paragraph 3 of this Article is                  impact, unless they agree on another method of settling
      required, taking into account the nature of the                this question .
      proposed activity ;
 and may include the information set out in paragraph 5              8 . The concerned Parties shall ensure that the public
 of this Article .
                                                                     of the affected Party in the areas likely to be affected be
                                                                     informed of, and be provided with possibilities for
 3 . The affected Party shall respond to the Party of                making comments or objections on , the proposed
 origin within the time specified in the notification,               activity, and for the transmittal of these comments or
 acknowledging receipt of the notification, and shall               objections to the competent authority of the Party of
 indicate whether it intends to participate in the environ­         origin, either directly to this authority or, where appro­
 mental impact assessment procedure .                               priate, through the Party of origin.
 4 . If the affected Party indicates that it does not
 intend to participate in the environmental impact
 assessment procedure, or if it does not respond within                                        Article 4
 the time specified in the notification, the provisions in
 paragraphs 5 , 6 , 7 and 8 of this Article and in Articles 4       Preparation of the environmental impact assessment
                                                                                            documentation
 to 7 will not apply. In such circumstances the right of a
 Party of origin to determine whether to carry out an
 environmental impact assessment on the basis of its
 national law and practice is not prejudiced .
                                                                     1 . The environmental impact assessment documen­
                                                                    tation to be submitted to the competent authority of the
 5 . Upon receipt of a response from the affected Party             Party of origin shall contain, as a minimum ,the infor­
 indicating its desire to participate in the environmental          mation described in Appendix II .
impact assessment procedure, the Party of origin shall, if
 it has not already done so, provide to the affected Party :
 (a) relevant information regarding the environmental               2.     The Party fo origin shall furnish the affected Party,
      impact assessment procedure, including an indication          as appropriate through a joint body where one exists ,
      of the time schedule for transmittal of comments ;            with the environmental impact assessment documen­
      and                                                           tation. The concerned Parties shall arrange for distri­
                                                                    bution of the documentation to the authorities and the
(b) relevant information on the proposed activity and its           public of the affected Party in the areas likely to be
      possible significant adverse transboundary impact.            affected and for the submission of comments to the
                                                                    competent authority of the Party of origin, either
                                                                    directly to this authority or, where appropriate, through
6 . An affected Party shall , at the request of. the Party          the Party of origin within a reasonable time before the
of origin, provide the latter with reasonably obtainable            final decision is taken on the proposed activity.
information relating to the potentially affected
environment under the jurisdiction of the affected Party,
where such information is necessary for the preparation
of the environmental impact assessment documentation .                                         Article 5
The information shall be furnished promptly and , as
appropriate, through a joint body where one exists.
                                                                    Consultations on the basis of the environmental impact
                                                                                      assessment documentation
7 . When a Party considers that it would be affected
by a significant adverse transboundary impact of a
proposed activity listed in Appendix I, and when no noti­
fication has taken place in accordance with paragraph 1             The Party of origin shall, after completion of the
of this Article, the concerned Parties shall , at the request       environmental impact assessment documentation ,
of the affected Party, exchange sufficient information for          without undue delay enter into consultations with the
the purposes of holding discussions on whether there is             affected Party concerning, inter alia, the potential trans­
 ---pagebreak---  No C 104 / 10                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                   24 . 4 . 92
 boundary impact of the proposed activity and measures            account the likely significant adverse transboundary
 to reduce or eliminate its impact. Consultations may             impact of the activity for which an environmental impact
 relate to :                                                      assessment has been undertaken pursuant to this
                                                                  Convention . Any post-project analysis undertaken shall
 (a) possible alternatives to the proposed activity,              include, in particular, the surveillance of the activity and
      including the no-action alternative and possible            the determination of any adverse transboundary impact.
      measures to mitigate significant adverse trans­             Such surveillance and determination may be undertaken
      boundary impact and to monitor the effects of such         with a view to achieving the objectives listed in Appendix
                                                                 V.
      measures at the expense of the Party of origin ;
 (b) other forms of possible mutual assistance in reducing        2 . When, as a result of post-project analysis, the Party
     any significant adverse transboundary impact of the         of origin or the affected Party has reasonable grounds
     proposed activity ; and                                     for concluding that there is a significant adverse trans­
                                                                 boundary impact or factors have been discovered which
 (c) any other appropriate matters relating to the               may result in such an impact, it shall immediately inform
     proposed activity.                                          the other Party. The concerned Parties shall then consult
                                                                 on necessary measures to reduce or eliminate the impact.
