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On 25 February 1991 Espoo Convention On Environmental Impact Assessment In A Transboundary Context

Original Language Title: Par 1991.gada 25.februāra Espo Konvenciju par ietekmes uz vidi novērtējumu pārrobežu kontekstā

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The Saeima has adopted and the President promulgated the following laws: On 25 February 1991 Espoo Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, article 1. 25 February 1991 Espoo Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) and its annexes I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII (hereinafter the annex) by this law are accepted and approved. 2. article. The law shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation. With the law put the Convention and Annex in English and their translation into Latvian language. 3. article. The implementation of the Convention by the competent institution is the protection of the environment and regional development Ministry. 4. article. The Convention and the annexes shall thereupon enter into force for the Convention for the period specified in article 18 and in order, and on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the newspaper "journal". The Parliament adopted the law of 11 June 1998. The President g. Ulmanis in Riga on 1 July 1998, 25 February 1991, the Espoo 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 ensur is environmentally sound and sustainable development, Determined to enhance international co-operation in assessing environmental impact in particular in a transboundary context , Mindful of the need and to develop anticipatory policies importanc and of preventing, mitigating and monitoring significant adverse environmental impact in general and more specifically in a transboundary context, Recalling the relevant provision 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 Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) and the Concluding documents of the Madrid and Vienna meetings of representatives of the Participating States of the CSC, Commending the ongoing activities of States to ensur that, through their national legal and administrative provision and their national policies, environmental impact assessment is carried out, conscious of the need to give explicit considerations to environmental factors at an early stage in the decision-making process by applying environmental impact assessment, at all appropriate administrative level, not as a tool to improve the cessary quality of information presented to decision makers so that environmentally sound decisions can be made by 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 level, and taking into account the work on the environmental impact assessment carried out under the auspic's of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in particular the results achieved by the Seminar on Environmental impact assessment (September 1987 , Madrid, Spain) as well as noting the goals and principles on environmental impact assessment adopted by the Council for Each of the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Development (May 1990, Bergen, Norway), have agreed as follows: article 1 DEFINITION For the purpose of this Convention, (i) "parties" means, unless the text otherwise indicates, the Contracting Parties to this Convention; (ii) "Party of origin" means the Contracting Party or parties to this Convention under whose jurisdiction a proposed activity is envisaged to take place; (iii) "Affected Party" means the Contracting Party or parties to this Convention likely to be affected by the transboundary impact of a proposed activity; (iv) the "Concerned Parties" means the Party of origin and the affected Party of an environmental impact assessment to this Convention pursuan; (v) "Proposed activity" means any activity or any major change to an activity subject to a decision of a competent authority in accordanc with an applicable national procedure; (vi) "Environmental impact assessment" means a national procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a proposed activity on the environment; (VII) "impact" means any effect caused by a proposed activity on the environment including human health and safety, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, climate, landscape and historical monument or other physical structures or the interaction among these factors; It also includes effects on cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting from alteration to those factors; (VIII) "Transboundary impact" means any impact, not exclusively of a global nature, within an area under 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 jurisdiction of another Party; (ix) "Competent authority" means the national authority or authorities designated by a Party as responsible for performing the tasks covered by this Convention and/or the authority or authorities entrusted by a Party with decision-making powers regarding a proposed activity; (x) "the Public" means one or more natural or legal persons. Article 2 GENERAL PROVISION 1. The Parties shall, either individually or jointly, take all appropriate and effective measure to prevent, reduce and control significant adverse transboundary environmental impact from proposed activities. 2. Each Party shall take the cessary legal, administrative or other measure that implementations that the provision of this Convention, including, with respect to proposed activities listed in Appendix I that are likely to cause significant adverse transboundary impact, the establishment of an environmental impact assessment procedure that will permit public participation and preparation of the environmental impact assessment documentation described in Appendix II. 3. The Party of origin shall ensur that in accordanc with the provision of this Convention an environmental impact assessment is undertaken prior to a decision to the undertak a authoriz or proposed activity listed in Appendix I that is likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary impact. 4. The Party of origin shall, consistent with the provision of this Convention, ensur that affected parties are notified of a proposed activity listed in Appendix I that is likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary impact. 5. Concerned Parties shall, at the initiative of any such Party, enter into discussions on one or more whethers proposed activities not listed in Appendix I is or are likely to cause a significant adverse transboundary impact and this should be treated as in if it or they were so listed. Where those parties so agree, the activity or activities shall be treated for the. General guidance for identifying criteria to determin the significant adverse impact is set forth in Appendix III. 6. The Party of origin shall provide, in accordanc with the provision of this Convention, an opportunity to the public in the areas likely to be affected to participat in relevant environmental impact assessment procedures regarding proposed activities and shall ensur that the opportunity provided to the public of the affected Party is equivalent to that provided to the public of the Party of origin. 7. Environmental impact assessments as required by this Convention shall, as a minimum requirement, be undertaken at the project level of the proposed activity. To the exten to appropriate, the Parties shall endeavour to apply the principles of environmental impact assessment to policies, plans and programs. 8. The provision of this Convention shall not be affec the right of parties to national law, implementations that regulations, administrative provision or accepted legal practices protecting information the supply of which would be to question 2(a) the industrial and commercial secrecy or national security. 9. The provision of this Convention shall not be affec the right of particular parties to bilateral or implementations, by multilaterals agreement where appropriate, more a measure of the stringen than those of this Convention. 10. The provision of this Convention shall not prejudice any obligations of the parties under international law with regard to activities having or likely to have a transboundary impact. Article 3 NOTIFICATION 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 purpose of ensuring effective consultation adequat and under article 5, notify any Party which it may consider to be an affected Party as early as possible and no later than when informing its own public about that proposed activity. 2. This notification shall contain, inter alia: (a) Information on the proposed activity, including any available information on its possible transboundary impact; (b) the nature of the possible decision; and (c) An indication of a reasonable time within which a response under paragraph 3 of this article is required, taking into account the nature of the proposed activity;

and may include the information set out in paragraph 5 of this article. 3. The affected Party shall responds to the Party of origin within the time specified in the notification, acknowledging receipt of the notification, and shall indicates the whethers it intends to participat in the environmental impact assessment procedure. 4. If the affected Party indicates that it does not of intends it to participat in the environmental impact assessment procedure, or if it does not responds within the time specified in the notification, the provision in paragraph 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this article and in articles 4 to 7 will not apply. In such circumstanc-the right of a Party of origin to determin the whethers it carry out an environmental impact assessment on the basis of its national law and practice is not prejudiced. 5. Upon receipt of a response from the affected Party indicating its desire to participat in the environmental 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 impact assessment procedure, including an indication of the time schedule for transmittal of comments; and (b) relevant information on the proposed activity and its possible significant adverse transboundary impact.
