Abstract
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not only about development and protecting environment, but also about public participation during all the process. It is not an exaggeration that public participation is claimed as one of the key indicators of the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, even in pandemic conditions while development still must go on at the same time, public participation can be avoided in the EIA process. In a wide range of international arrangements and national regulation, there are several guidance in accommodating public participation such as the Aarhus Convention 1998 and Indonesian national regulation. This article compares and analyses those legal procedures in mitigating unexpected conditions. The result shows that both of them are still feasible to be applied even in abnormal circumstances. Some barriers are identified especially related to implementing advanced technology. Therefore, how these aspirations are conveyed and accepted must be done in various alternative ways.
Highlights
The importance of public participation in the environmental decision-making process has been acknowledged by several international conferences, namely the United Nations (UN) Rio Conference 1992 and Aarhus Convention in 1998
This article intends to explore ‘what are possible options to overcome the pandemic condition’? Actions of these, evaluate by using the General Principle of the Aarhus Convention to give an answer to the second question ‘to what extent is the Aarhus Convention being accommodated by the chosen country regulation?
To make the Aarhus Convention applicable, the Convention has to translate into European Union Law in Directive 2003/35/EC which makes a series of modifications and regulatory changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the integrated pollution prevention and control system to ensure that the procedures are appropriately aligned with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention
Summary
The importance of public participation in the environmental decision-making process has been acknowledged by several international conferences, namely the United Nations (UN) Rio Conference 1992 and Aarhus Convention in 1998. In Aarhus Convention 1998, a convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, examinated minimum requirements for public participation in various environmental decision-making categories. This convention briefly stated to “guarantee the rights of access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of this Convention” (Aarhus Convention 1998). These public participation benefits have to be maintained even in unnormal conditions. This article intends to explore ‘what are possible options to overcome the pandemic condition’? Actions of these, evaluate by using the General Principle of the Aarhus Convention to give an answer to the second question ‘to what extent is the Aarhus Convention being accommodated by the chosen country regulation?
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