The Parties shall agree , at the commencement of such
consultations , on a reasonable time-frame for the                                           Article 8
duration of the consultation period . Any such consul­
tations may be conducted through an appropriate joint                          Bilateral and multilateral cooperation
body, where one exists .
                                                                 The Parties may continue existing or enter into new
                           Article 6                             bilateral or multilateral agreements or other
                                                                 arrangements in order to implement their obligations
                        Final decision                           under this Convention . Such agreements or other
                                                                 arrangements may be based on the elements listed in
 1.    The Parties shall ensure that, in the final decision
                                                                 Appendix VI .
on the proposed activity, due account is taken of the
outcome of the environmental impact assessment,
                                                                                             Article 9
including the environmental impact assessment documen­
tation , as well as the comments thereon received
                                                                                       Research programmes
pursuant to Article 3 ( 8 ) and Article 4 (2) and the
outcome of the consultations as referred to in Article 5 .
                                                                 The Parties shall give special consideration to the setting
2 . The Party of origin shall provide to the affected            up, or intensification of, specific research programmes
                                                                 aimed at :
Party the final decision on the proposed activity along
with the reasons and considerations on which it was
based .                                                          (a) improving existing qualitative and quantitative
                                                                      methods for assessing the impacts of proposed acti­
                                                                      vities ;
3 . If additional information on the significant trans­
boundary impact of a proposed activity, which was not
available at the time a decision was made with respect to        (b) achieving a better understanding of cause-effect
that activity and which could have materially affected the            relationships and their role in integrated environ­
decision , becomes available to a concerned Party before              mental management ;
work on that activity commences , that Party shall
immediately inform the other concerned Party or Parties .
If one of the concerned Parties so requests , consultations      (c) analysing and monitoring the efficient implemen­
shall be held as to whether the decision needs to be                  tation of decisions on proposed activities with the
revised .                                                             intention of minimizing or preventing impacts ;
                                                                 (d) developing methods to stimulate creative approaches
                          Article 7                                   in the search for environmentally sound alternatives
                                                                      to proposed activities, production and consumption
                    Post-project analysis                             patterns ;
1 . The concerned Parties, at the request of any such            (e) developing methodologies for the application of the
Party, shall determine whether, and if so to what extent,             principles of environmental impact assessment at the
a post-project analysis shall be carried out, taking into             macro-economic level .
 ---pagebreak---  24 . 4 . 92                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 104 / 11
 The results of the programmes listed above shall be               (f) consider and undertake any additional action that
 exchanged by the Parties .                                             may be required for the achievement of the purposes
                                                                        of this Convention .
                           Article 10                                                        Article 12
                   Status of the appendices                                                Right to vote
The Appendices attached to this Convention form an                  1.   Each Party to this Convention shall have one vote .
 integral part of the Convention.
                                                                   2. Except as provided for in paragraph 1 of this
                                                                   Article, regional economic integration organizations, in
                           Article 11                              matters within their competence, shall exercise their right
                                                                   to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of
                      Meeting of Parties                           their   member     States   which     are Parties to    this
                                                                   Convention. Such organizations shall not exercise their
                                                                   right to vote if their member States exercise theirs , and
 1.      The Parties shall meet, so far as possible, in            vice versa .
 connection with the annual sessions of the senior
 advisers to ECE Governments on environmental and
                                                                                             Article 13
water problems . The first meeting of the Parties shall be
convened not later than one year after the date of the                                       Secretariat
entry into force of this Convention . Thereafter, meetings
of the Parties shall be held at such other times as may be
deemed necessary by a meeting of the Parties, or at the           The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission
written request of any Party, provided that, within six            for Europe shall carry out the following secretariat
 months of the request being communicated to them by               functions :
the secretariat, it is supported by at least one third of the
Parties .                                                          (a) the convening and preparing of meetings of the
                                                                       Parties ;
2.      The Parties shall keep under continuous review the         (b) the transmission of reports and other information
implementation of this Convention, and, with this                      received in accordance with the provisions of this
purpose in mind, shall :                                               Convention to the Parties ; and
(a) review the policies and methodological approaches             (c) the performance of other functions as may be
      to environmental impact assessment by the Parties                provided for in this Convention or as may be
      with a view to further improving environmental
                                                                       determined by the Parties .