6. An affected Party shall, at the request of the Party of origin, provide the latter with reasonably obtainabl information relating to the potentially affected environment under the jurisdiction of the affected Party, where such information is not cessary for the preparation of the environmental impact assessment documentation. The information shall be furnished promptly and, as appropriate, through a joint body where one exists. 7. When a Party consider that it would be affected by a significant adverse transboundary impact of a proposed activity listed in Appendix I, and when from the notification has taken place in accordanc with paragraph 1 of this article, the concerned parties shall, at the request of the affected Party, Exchange sufficient information for the purpose of holding discussions on whethers there is likely to be a significant adverse transboundary impact. If those parties agree that there is likely to be a significant adverse transboundary impact, the provision of this Convention shall apply accordingly. If those parties cannot agree whethers there is likely to be a significant adverse transboundary impact, any such Party may submit that question to an inquiry commission in accordanc with the provision of Appendix IV to advise on the likelihood of significant adverse transboundary impact, unless they agree on another method of of settling this question. 8. The concerned parties shall ensur that the public of the affected Party in the areas likely to be affected be informed of, and be provided with possibilities for making comments or objection on, the proposed activity, and for the transmittal of these comments or objection to the competent authority of the Party of origin, either directly to this authority or , where appropriate, through the Party of origin. Article 4 PREPARATION OF the ENVIRONMENTAL impact assessment DOCUMENTATION 1. The environmental impact assessment documentation to be submitted to the competent authority of the Party of origin shall contain, as a minimum, the information described in Appendix II. 2. The Party of origin shall furnish the affected Party, as appropriate through a joint body where one exists, with the environmental impact assessment documentation. The concerned parties shall arrang for distribution of the documentation to the authorities and the public of the affected Party in the areas likely to be 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 the Party of origin within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken on the proposed activity. Article 5 CONSULTATION ON the basis OF the ENVIRONMENTAL impact assessment DOCUMENTATION the Party of origin shall, after completion of the environmental impact assessment documentation, without delay enter into consultation of the undu to with the affected Party concerning, inter alia, the potential transboundary impact of the proposed activity and measure to reduce the impact or eliminat it. Google Street view may relate to: (a) possible alternatives to the proposed activity, including the no-action alternative and possible measure to the significant transboundary mitigat adverse impact and to monitor the effects of such measure in at the expense of the Party of origin; (b) Other forms of possible mutual assistance in reducing any significant adverse transboundary impact of the proposed activity; and (c) Any other appropriate matters relating to the proposed activity.
The Parties shall agree, at the of such consultation commencemen, on a reasonable time-frame for the duration of the consultation period. Any such consultation may be conducted through an appropriate joint body, where one exists. Article 6 FINAL DECISION 1. The Parties shall ensur that, in the final decision on the proposed activity, due account is taken of the outcome of the environmental impact assessment, including the environmental impact assessment documentation, as well as the comments thereon received pursuan to article 3, paragraph 8 and article 4, paragraph 2, and the outcome of the consultation as referred to in article 5 2. The Party of origin shall provide to the affected Party the final decision on the proposed activity along with the reasons and considerations on which it was based. 3. If additional information on the significant transboundary impact of a proposed activity, which was not available at the time a decision was made with respect to that activity and which could have materially affected the decision, become available to a concerned Party of before work on that activity, that Party shall commenc immediately inform the other concerned Party or parties. If one of the concerned parties so requests, it shall be held in consultation as whethers the decision needs to be revised. Article 7 post-project analysis 1. The concerned parties, at the request of any such Party, shall, if so the whethers and determin the what exten-a post project analysis shall be carried out, taking into account the likely significant adverse transboundary impact of the activity for which an environmental impact assessment has been undertaken pursuan to this Convention. Any post-project analysis undertaken shall include, in particular, the surveillance of the activity and the determination of any adverse transboundary impact. Such surveillance and determination may be undertaken with a view to achieving the objective of listed in Appendix v. 2. When, as a result of post-project analysis, the Party of origin or the affected Party has reasonable grounds for concluding that there is a significant adverse transboundary impact or factors have been discovered which may result in such an impact, it shall immediately inform the other Party. The concerned parties shall then consult on measure to reduce cessary or eliminat the impact. Article 8 BILATERAL AND MULTILATERALS CO-OPERATION the parties may continue existing or enter into new bilateral agreements or arrangements or other multilaterals in order it implementations that their obligations under this Convention. Such agreements or other arrangements may be based on the elements listed in Appendix VI. Article 9 RESEARCH PROGRAM, the Parties shall give special considerations to the setting up, or intensification of specific research programmes aimed at that: (a) Improving existing qualitativ and quantitativ method for assessing the impacts of proposed activities; (b) Achieving a better understanding of cause-effect relationships and their role in integrated environmental management; (c) Analysing and monitoring the efficient implementation of decisions on proposed activities with the intention of minimizing or preventing impacts; (d) Developing methods to stimulat creative approaches in the search for environmentally sound alternatives to proposed activities, production and consumption patterns; (e) Developing methodolog for the application of the principles of environmental impact assessment at the macro-economic level.
The results of the programmes listed above shall be exchanged by the parties. Article 10 status OF the of the Appendic APPENDIC attached to this Convention form an integral part of the Convention. Article 11 MEETING OF parties 1. The Parties shall meet, so far as possible, in connection with the annual sessions of the Senior Adviser to ECE Governments on Environmental and Water problems. The first meeting of the Parties shall be convened not later than one year after the date of the entry into force of this Convention. Thereafter, meetings of the Parties shall be held at such other times as may be deemed not a meeting of the cessary by parties, or at the written request of any Party; provided that, within six months of the request being communicated to them by the Secretariat, it is supported by at least one third of the parties. 2. The Parties shall keep under continuous review the implementation of this Convention, and, with this purpose in mind, shall:

(a) Review the policies and methodological approaches to environmental impact assessment by the parties with a view to further improving environmental impact assessment procedures in a transboundary context; (b) Exchange information regarding experience gained in concluding and implementing bilateral and multilaterals subject to agreements or others regarding the use of environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context to which one or more of the parties are party; (c) Seek, where appropriate, the services of competent international bodies and scientific committees in methodological and technical aspects pertinen to the achievement of the purpose of this Convention; (d) At their first meeting, consider and by consensus the rules of adop procedure for their meetings; (e) Consider and, where no proposal for adop cessary, amendments to this Convention; (f) Consider and any additional action undertak that may be required for the achievement of the purpose of this Convention.
Article 12 right TO vote 1. Each Party to this Convention shall have one vote. 2. Using the ag provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, regional economic integration organizations, in matters within their competence, shall exercise their right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of their member States which are parties to this Convention. Such organizations shall not exercise their right to vote if their member States exercise their will, and vice versa. Article 13 Secretariat the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe shall carry out the following secretariat functions: (a) the convening and preparing of meetings of the parties; (b) the transmission of reports and other information received in accordanc with the provision of this Convention to the parties; and (c) the performance of other functions as may be provided for in this Convention or as may be determined by the parties.
Article 14 AMENDMENTS TO the CONVENTION 1 Any Party may-proposes amendments. to this Convention. 2. the Proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat, which it shall communicate them to all parties. The proposed amendments will be discussed at the next IR meeting of the parties, provided these proposals have been circulated by the Secretariat to the parties at least ninety days in advance. 3. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on any proposed amendment to this 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 majority of a three-fourth vote of the Parties present and voting at the meeting. 4. Amendments to this Convention adopted in accordanc with paragraph 3 of this article shall be submitted by the Depositary to all parties for ratification, approval or acceptance. They shall enter into force for parties having ratified, approved or accepted them on the ninetieth day after the receipt by the Depositary of notification of their the ratification, approval or acceptance by at least three fourth of these parties. Thereafter they shall enter into force for any other Party on the ninetieth day after that Party deposits its instrument of ratification, approval or acceptance of the amendments. 5. For the purpose of this article, "Parties present and voting" means Parties present and casting an affirmativ or negative vote. 6. The voting procedure set forth in paragraph 3 of this article is not intended to constitut a preceden for future agreements negotiated within the Economic Commission not for Europe. Article 15 settlement OF DISPUTE 1. If a dispute between two of the «arise or more parties about the interpretation or application of this Convention, they shall seek a solution by negotiation or by any other method of dispute settlement acceptabl to the parties to the dispute. 2. When signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to this Convention, or at any time thereafter, a Party may declare in writing to the Depositary that for a dispute not resolved in accordanc with paragraph 1 of this article, it will accept one or both of the following means of dispute settlement as compulsory in relations to any Party accepting the same obligation in : (a) Submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice; (b) Arbitration in accordanc with the procedure set out in Appendix VI. 3. If the parties to the dispute have accepted both means of dispute settlement referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, the dispute may be submitted only to the International Court of Justice, unless the parties agree otherwise. Article 16 signature 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 until 2 September 1991 by the States members of the Economic Commission for Europe as well as States having consultative status with the Economic Commission for Europe pursuan to paragraph 8 of the Economic and Social Council resolution 36 (IV) of 28 March 1947 , and by regional economic integration organizations constituted by sovereign States members of the Economic Commission for Europe to which their member States have transferred competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention, including the competence to enter into the treats in respect of these matters. Article 17 RATIFICATION, acceptance, APPROVAL AND ACCESSION 1 this Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by signatory States and regional economic integration organizations. 2. This Convention shall be open for accession as from 3 September 1991 by the States and organizations referred to in article 16. The instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall perform the functions of Depositary. 4. Any organization referred to in article 16 which become a Party to this Convention without any of its member States being a Party shall be bound by all the obligations under this Convention. In the case of such organizations, one or more of whose member States is a Party to this Convention, the organization and its member States shall decide on their respectiv has responsibilities for the performance of their obligations under this Convention. In such cages, the organization and the member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights under this Convention concurrently. 5. In their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the regional economic integration organizations referred to in article 16 shall declare the exten of their competence with respect to the matters governed by this Convention. These organizations shall also inform the Depositary of any relevant modification to the exten of their competence. Article 18 ENTRY into force this Convention shall enter 1 into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 2. For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this article, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by States members of such an organization. 3. For each State or organization referred to in article 16 which ratif, accept or approve or accede of the this Convention after the deposit of the theret 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, approval or accession. Article 19 WITHDRAWALS At any time after four years from the date on which this Convention has come into force with respect to a Party, that Party may withdraw from this Convention by giving written notification to the Depositary. Any such withdrawals shall take effect on the ninetieth day after the date of its receipt by the Depositary. Any such withdrawals shall not be affec the application of articles 3 to 6 of this Convention to a proposed activity in respect of which a notification has been made to article 3 pursuan, paragraph 1, or a request has been made to article 3 pursuan, paragraph 7, before such withdrawals took effect. Article 20 AUTHENTIC texts the original of this Convention, of which the English, French and Russian texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized, have signed the theret this Convention. Done at Espoo (Finland), this twenty-fifth day of February one thousand nine hundred and ninety-one.


Appendix I list of activities 1. Crude oil refiner (excluding manufacturing undertaking only lubricant from crude oil) and installation for the liquefaction and gasification of 500 tonnes or more of coal or bitumino of the shal per day. 2. Thermal power stations and other combustion installation with a heat output of 300 megawatt or more and nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installation for the production and conversion of fissionabl and fertil materials, whose maximum power does not a continuous kilowat 12 1 thermal load). 3. the Installation is solely designed for the production of nuclear fuels or enrichmen, reprocessing of irradiated nuclear for the fuels or for the storage, disposal and processing of radioactive waste. 4. The Major installation for the initial smelting of cast iron and steel and for-the production of the non-ferro metals. 5. Installation 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 installation. 7. Construction of motorway, express road 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 pipeline. 9. Trading ports and also inland waterway and ports for inland-waterway traffic which permit the passage of a vessel of over 1.350 tonnes. 10. Waste-disposal installation for the incineration, chemical treatment or landfill of toxic and dangerous waste. 11. Large dam and reservoir. 12. Groundwater abstraction activities in cases where the annual volume of water to be abstracted to 10 million cubic metres, non or more. 13. Pulp and paper manufacturing of 200 metric tons of air-shall or more per day. 14. Major mining, on-site extraction and processing of metal ore or coal. 15. Offshore hydrocarbon production. 16. Major storage facilities for petroleum, petrochemical and chemical products. 17. Deforestation of large areas. ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ * For the purpose 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 OK, with separate carriageway 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, or footpath; and (c) Is specially sign-posted as a motorway.
-"Express road" means a road reserved for motor traffic accessible only from interchange or controlled junction and on which, in particular, stopping and parking are prohibited on the running carriageway (s). 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 accordanc 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 significanc; (e) A description of mitigation measure to keep adverse environmental impact to a minimum; (f) An explicit indication of predictive methods and underlying assumption as well as the relevant environmental data used; (g) An identification of the gap in knowledge and in compiling the uncertaint encountered the required information; (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 Significanc of activities Not Listed in Appendix I 1. In considering proposed activities to which article 2, paragraph 5, applies, the parties concerned may consider the activity is likely whethers 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 sensitivity or importanc (such as a designated Ramsar wetland under the Convention, national park, nature reserve of special scientific interest, sites, or sites of archaeological, cultural or historical importanc); 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 by the carrying capacity of the environment.