      impact assessment procedures in a transboundary
      context ;                                                                              Article 14
                                                                                 Amendments to the Convention
(b) exchange information regarding experience gained in
      concluding and implementing bilateral and multila­
      terial agreements or other arrangements regarding            1.    Any Party may propose amendments to this
      the use of environmental impact assessment in a             Convention .
      transboundary context to which one or more of the
      Parties are party ;                                         2.     Proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing
                                                                  to the secretariat, which shall communicate them to all
                                                                  Parties. The proposed amendments shall be discussed at
(c) seek, where appropriate, the services of competent            the next meeting of the Parties , provided these proposals
      international bodies and scientific committees in           have been circulated by the secretariat to the Parties at
      methodological and technical aspects pertinent to the       least ninety days in advance.
      achievement of the purposes of this Convention ;
                                                                  3.     The Parties shall make every effort to reach
(d) at their first meeting, consider and by consensus             agreement on any proposed amendment to this
      adopt rules of procedure for their meetings ;               Convention by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have
                                                                  been exhausted, and no agreement reached, the
                                                                  amendment shall as a last resort be adopted by a three­
(e) consider and, where necessary, adopt proposals for            fourths majority vote of the Parties present and voting at
      amendments to this Convention ;                             the meeting .
 ---pagebreak---  No C 104 / 12                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 24 . 4 . 92
 4.    Amendments      to this     Convention     adopted in        Commission for Europe pursuant to paragraph 8 of the
 accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article shall be               Economic and Social Council resolution 36 (IV) of 28
 submitted by the depositary to all Parties for ratification,       March 1947 , and by regional economic integration
 approval or acceptance. They shall enter into force for            organizations constituted by sovereign States members of
 Parties having ratified, approved or accepted them on              the Economic Commission for Europe to which their
 the 90th day after the receipt by the depositary of notifi­        member States have transferred competence in respect of
 cation of their ratification, approval or acceptance by at         matters governed by this Convention , including the
 least three-fourths of these Parties . Thereafter they shall       competence to enter into treaties in respect of these
 enter into force for any other Party on the ninetieth day          matters .
 after that Party deposits its instrument of ratification,
 approval or acceptance of the amendments .
                                                                                              Article 17
 5.    For the purpose of this Article, 'Parties present
voting' means Parties present and casting an affirmative                  Ratification, acceptance, approval and accession
 or negative vote.
 6.    The voting procedure set forth in paragraph 3 of             1.    This Convention shall be subject to ratification ,
this Article is not intended to constitute a precedent for         acceptance or approval by signatory States and regional
 future agreements negotiated within the Economic                  economic integration organizations .
 Commission for Europe .
                                                                   2 . This Convention shall be open for accession as
                           Article 15                              from 3 September 1991 by the States and organizations
                                                                   referred to in Article 16 .
                   Settlement of disputes
 1 . If a dispute arises between two or more Parties               3 . The instruments of ratification, acceptance,
 about the interpretation or application of this                   approval or accession shall be deposited with the
Convention , they shall seek a solution by negotiation or          Secretary-General of the United Nations , who shall
by any other method of dispute settlement acceptable to            perform the functions of Depositary.
the parties to the dispute .
2.     When signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or            4 . Any organization referred to in Article 16 which
acceding to this Convention, or at any time thereafter, a          becomes a Party to this Convention without any of its
Party may declare in writing to the Depositary that for a          member States being a Party shall be bound by all the
dispute not resolved in accordance with paragraph 1 of             obligations under this Convention . In the case of such
this Article , it accepts one or both of the following             organizations, one or more of whose member States is a
means of dispute settlement as compulsory in relation to           Party to this Convention , the organization and its
any Party accepting the same obligation :                          member States shall decide on their respective responsi­
                                                                   bilities for the performance of their obligations under
(a) submission of the dispute to the International Court           this Convention . In such cases , the organization and the
     of Justice ;                                                  member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights
                                                                   under this Convention concurrently.