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 the development. Appendix IV Inquiry Procedure 1. The requesting Party or parties shall notify the Secretariat that it or they submit (s) the question of a proposed activity listed in Appendix whethers I is likely to have a significant adverse transboundary impact to an inquiry commission established in accordanc with the provision of this Appendix. This notification shall state the subject-matter of the inquiry. The Secretariat shall immediately notify all parties to this Convention of this submission. 2. The inquiry commission shall consis of three members. Both the requesting party and the other party to the inquiry procedure shall be appoin a scientific or technical expert, and the two experts so appointed shall by common agreement designat 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 to deal 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, designat the President within a further two-month period. 4. If one of the parties to the inquiry procedure does not an appoin 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 designat 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 adop a its own rules of procedure. 6. The inquiry commission may take all appropriate measure in order to carry out its functions. 7. The parties to the inquiry procedure shall facilitat 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 not, to call witness cessary 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 file it in the present case, it is the other party may request the inquiry commission to continue the proceedings and to complete its work. Absence of a party or failure of a party to present its case shall not constitut a bar to the continuation and completion of the work of the inquiry commission. 10. Unless the inquiry commission's determin otherwise because of the particular Council of the matter, circumstanc at the expense 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 expense, 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, Maya interven in the proceedings with the consent of the inquiry commission. 12. The decision 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 reflec the view of the majority of its members and shall include any dissenting views. 13. The inquiry commission shall present its final opinion within two months of the date on which it was established unless it finds it does not extend the cessary this time limit for a period which should not two months exceeds 100. 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-analysis of project Objective include: (a) Monitoring compliance with the conditions as set out in the authorization or approval of the activity and the effectiveness of mitigation measure; (b) Review of an impact for proper management and orders the cop with uncertaint ln; (c) Verification of past prediction comes in order to transfer experience to future activities of the same type.
Appendix VI elements for Bilateral and Multilaterals Co-Operation 1. Concerned Parties may set up, where appropriate, institutional arrangements or enlarge the mandate of existing institutional arrangements within the framework of the bilateral and multilaterals agreements in order to give full effect to this Convention. 2. Bilateral agreements or other arrangements and multilaterals 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 measure 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 programs for the collection, analysis, storage and dissemination of timely comparabl data regarding environmental quality in order to provide input into the environmental impact assessment; (f) the establishment of threshold levels and more specified criteria for defining the significanc of transboundary impacts related to the location, nature or size of proposed activities, for which environmental impact assessment in accordanc with the provision of this Convention shall be applied; and the establishment of critical load of transboundary pollution; (g) Undertaking, where appropriate, joint environmental impact assessment, development of joint monitoring programmes, intercalibration of monitoring devices and harmonization of with a view to rendering it methodolog the data and information obtained compatible.
Appendix VII Arbitration 1. The Party or parties shall claiman notify the Secretariat that the parties have agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration, the article 15 pursuan paragraph 2, of this Convention. The notification shall state the subject-matter of arbitration and include, in particular, the articles of this Convention, the interpretation or application of which are at issue. The Secretariat shall forward the information received to all parties to this Convention. 2. The tribunal shall CAs consis of three members. Both the Party or parties claiman and the other Party or parties to the dispute, the arbitrator shall be an appoin and the arbitrator so appointed shall two designat by common agreement the third arbitrator, who shall be the President of the CAs 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 to deal with the case in any other capacity. 3. If the President of the tribunal has not been designated CAs 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, designat the President within a further two-month period. 4. If one of the parties to the dispute does not an appoin 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 designat the President of the CAs tribunal within a further two-month period. Upon designation, the President of the CAs tribunal shall request the party which has not appointed 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 tribunal shall render its decision CAs in accordanc with international law and in accordanc with the provision of this Convention. 6. Any provision the tribunal constituted under the CAs set out herein shall draw up its own rules of procedure. 7. The decision of the CAs tribunal, both on procedure and on substance, shall be taken by majority vote of its members. 8. The tribunal may take all appropriate measure in order to establish the facts. 9. The parties to the dispute shall facilitat the work of the tribunal and, in particular, the CAs using all means at their disposal, shall: (a) provide it with all relevant documents, facilities and information; and (b) enable it, where not, to call witness cessary or experts and receive their evidence.
10. The parties and the arbitrator shall protect the confidentiality of any information the they receive in confidence during the proceedings of the CAs tribunal. 11. The CAs tribunal may, at the request of one of the parties, recommend interim measure of protection. 12. If one of the parties to the dispute does not appear before the tribunal or CAs file 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 constitut a bar to the proceedings. Before rendering its final decision, the CAs tribunal must satisfy itself that the claim is well founded in fact and law. 13. The CAs tribunal may hear and determin counter-claims arising directly out of the subject-matter of the dispute. 14. Unless the tribunal otherwise determin the CAs because of the particular of the case of circumstanc, the expense 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 expense, 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 interven in the proceedings with the consent of the tribunal. 16. The CAs tribunal shall render its award within five months of the date on which it is established unless it finds it does not extend the cessary to time limit for a period which should not five months exceeds 100. 17. The award of the CAs 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 CAs 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 CAs 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.