(b) arbitration in accordance with the procedure set out
     in Appendix VII .
                                                                   5 . In their instruments of ratification, acceptance,
3. If the parties to the dispute have accepted both                approval or accession ; the regional economic integration
                                                                   organizations referred to in Article 16 shall declare the
means of dispute settlement referrerd to in paragraph 2            extent of their competence with respect to the matters
of this Article, the dispute may be submitted only to the          governed by this Convention . These organizations shall
International Court of Justice , unless the parties agree          also inform the Depositary of any relevant modification
otherwise .
                                                                   to the extent of their competence.
                          Article 16
                                                                                              Article 18
                           Signature
                                                                                          Entry into force
This Convention shall be open for signature at Espoo
(Finland) from 25 February to 1 March 1991 and
thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York              1.    This Convention shall enter into force on the
until 2 September 1991 by States members of the                    ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the 16th
Economic Commission for Europe as well as States                   instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
having     consultative    status    with    the    Economic       accession .
 ---pagebreak--- 24 . 4 . 92                           Official Journal of the European Communities                          No C 104 / 13
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, any         that Party may withdraw from this Convention by giving
instrument deposited by a regional economic integration         written notification to the depositary. Any such with­
organization shall not be counted as additional to those        drawal shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of
deposited by States members of such an organization.            its receipt by the depositary. Any such withdrawal shall
                                                                not affect the application of Articles 3 to 6 of this
3. For each State or organization referred to in Article        Convention to a proposed activity in or a request has
16 which ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or       been made pursuant to Article 3 (7) before such with­
                                                                drawal took effect.
accedes thereto after the deposit of the sixteenth
instrument of ratification, acceptance , approval or
accession, this Convention shall enter into force on the
ninetieth day after the date of deposit by such State or
organization of its instrument of ratification, acceptance,                             Article 20
approval or accession .
                                                                                     Authentic texts
                         Article 19
                        Withdrawal
                                                                The original of this Convention, of which the English,
                                                                French and Russian texts are equally authentic, shall be
At any time after four years from the date on which this        deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Convention has come into force with respect to a Party,         Nations .
             IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto, have signed this
             Convention .
             DONE at Espoo (Finland), this twenty-fifth day of February one thousand nine hundred and
             ninety-one.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 104 / 14                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                                  24 . 4 . 92
                                                                      APPENDIX I
                                                                     List of activities
               1 . Crude oil refineries (excluding undertakings manufacturing only lubricants from crude oil) and instal­
                   lations for the gasification and liquefaction of 500 tonnes or more of coal or bituminous shale per day.
               2 . Thermal power stations and other combustion installations with a heat output of 300 megawatts or
                   more and nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installations for the
                   production and conversion of fissionable and fertile materials , whose maximum power does not exceed
                   1 kilowatt continuous thermal load).
               3 . Installation solely designed for the production or enrichment of nuclear fuels, for the reprocessing of
                   irradiated nuclear fuels or for the storage, disposal and processing of radioactive waste .
               4 . Major installations for the initial smelting of cast-iron and steel and for the production of non-ferrous
                   metals .
               5 . Installations for the extraction of asbestos and for the processing and transformation of asbestos and
                   products containing asbestos : for asbestos-cement products, with an annual production of more than
                   20 000 tonnes finished product; for friction material, with an annual production of more than 50
                   tonnes finished product ; and for other asbestos utilization of more than 200 tonnes per year.
               6 . Integrated chemical installations.
               7 . Construction of motorways, express roads and lines for long-distance railway traffic and of airports
                   with a basic runway length of 2 100 metres or more (').
               8 . Large-diameter oil and gas pipelines.
               9. Trading ports and also inland waterways and ports for inland-waterway traffic which permit the
                   passage of vessels of over 1 350 tonnes.
             10. Waste-disposal installations for the incineration, chemical treatment or landfill of toxic and dangerous
                   wastes .
             1 1 . Large dams and reservoirs .
             12 . Groundwater abstraction activities in cases where the annual volume of water to be abstracted amounts
                   to 10 million cubic metres or more .
             13 . Pulp and paper manufacturing of 200 air-dried metric tonnes or more per day.
             14. Major mining, on-site extraction and processing of metal ores or coal.
             15 . Offshore hydrocarbon production.
             16 . Major storage facilities for petroleum, petrochemical and chemical products .
             17. Deforestation of large areas .
             (') For the purposes of this Convention :
                  — 'motorway' means a road specially designed and built for motor traffic, which does not serve properties bordering
                      on it, and which :
                      (a) is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic,
                          separated from each other by a dividing strip not intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means ;
                      (b) does not cross at level with any road, railway or tramway track, of footpath ; and
                      (c) is specially sign -posted as a motorway.
                  — 'express road' means a road reserved for motor traffic accessible only from interchanges or controlled junctions
                      and on which, in particular, stopping and parking are prohibited on the running carriageway(s).
 ---pagebreak--- 24 . 4 . 92                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                         No C 104 / 15
                                                                APPENDIX II
                                      Content of the environmental impact assessment documentation
             Information to be included in the environmental impact assessment documentation shall, as a minimum,
             contain , in accordance with Article 4 :
             (a) a description, of the proposed activity and its purpose ;
             (b) a description , where appropriate, of reasonable alternatives (for example, locational or technological)
                  to the proposed activity and also the no-action alternative ;
            (c) a description of the environment likely to be significantly affected by the proposed activity and its
                  alternatives ;
            (d) a description of the potential environmental impact of the proposed activity and its alternatives and an
                  estimation of its significance ;
            (e) a description of mitigation measures to keep adverse environmental impact to a minimum ;
            (f) an explicit indication of predictive methods and underlying assumptions as well as the relevant environ­
                  mental data used ;
            (g) an identification of gaps in knowledge and uncertainties encountered in compiling the required infor­
                  mation ;
            (h) where appropriate, an outline for monitoring and management programmes and any plans for post­
                  project analysis ; and
            ( i) a non-technical summary including a visual presentation as appropriate (maps, graphs, etc.).
                                                               APPENDIX III
            General criteria to assist in the determination of the environmental significance of activities not listed in
                                                                  Appendix I
            1 . In considering proposed activities to which Article 2 (5) applies, the concerned Parties may consider
                whether the activity is likely to have a significant adverse transboundary impact in particular by virtue of
                one or more of the following criteria :
                (a) Size : proposed activities which are large for the type of the activity ;
                (b) Location : proposed activities which are located in or close to an area of special environmental sensi­
                     tivity or importance (such as wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention, national parks ,
                     nature reserves , sites of special scientific interest, or sites of archaeological , cultural or historical
                     importance) ; also, proposed activities in locations where the characteristics of proposed development
                     would be likely to have significant effects on the population ;
                (c) Effects  proposed
                                   :    activities with particularly complex and potentially adverse effects, including those
                     giving rise to serious effects on humans or on valued species or organisms , those which threaten the
                     existing or potential use of an affected area and those causing additional loading which cannot be
                     sustained bv the carrying capacity of the environment.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 104 / 16                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    24 . 4 . 92
            2. The concerned Parties shall consider for this purpose proposed activities which are located close to an
                  international frontier as well as more remote proposed activities which could give rise to significant
                  transboundary effects far removed from the site of development.
                                                                  APPENDIX IV
                                                                 Inquiry procedure
               1 . The requesting Party or Parties shall notify the secretariat that it or they submit(s) the question of
                    whether a proposed activity listed in Appendix I is likely to have a significant adverse transboundary
                    impact to an inquiry commission established in accordance with the provisions of this Appendix. This
                    notification shall state the subject-matter of the inquiry. The secretariat shall notify immediately all
                    Parties to this Convention of this submission .
              2 . The inquiry commission shall consists of three members. Both the requesting party and the other party
                    to the inquiry procedure shall appoint a scientific or technical expert, and the two experts so appointed
                    shall designate by common agreement the third expert, who shall be the president of the inquiry
                    commission. The latter shall not be a national of one of the parties to the inquiry procedure, nor have
                    his or her usual place of residence in the territory of one of these parties, nor be employed by any of
                    them, nor have dealt with the matter in any other capacity.
              3 . If the president of the inquiry commission has not been designated within two months of the
                    appointment of the second expert, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe
                    shall , at the request of either party, designate the president within a further two-month period.