25 February 1991 Espoo Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context

Party to this Convention, to the economic activities around the mind and its impact on the environment of mutual correlations, confirming the need for environmentally sound and sustainable development, pledging to improve international cooperation in assessing the environmental impact, especially in a transboundary context, focusing on the need to build a preventive policy, prevent or limit the adverse effects on the environment in General and in particular in a transboundary context and to carry out permanent monitoring, with reference to the Charter of the United Nations in the , The Stockholm Conference "On cilvēkvid" Declaration, the Conference on security and cooperation in Europe and the final document of the Conference on security and cooperation in Vienna and of the representatives of the Member States of the Madrid meeting the closing conditions contained in the documents, evaluating countries high ongoing measures to ensure that their national legal and administrative conditions and national policy based on environmental impact assessment, conscious of the need for early in the deciding period take into account the environmental factors using environmental impact assessment as required by decision-makers of quality information to be feature in all levels of decision-making to reduce a significant adverse impact on the environment, in particular in the transboundary context, encourage environmentally beneficial decisions, drawing attention to the efforts of international organisations promoting environmental impact assessment, at both national and international level and work on the environmental impact assessment carried out by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in particular the seminar "environmental impact assessment" (September 1987, Warsaw, Poland) results as well as noting the environmental impact assessment objectives and principles approved by the United Nations Environment Programme Governing Council, and the "Ministerial Declaration on sustainable development" (May 1990, Bergen, Norway), have agreed as follows: article 1 definitions for the purposes of this Convention, (i) "Member State" shall mean States parties to this Convention, unless the text indicates otherwise; (ii) "party of origin" means the Member State to this Convention (s) (s) jurisdiction; (iii) "affected Party" means a party to the Convention (s) (s) be likely to prejudice the envisaged transboundary impacts; (iv) "interested party" means the party of origin and affected party that apply environmental impact assessment in accordance with this Convention; (v) "operation" means any activity or any major change to an activity that is subject to the competent authorities of the official decision in accordance with the procedure laid down in the country; (vi) "environmental impact assessment" means a possible action for the environmental impact assessment in accordance with the procedure laid down in the country; (VII) "impact" means any change caused by the action for the environment, including human health and safety, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, climate, landscape and historical monuments or other physical structures or the interaction between climate change; It also includes the effects on cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions; (VIII) "transboundary impact" means any impact, except for the resulting global action affected parties in the territory under the jurisdiction, if the physical cause of this influence wholly or partly within the territory of another Member State in the territory of jurisdiction; (ix) "competent official" means the national authority or authorities which a Member State has delegated responsibility for the tasks laid down in this Convention and/or authority (s) designated by the Member State to decide on the proposed activities; (x) "the public" means one or more natural or legal persons. Article 2 General provisions 1. Member States shall individually or jointly take all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent, reduce and control the intended material adverse transboundary impact on the environment. 2. each Member State shall take the necessary legal, administrative or other measures to implement the requirements of this Convention including those relating to those laid down in annex I activities that may cause significant adverse transboundary impacts, as well as to develop the environmental impact assessment procedure, providing for public participation in environmental impact assessment and the preparation of the dossier in accordance with annex II. 3. the party of origin must ensure that the environmental impact assessment referred to in annex I to the transaction that may cause significant adverse transboundary impacts are carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Convention before the decision on acceptability or proposed action. 4. the party of origin in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, ensure that affected parties are notified of a referred to in annex I intended that may cause significant adverse transboundary impact. 5. in Every case where an intended action, which is not included in annex I, may cause significant adverse transboundary impact and thus should be considered as such to be included in annex I to this Convention, the parties concerned at the initiative of any Member State must be involved in the discussion. Actions that Member States have agreed to align them, referred to in annex I shall also be assessed accordingly. General substantial adverse effect criteria is given in annex III. 6. in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, the party of origin to enable the affected parties to participate in the Community actions provided for in the environmental impact assessment and provide affected parties an opportunity to the public, equivalent to the public of the party of origin. 7. impact u z assessment in accordance with the requirements of this Convention should apply to at least the level of the project. As far as possible, Member States should endeavour to apply environmental impact assessment principles to policies, plans and programmes. 8. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the right of Member States to apply national laws, regulations, administrative regulations, or other legal measures to protect information the disclosure of which would compromise the industrial and commercial secrecy or national d rošīb. 9. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the right of Member States under bilateral or multilateral agreements shall lay down stricter requirements contained in this Convention. 10. The provisions of this Convention shall not affect any obligations of Member States established by international law, concerning operations which are, or may be a cross-border effect. Article 3 notification 1. to ensure the appropriate and productive consultations in accordance with article 5 of this Convention, the party of origin should notify about intended activities included in annex I with a possible significant adverse transboundary impact, any Member State which could become the affected party as early as possible, and not later, as it informs of proposed activities in your community. 2. The notification shall contain at least: (a) information on the proposed activity, including any available information on its possible transboundary impact, (b) information on the possible substance of the decision, and (c) the preferred deadline for reply in accordance with paragraph 3 of this article, taking into account the nature of the activity and may include the information set out in paragraph 5 of this article. 3. the Affected Party should provide the answer to the party of origin within the time limit specified in the notice, such notice and stating whether it intends to participate in the environmental impact assessment. 4. If the affected party to refuse from participation in the environmental impact assessment or does not respond within the time limit set in the notice, 5 to 8 of this article, as well as a paragraph 4 to article 7 conditions are not applicable. In this case, the right to decide on the environmental impact assessment of the need, in accordance with their national legislation and practices remain the party of origin. 5. when the affected parties received a response that expressed readiness to participate in the environmental impact assessment, the party of origin, if you have not already done so, provide to the affected party: (a) appropriate information on the environmental impact assessment procedure, including the time schedule for transmitting comments, and (b) appropriate information on the proposed activity and its possible significant adverse transboundary impact.

6. If the environmental impact assessment documentation is required for the preparation of information on the potentially affected environment under the jurisdiction of the affected party in the territory of the affected party upon request of the party of origin shall, without delay, to provide the following information, in so far as it is available, and in the case of joint institutions of the. 7. Where a Member State considers that it is referred to in annex I, without prejudice to the actions provided for in the major negative cross-border effects, but in paragraph 1 of this article has not received the notification provided to interested parties upon request of the affected parties exchange information, to find out if it is possible to have significant adverse transboundary impact. If the parties agree that significant adverse transboundary impacts are possible, according to the applicable terms of this s Convention. If the parties concerned cannot agree whether significant adverse transboundary impacts are possible, and also agreed on other resolving this question, any Member State may bring the matter to the investigation set out in annex IV to Commission it expresses its views on significant adverse transboundary impacts. 8. the concerned parties shall ensure that the public of the affected parties in the territory, which could affect the expected operation, be informed and get the opportunity to express an opinion on the intended action or object to it, as well as comment or objection by the party of origin notified the competent institution directly or, where appropriate, through the party of origin. Article 4 ASSESSMENT of the environmental impact of the preparation of the documentation 1. The environmental impact assessment documentation the party of origin shall be submitted to the competent authority, to include the information that the minimum requirements laid down in annex II. 2. The Party of origin shall provide the affected Party of the environmental impact assessment documentation, if necessary and possible, through common institutions. Interested parties in due time before the final decision on acceptance of the proposed transaction provides the distribution of documentation for the institution and the public, affected parties on the impact of potentially exposed area, as well as ensure the submission of comments to the parties of origin authorized State authority either directly or through the party of origin. Article 5 consultations, AS follows FROM the environmental impact assessment documentation the party of origin after the environmental impact assessment documentation, without delay, the complete preparation should start with the affected party joint consultations, which should also affect the essential action for the cross-border issues and the impact these actions of mitigation or prevention measures. Consultations can look at the following questions: (a) possible alternatives to the proposed action, including denial of it, and the possible measures that the parties of origin means reduce the significant adverse transboundary impact and to allow to evaluate the usefulness of these measures, (b) other forms of mutual assistance, to reduce any activities provided for significant adverse transboundary impacts, and (c) other action provided for related issues.
At the beginning of the consultation, the Parties shall agree on the time that you want to allow for consultations. Any such consultations can be controlled through an appropriate joint body, if any. Article 6 final decision 1. The Parties shall ensure that the final decision on the action to be taken into account in the environmental impact assessment, including the environmental impact assessment documentation, as well as comments received in article 3, paragraph 8 and article 4, paragraph 2, and in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 5, the conclusion of the consultation. 2. The Party of origin shall notify the party to influencers the final decision on the proposed activity, adding also the reasons and considerations on which the decision is based. 3. If, before the commencement of the action for the interested party come information about significant cross-border effects of the action envisaged, which was not available at the time of decision-making, something could have a significant impact on the decision, the Party shall immediately provide this information to other interested parties. If an interested party requests a review of the decision, the parties should be consulted on the need for such action. Article 7 PĒCPROJEKT analysis 1. interested parties, at the request of either party, shall determine whether the pēcprojekt analysis should be carried out and, if so, how widespread it should be in accordance with this Convention, taking into account the estimated activities provided for under the relevant adverse transboundary impact on the environment. to pēcprojekt Any analysis should include action for the monitoring program and the adverse impacts of all cross-border discovery after its launch. The monitoring program and the determination of the impact can be implemented to achieve the objectives set out in annex V. 2. where the results of analysis of the pēcprojekt in the party of origin or the affected party has reasonable grounds for believing that the operation has a significant adverse transboundary impact or factors that are disclosed can cause significant adverse transboundary impact, it shall immediately inform the other party. Interested parties will then consult on necessary measures to prevent or reduce these effects. Article 8 BILATERAL and multilateral cooperation, Member States may continue to meet existing or enter into new bilateral or multilateral agreements or other arrangements, to perform its obligations under this Convention. Agreements or other arrangements may be based on the conditions referred to in annex VI. Article 9 research programmes Member States must pay particular attention to the specific research programme for the development and implementation of the appropriate to: (a) improving existing qualitative and quantitative methods provided for environmental impact assessment; (b) better understanding of the causal relationships and their role in integrated environmental management; (c) analyse and control the decision on actions for effective implementation, in addition to reducing or eliminating their impact on the environment; (d) develop methods for environmentally friendly production and consumption alternative search that promote creativity intended operations; (e) develop a methodology for the environmental impact assessment for the application of the principle of the macro-economic level.
The Member States shall mutually exchange the above program results. Article 10 STATUS of annexes annexes to this Convention shall form an integral part of this Convention. Article 11 meeting of the Member States 1. meetings are possible in the match in the Central and Eastern European Governments on environmental and water problems Senior Advisor for the annual sessions. The first meeting of the Member States shall take place no later than one year from the entry into force of this Convention. Member States are further when deemed necessary, or upon the written request of a Member State, if it supports one-third member smaz v. In this case, the meeting shall take place within six months after the Secretariat made it known to the Member States. 2. Member States do not always follow the progress of the implementation of the Convention, (a) the review of Member States ' environmental impact assessment policies and methodologies to improve further the environmental impact assessment procedures in a transboundary context; (b) exchange of experiences on the bilateral and multilateral agreements and enforcement or other arrangement linking the Member States with regard to environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context of application; (c) if necessary, search for help within the appropriate international organisations and scientific committees, to address methodological and technical issues arising from the implementation of this Convention; (d) first meeting discussing and adopting by consensus the meeting procedures; (e) discussing and, where necessary, adopt proposals for the Convention; (f) discussing and taking any additional measures that might be necessary for the attainment of the objectives of the Convention.
Article 12 right to vote 1. a State party shall have one vote. 2. Regional economic integration organisations ballots on matters within their competence, are the number of votes of the Member States of the Convention are the Member States of these organizations, unless those Member States shall not exercise their right to vote, no voice, if the Member States exercise their right to vote, in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article. Article 13 Secretariat the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe shall carry out the following secretariat functions: (a) convene and prepare meetings of the Member States; (b) in accordance with the provisions of the present Convention shall send the Member States received messages and other information; (c) carry out other duties provided for in this Convention or of the Member States.

Article 14 of the Convention, APPENDIX 1. Any member may propose the Appendix of this Convention. 2. applications shall be submitted in Addition to the Secretariat in written form, which it distributed to all Member States of this Convention. Proposed additions shall consult the Member States at the next meeting, unless all Member States have received such proposals from the Secretariat at least 90 days before the meeting. 3. Member States must make every effort to reach agreement by consensus on any proposed additions. However, if consensus fails to catch, a minor shall be taken by three fourths of the Member States present and voting, and this is a last resort. 4. additions to the Convention adopted in paragraph 3 of this article in the order, the depositary shall send all Member States for ratification, approval or acceptance. They shall enter into force for the Member States which have ratified them, ascertained or accepted, on the 90th day after the notice is received by the depositary on it that at least three quarters of Member States have ratified, approved or accepted. Further, they shall enter into force with respect to any other Member State on the ninetieth day after the deposit of the instrument of ratification, approval or acceptance of the instrument. 5. the meaning of this article, "Parties present and voting" shall mean the Member States the Member States represented at the meeting and voting "for" or "against". 6. in paragraph 3 of this article, in particular voting procedure does not apply to those contracts of the Economic Commission for Europe, which are expected to close in the future. Article 15 settlement of disputes 1. If between two or more parties a dispute arises concerning the provisions of this Convention, the interpretation or application, they shall seek a solution by negotiation or by any other acceptable form of ADR. 2. When signing, ratifying, recognizing, approving or acceding to this Convention or at any time thereafter, a Member State may submit to the depositary a written confirmation that regarding disputes which fails to obtain a paragraph 1 of this article in accordance with the procedures specified in that it accepts one or both of the following features as optional any Member State, which shall have the same obligation: (a) the resolution of the dispute shall be referred to the International Court of Justice; (b) a resolution of the dispute, the arbitral tribunal shall be entrusted in annex VII.