              4 . If one of the parties to the inquiry procedure does not appoint an expert within one month of its
                    receipt of the notification by the secretariat, the other party may inform the Executive Secretary of the
                    Economic Commission for Europe, who shall designate the president of the inquiry commission within
                    a further two-month period. Upon designation , the president of the inquiry commission shall request
                    the party which has not appointed an expert to do so within one month. After such a period , the
                    president shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe , who shall
                    make this appointment within a further two-month period .
              5 . The inquiry commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
              6 . The inquiry commission may take all appropriate measures in order to carry out its functions .
              7. The parties to the inquiry procedure shall facilitate the work of the inquiry commission and, in
                   particular, using all means at their disposal, shall :
                    (a) provide it with all relevant documents, facilities and information ; and
                    (b) enable it, where necessary, to call witnesses or experts and receive their evidence .
              8 . The parties and the experts shall protect the confidentiality of any information they receive in
                   confidence during the work of the inquiry commission.
              9 . If one of the parties to the inquiry procedure does not appear before the inquiry commission or fails to
                   present its case, the other party may request the inquiry commission to continue the proceedings and to
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                 complete its work. Absence of a party or failure of a party to present its case shall not constitute a bar
                 to the continuation and completion of the work of the inquiry commission .
            10 . Unless the inquiry commission determines otherwise because of the particular circumstances of the
                 matter, the expenses of the inquiry commission, including the remuneration of its members , shall be
                 borne by the parties to the inquiry procedure in equal shares. The inquiry commission shall keep a
                 record of all its expenses, and shall furnish a final statement thereof to the parties .
            11 . Any Party having an interest of a factual nature in the subject-matter of the inquiry procedure, and
                 which may be affected by an opinion in the matter, may intervene in the proceedings with the consent
                 of the inquiry commission.
            12 . The decisions of the inquiry commission on matters of procedure shall be taken by majority vote of its
                 members . The final opinion of the inquiry commission shall reflect the view of the majority of its
                 members and shall include any dissenting view.
            13 . The inquiry commission shall present its final opinion within two months of the date on which it was
                 established unless it finds it necessary to extend this time limit for a period which should not exceed
                 two months .
            14. The final opinion of the inquiry commission shall be based on accepted scientific principles. The final
                 opinion shall be transmitted by the inquiry commission to the parties to the inquiry procedure and to
                 the secretariat.
                                                               APPENDIX V
                                                           Post-project analysis
            Objectives include :
            (a) monitoring compliance with the conditions as set out in the authorization or approval of the activity
                 and the effectiveness of mitigation measures ;
            (b) review of an impact for proper management and in order to cope with uncertainties ;
            (c) verification of past predictions in order to transfer experience to future activiteis of the same type.
                                                               APPENDIX VI
                                            Elements for bilateral and multilateral cooperation
            1 . Concerned Parties may set up, where appropriate, institutional arrangements or enlarge the mandate of
                existing institutional arrangements within the framework of bilateral and multilateral agreements in
                order to give full effect to this Convention .
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            2 . Bilateral and multilateral agreements or other arrangements may include :
                  (a) any additional requirements for the implementation of this Convention, taking into account the
                       specific conditions of the subregion concerned ;
                  (b) institutional, administrative and other arrangements, to be made on a reciprocal and equivalent
                       basis ;
                  (c) harmonization of their policies and measures for the protection of the environment in order to
                       attain the greatest possible similarity in standards and methods related to the implementation of
                       environmental impact assessment ;
                  (d) developing, improving, and/or harmonizing methods for the identification, measurement, prediction
                       and assessment of impacts, and for post-project analysis ;
                  (e) developing and/or improving methods and programmes for the collection, analysis, storage and
                       timely dissemination of comparable data regarding environmental quality in order to provide input
                       into environmental impact assessment ;
                  (f) the establishment of threshold levels and more specified criteria for defining the significance of
                       transboundary impacts related to the location, nature or size of proposed activities, for which
                       environmental impact assessment in accordance with the provisions of this Convention shall be
                       applied ; and the establishment of critical loads of transboundary pollution ;
                 (g) undertaking, where appropriate, joint environmental impact assessment, development of joint moni­
                       toring programmes, intercalibration of monitoring devices and harmonization of methodologies
                       with a view to rendering the data and information obtained compatible.