3. If the parties to the dispute have accepted both by the Member States in paragraph 2 of this article for certain types of ADR, resolution of the dispute can only be entrusted to the International Court of Justice, unless the parties agree otherwise. Article 16 signature this Convention shall be open for signature by the Member States of the Economic Commission for Europe, which, in accordance with economic and Social Council on 28 March 1947 resolution No. 36 (IV) is a consultative status in the Economic Commission for Europe, as well as a full member of the Economic Commission for Europe, the Member States created regional economic integration organisations which have competence that Member States have to address the issues of this Convention regulated, including the conclusion of m u League in these matters The Espoo City (Finland) from 25 February 1991 to 1 March and then to the United Nations in New York until September 2, 1991. Article 17 ratification, acceptance, approval and accession 1 this Convention it signed in Member States and regional economic integration organizations shall be subject to ratification, recognised or approved. 2. on 3 September 1991, the Convention is open to the States and organizations referred to in article 16, to join it. 3. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations in carrying out the functions of the depositary. 4. Article 16 described in an organization that becomes a party to the Convention, assume all obligations arising from this Convention, even if no Member State of this organization is not a party to the Convention. If one or more Member States of the organisation's Member States to this Convention, the Organization and its Member States to decide on the allocation of responsibility in the performance of the requirements of this Convention. In such cases, the Organization and its Member States shall not be in addition to the use of the rights deriving from this Convention. 5. in article 16, as described in the regional economic integration organizations in their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession instruments indicate their competence in matters governed by this Convention. These organisations shall inform the depositary of any change that affects it competence. Article 18 entry into force 1 this Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 2. Paragraph 1 of this article, meaning none of the instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession instrument deposited in the regional economic integration organisation, there is no extra overhead for those sent into storage this Organization member States. 3. in article 16 described in Each State or organization which ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or accedes to it after the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the date of deposit of the instrument, the Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after this country's instruments of ratification, approval, acceptance or adoption of the instrument is deposited. Article 19 withdrawal a member may withdraw from this Convention four years from the date of entry into force of the Convention in this country by giving written notification to the depositary of the withdrawal. Any such withdrawal shall take effect on the 90th day after the receipt of the notification the depositary. Withdrawal shall not affect the Convention 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the application for action, on which the notified in accordance with article 3 of the Convention paragraph 1 or a request made in accordance with article 3, paragraph 7, before such withdrawal has come into force. Article 20 authentic TEXTS the original of this Convention, of which the English, French and Russian texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In witness thereof, the undersigned, being duly authorized, the undersigned have signed this Convention. Espoo (Finland) drawn up one thousand nine hundred and ninety-first year of the twenty-ninth day of February.

Annex I indicative list of actions 1. Crude oil refineries (excluding production of lubricants from crude oil) and installations for coal or oil shale, at least 500 tons a day, converting the gas and the liquid. 2. Thermal power stations and other combustion installations with a capacity of 300 megawatts or more and nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installations for the work of nuclear materials and nuclear material for the production of translation and conversion, whose maximum power does not exceed 1 kW average calorific values). 3. Special equipment for the production or enrichment of nuclear fuel, used nuclear fuel reprocessing or storage of radioactive waste disposal and recycling. 4. Major installations for the initial smelting of cast iron and steel and non-ferrous metal production. 5. installations for the extraction of asbestos and asbestos or asbestos-containing products and processing of asbestos products during the annual gala production more than 20000 tonnes or for abrasive materials with the annual gala production of more than 50 tonnes, or other production, which uses more than 200 tons of asbestos a year. 6. Complex chemical industry equipment. 7. the highways, motorways, intercity rail lines and the airport with more than 2100 m long main building run. 8. Large-diameter oil and gas pipeline construction. 9. Trading ports and inland waterways and river ports to vessels with carrying capacity of 1350 tons and more. 10. installations for the incineration, chemical treatment or toxic and hazardous waste storage. 11. large dams and artificial water bodies. 12. Groundwater abstraction, where annual mining volume exceeds 10 million cubic metres. 13. Pulp and paper manufacturing, where productivity is 200 metric tons air-dry a day or more. 14. Metal ore and coal mines, mining equipment and processing. 15. extraction of hydrocarbons offshore area. 16. the large-scale oil, petrochemical products and chemical product storage facilities. 17. Clear cut large areas. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ * Within the meaning of this Convention: "highway" means the movement of vehicles specially designed and built for the road, which is not intended to be deployed along the path property, and which: (a) everywhere, except at special points or temporarily, the opposite lanes are separated by a distribution zone, not the vehicles movement, or in exceptional cases separated, (b) is not otherwise a single-level crossings with roads, railway or tram lines or pedestrian paths and (c) is identified by a road sign "highway";

"highway" means vehicles intended for the road on which approach only from road transport or adjustable junctions and on which stopping or parking is prohibited on vehicle parts. Annex II of the environmental impact assessment documentation content in accordance with article 4 of the environmental impact assessment documentation must contain at least the following information: (a) the activities and its objectives; (b) if possible, the place of business, technology, etc. possible alternatives, including the possibility of action to opt out; (c) the significant impact of potentially exposed environment and its alternatives; (d) the proposed action and its alternative possible environmental impact assessment of materiality and; (e) a description of countermeasures to minimize the adverse environmental effects; (f) in-depth information about forecasting methods and underlying assumptions as well as the necessary data about the environment; (g) instructions to the gaps and uncertainties in the data output that revealed, in preparing the necessary information; (h) if necessary, monitoring, and management short program description and pēcprojekt analysis plan; (i) the popular summary form, including the necessary Visual information (maps, graphs, etc.).
Annex III activities not listed in annex I of the environmental impact of materiality general criteria 1. Discussing the activities covered by article 2, paragraph 5, of the rules, the interested parties can apply to one or more operational environmental impact significance criteria: (a) scale: the scale of activity greatly exceeds the average level of such activities; (b) place: particularly sensitive or important areas or near the environment (Ramsar Convention includes wetlands, national parks, nature reserves, special scientific or archaeological interest and important cultural sites) or sites that contribute significantly to the specific characteristics of the impact on the population; (c) effects: proposed action of complex and potentially adverse effects, which can seriously affect people, valuable species or organisms; threatening the use of currently affected areas or in the future; What causes extra load on the environment, exceeding the environmental purification capacity.
2. The following criteria stakeholders evaluate other actions that occur in the direct proximity to international borders, as well as transactions that are not in the direct vicinity of the international border, but can cause significant transboundary effects far from the venue. Annex IV procedure 1 the claimant party shall notify the Secretariat that in accordance with the procedure laid down in this annex, the resulting investigation, submit to the Commission the question whether to include in annex I to the proposed action will have a significant adverse transboundary impact. The notification shall indicate the subject matter of the investigation. The Secretariat shall promptly notify all parties to this Convention for this investigation. 2. the Inquiry Commission shall consist of three members. The applicant and the other party means one scientific or technical expert, who agreed on the third expert, who becomes Chairman of the Inquiry Commission. The latter must not be involved in the investigation of a Member State nationals or residents, nor employed in one of these Member States or otherwise related to this issue. 3. If the President of the Commission of inquiry does not agree within two months of the appointment of the second expert, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe at the request of either party means President within two months. 4. If a party to the investigation does not mean expert within one month of receipt of the notification by the Secretariat, the other party involved in the investigation, it shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, which means the President of the Inquiry Commission within two months. After the appointment, the President asks the party which is not a designated expert to do this month. If this is not done within the specified time, the President shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, where m is the mean of the experts in the law within two months. 5. The Inquiry Commission shall establish their own rules of operation. 6. The Inquiry Commission may take all necessary measures to ensure the performance of its functions. 7. the Member States concerned by the Investigation should facilitate the work of the Inquiry Commission and in particular shall, using all means at disposal, (a) provide the Commission with all the necessary documentation, information and conditions, and (b) if necessary, to enable the Commission of inquiry to call witnesses or experts and receive their evidence.
8. The parties and the experts must keep any secret received in the course of the investigation, the confidentiality of the information. 9. If one of the parties to the inquiry procedure shall not in front of the Inquiry Commission or fails to express their views, the other party may request the Inquiry Commission to continue the proceedings and to complete the work. Absence of a party or unable to express their views cannot be an obstacle to the continuation of the work of the Inquiry Commission and completion i. 10. If the Commission of inquiry, taking into account any special circumstances, decides otherwise, all of the expenses of the Inquiry Commission, including the pay of its members, shall be borne by the parties equally. The Inquiry Commission shall keep a record of all expenses and shall be submitted to the parties the final statement of expenditure. 11. Any Member which has an interest of extracts of the subject and that the investigation may affect the decision, with the consent of the Inquiry Commission may take part in the investigation. 12. investigation of the Commission decision on procedural matters shall be taken by majority vote of the members of the Commission. The final opinion of the Inquiry Commission on the subject of the investigation should reflect the majority of the members of the Commission's opinion and should also include the different views. 13. The Inquiry Commission shall take a final decision within two months after the establishment of the Commission. The Commission of the working time can be extended if the Commission considers it appropriate, however, the extension may not exceed two months. 14. the final opinion of the Inquiry Commission shall be based on generally accepted scientific principles. The final opinion of the Inquiry Commission shall forward the investigative process to the parties and to the Secretariat. Annex v Pēcprojekt analysis objectives include: (a) the authorization or approval of the conditions included in the control and impact the effectiveness of countermeasures; (b) impact analysis to ensure appropriate management and preparedness to prevent confusion; (c) previous forecasts to be able to apply the experience gained in the operation of a similar nature in the future.
(Annex vi) bilateral and multilateral cooperation elements 1. If necessary, the interested Member States may build new institutions or bodies expanding existing powers of bilateral and multilateral agreements, to ensure the effectiveness of this Convention. 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 characteristics of the region; (b) institutional, administrative and other arrangements, which must be built on equality and equal basis; (c) the Member States ' policies and activities in the field of environmental protection, environmental impact assessment to achieve maximum compliance with the standards and methods; (d) analysis of the impact and pēcprojekt detection, measurement, prediction and assessment methods, and/or coordination; (e) the environmental impact assessment required of comparable environmental quality data collection, analysis, storage and dissemination of techniques and timely programme formulation and/or improvement; (f) the materiality threshold value or other specific criteria that describe the importance of cross-border impact and cover in accordance with the Convention on environmental impact assessment of proposed action subject to the location, type, and scope, as well as the critical cross-border pollution; (g) where appropriate, a joint environmental impact assessment, development of joint monitoring programmes, intercalibration of monitoring devices and harmonization of methodologies, to ensure that the resulting data and information, comparability and compatibility.

Annex VII arbitration 1. The claimant party shall notify the Secretariat that the Convention article 15 paragraph 2 in the order, the parties agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration. The notification shall indicate the subject of the arbitration, as well as the articles of this Convention whose interpretation or application is contested. The Secretariat shall forward the information received to all States parties, m. 2. the arbitral tribunal shall consist of three members. The claimant party and the other party to the dispute by the judge, which means jointly agree on a third judge, who becomes Chairman of the arbitral tribunal. The latter should not be in dispute by participating Member States ' nationals or residents, nor employed in one of these Member States or otherwise related to this issue. 3. If the President of the arbitral tribunal does not agree within two months of the appointment of the second judge, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe at the request of either party, means the President within two months. 4. If a party to the dispute does not mean the judge, within two months after receipt of the request, the other party shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, which means the President of the arbitral tribunal within two months. After the appointment of the Chairman of the party, which is not required by the judge to do so within two months. If this is not done within the specified time, the President shall inform the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, who shall have the right to appoint a judge to two months. 5. the arbitral tribunal shall judgments should be based on international law and the requirements of this Convention. 6. each of the provisions of this annex up the arbitral tribunal shall draw up its own rules of procedure. 7. the decision of the arbitral tribunal, both on procedure and on controversial issues are taken by members of the arbitral tribunal. 8. The Tribunal may take all appropriate measures to clarify the facts. 9. The parties to the dispute, Member States should facilitate the work of the arbitral tribunal and, in particular, using all available means, (a) provide the Commission with all the necessary documentation, information and conditions, and (b) if necessary, to enable the Commission of inquiry to call witnesses or experts and receive their evidence.
10. The parties and judges should keep any secret received in the course of the investigation, the confidentiality of the information. 11. the arbitral tribunal at the request of one of the parties, recommend interim measures of protection. 12. If one of the parties to the dispute does not take the Arbitration Court or unable to express their views, then the other party may request the arbitral tribunal to continue the proceedings and to declare a verdict. Absence of a party or unable to express their views may not be the obstacle to arbitration. Prior to the Arbitration Court to be satisfied that the complaint from the point of view of the facts and law are warranted. 13. the arbitral tribunal may hear counter-complaints, derived from pamatsūdzīb, and to judge them. 14. Unless the arbitral tribunal, taking into account any special circumstances, decides otherwise, all court costs, including payment of its members, shall be borne by the parties equally. The arbitral tribunal shall keep a record of all expenses and shall be submitted to the parties the final statement of expenditure. 15. any Member State which has a legal interest in the subject matter of the arbitration, which can influence its judgment, with the consent of the arbitral tribunal may take part in the investigation. 16. The arbitral tribunal shall render a verdict five months after its creation. The Court's working time may be extended, if the Court considers it appropriate, however, the extension shall not exceed five months. 17. the decision of the arbitral tribunal shall be accompanied by reasons. Decision is final and all the Member States involved in the dispute binding. The arbitral tribunal shall forward its judgment to the parties to the dispute and to the Secretariat. The Secretariat shall communicate the decision of the Court for all States parties. 18. All disputes related to the interpretation of the Court judgment or execution, shall be brought in the same court that ruled in, or, if this is not possible, another court that you create in the same order as the previous.