                                                                APPENDIX VII
                                                                   Arbitration
              1 . The claimant Party or Parties shall notify the secretariat that the Parties have agreed to submit the
                   dispute to arbitration pursuant to Article 15 (2) of this Convention . The notification shall state the
                   subject-matter of arbitration and include, in particular, the Articles of this Convention, the interpre­
                   tation or application of which are at issue . The secretariat shall forward the information received to all
                   Parties to this Convention .
              2. The arbitral tribunal shall consist of three members. Both the claimant Party or Parties and the other
                   Party or Parties to the dispute shall appoint an arbitrator, and the two arbitrators so appointed shall
                   designate by common agreement the third arbitrator, who shall be the president of the arbitral tribunal.
                   The latter shall not be a national of one of the parties to the dispute, nor have his or her usual place of
                   residence in the territory of one of these parties, nor be employed by any of them , nor have dealt with
                   the case in any other capacity.
              3. If the president of the arbitral tribunal has not been designated within two months of the appointment
                   of the second arbitrator, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe shall, at the
                   request of either party to the dispute, designate the president within a further two-month period .
              4 . If one of the parties to the dispute does not appoint an arbitrator within two months of the receipt of
                   the request, the other party may inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for
                   Europe, who shall designate the president of the arbitral tribunal within a further two-month period .
                   Upon designation, the president of the arbitral tribunal shall request the party which has not appointed
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                  an arbitrator to do so within two months. After such a period, the president shall inform the Executive
                  Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, who shall make this appointment within a further
                  two-month period.
              5 . The arbitral tribunal shall render its decision in accordance with international law and in accordance
                  with the provisions of this Convention.
              6 . Any arbitral tribunal constituted under the provisions set out herein shall draw up its own rules of
                  procedure .
              7 . The decisions of the arbitral tribunal, both on procedure and on substance, shall be taken my majority
                  vote of its members .
              8 . The tribunal may take all appropriate measures in order to establish the facts.
              9. The parties to the dispute shall facilitate the work of the arbitral tribunal and, in particular, using all
                  means at their disposal, shall :
                  (a) provide it with all relevant documents, facilities and information ; and
                  (b) enable it, where necessary, to call witnesses or experts and receive their evidence.
            10 . The parties and the arbitrators shall protect the confidentiality of any information they receive in
                  confidence during the proceedings of the arbitral tribunal .
            1 1 . The arbitral tribunal may, at the request of one of the parties, recommend measures of protection.
            12 . If one of the parties to the dispute does not appear before the arbitral tribunal or fails to defend its
                  case , the other party may request the tribunal to continue the proceedings and to render its final
                  decision . Absence of a party or failure of a party to defend its case shall not constitute a bar to the
                  proceedings. Before rendering its final decision, the arbitral tribunal must satisfy itself that the claim is
                  well founded in fact and law.
            13 . The arbitral tribunal may hear and determine counter-claims arising directly out of the subject-matter
                  of the dispute.
            14. Unless the arbitral tribunal determines otherwise because of the particular circumstances of the case,
                  the expenses of the tribunal, including the remuneration of its members, shall be borne by the parties to
                  the dispute in equal shares . The tribunal shall keep a record of all its expenses, and shall furnish a final
                  statement thereof to the parties.
            15 . Any Party to this Convention having an interest of a legal nature in the subject-matter of the dispute,
                  and which may be affected by a decision in the case, may intervene in the proceedings with the consent
                  of the tribunal .
            16. The arbitral tribunal shall render its award within five months of the date on which it is established
                  unless it finds it necessary to extend the time limit for a period which should not exceed five months.
            17 . The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be accompanied by a statement of reasons. It shall be final and
                  binding upon all parties to the dispute. The award will be transmitted by the arbitral tribunal to the
                  parties to the dispute and to the secretariat. The secretariat will forward the information received to all
                  Parties to this Convention .
            18 . Any dispute which may arise between the parties concerning the interpretation or execution of the
                  award may be submitted by either party to the arbitral tribunal which made the award or, if the latter
                  cannot be seized thereof, to another tribunal constituted for this purpose in the same manner as the
                  first.